Isabella Whitney was born in Cheshire, England. Her father, Geoffrey, was brother to Sir Robert Whitney, their family being the Cheshire branch of the influential Whitney family based in Clifford, Gorsington, Icomb and Castleton. At the time of her birth, her family were living at Coole Pilate in the parish of Acton, near Nantwich though the family moved in 1558 when her father took a lease of a farm at Ryles Green, Audlem. Isabella Whitney was the second child, having an older brother, Geoffrey, four sisters - Anne, Margery, Mary and Dorothea - and a younger brother, Brooke. George Mainwaring, who is mentioned in A Sweet Nosegay and came from a prominent household in England, was a childhood friend of hers.[2] Her brother, Geoffrey Whitney (named after their father), was a notable author of the time whose works include A Choice of Emblemes and other Devises (1586). Geoffrey died in 1601 without a spouse.[3]
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