I'm looking for information on Edward Kelley, John Dee's "partner" for a time. I've looked everywhere I can think, and there are a few short biographies that I've found but not much else. What I would really like to know is, what was his first wife's name and did they have children? Did he have children with his second wife Jane Cooper? Other than Jane's daughter from a previous marriage I've not found any other children listed anywhere, nor have I found his first wife's name.
If you guys could give me some rescources I may have not checked that would be great. Thanks so much!
For readers who may not already know, John Dee was a famous mathematician, astrologer, alchemist, and occultist whom Elizabeth I often consulted, especially for horoscopes. In his later years, Edward Kelley (aka Edward Talbot) became his working partner. Kelley specialized in crystal-ball "reading," and together he and Dee claimed to speak with angels via crystal-gazing. With Kelley's help, Dee wrote the Quinti Libri Mysteriorum, or Five Books of Mysteries, on angelic language.
ReplyDeleteEdward Kelley married Jane Cooper Weston, a young widow, in 1583. No previous marriage is mentioned in the ODNB. Since Kelley was 28 at the time of the marriage, it may have been his first. He is believed to have been trained as an apothecary, and the laws governing apprentices would have barred him from any marriage until his apothecary apprenticeship was completed in his mid-20s.
Kelley's wife had a son and daughter by her previous marriage. The daughter, Elizabeth Jane Weston, was raised by Kelley, and she later became a well-known poet. Her older brother was not raised by the Kelleys. Kelley is not known to have fathered any children of his own.
Thanks! I looked at his bio on several sites, but most of them had occult connotations and that made most of the biography unreliable in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteDo you know anything about his supposed brother Thomas?
Sorry, I do not.
ReplyDelete