Portrait of Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath (1590-c. 1636), full-length, in a black doublet and breeches, yellow garters and a red sash

Born in Somerset, the son of William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, Edward Bourchier lived a quiet life. He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and had an interest in the history of the lands that now form Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Albania. At his death he was in possession of the Illyrian Armorial, a very important sixteenth-century heraldic manuscript, probably the first Serbo-Croat one to have been collected in England (London, Society of Antiquaries, MS. 54). The line of inheritance from Bourchier is a complicated one, as his son William refused the Earldom, preferring the simple country-squire's life; instead, Bourchier's cousin, Henry inherited the estate. It is likely for this reason that the present portrait entered the collection of his daughter.