Death of Richard Tarlton

Richard Tarlton, lead actor of the Queen’s Men acting troupe, died on 3 September 1588 in Shoreditch. We believe he died of the plague because he was evidently buried on the same day in the cemetery of St Leonard, Shoreditch. His grave has disappeared.

According to Edwin Nunzeger, Tarlton wrote two wills, the second one apparently addressed to Sir Francis Walsingham, in which he mentioned the care of his mother and a six year-old son named Philip. Tarlton left £700 in property, and there was a dispute between the executors over the will.

It is possible that Philip Tarlton was illegitimate, because while there is a record of Tarlton marrying a woman named Thomasyn Dann in 1577, it is believed that she died in 1585.

In Tarlton’s will he describes himself as “one of the Gromes of the Quenes Majesties chamber.” Tarlton would have earned the title of a Groom of the Queen’s Chamber because she was the patron of the Queen’s Men troupe (and therefore the actors would be considered members of her “household”.)

In the year before he died, Tarlton was granted the degree “Master of Fence” – a reflection of his skill with a sword.

Sources:

Nunzeger, Edwin. A Dictionary of Actors and Other Persons Associated with the Public Representation of Plays in England before 1642. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 1929
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26971, accessed 27 Sept 2015
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Tarlton, accessed 27 Sept 2015