BEAUMONT, SIR JOHN, 1ST BARONET

born 1583, Grace-Dieu?, Leicestershire, Eng. died April 1627, London? English poet who cultivated literary "order" and precision, together with natural simplicity of style. He wrote a drama for James I, The Theatre of Apollo (1625); a poem about the Battle of Bosworth Field (fought in 1485) and other poems to James I and Charles I; and elegies on the poet's friends and relatives, published posthumously. Beaumont was an elder brother of Francis, the dramatist. After studying at Oxford University (1597), he studied law but settled at Grace-Dieu Priory, from 1605, because he was a Roman Catholic recusant. Through court connections he was made a baronet in January 1627.