nes_, I, 304. For the date, see The Malone Society's
_Collections_, I, 91.]

The first person to sign the petition was the Dowager Lady Elizabeth
Russell; the second was none other than George Cary, Lord Hunsdon, at
the time the patron of Burbage's company of actors.[308] It is not
surprising, therefore, that as a result of this petition the Lords of
the Privy Council (of which Lord Cobham was a conspicuous member)
issued an order in which they "forbad the use of the said house for
plays."[309] This order wrecked the plans of Burbage quite as
effectively as did the stubbornness of Gyles Alleyn.

[Footnote 308: Shortly after this he was appointed Lord Chamberlain,
under which name his troupe was subsequently known.]

[Footnote 309: Petition of 1619, The Malone Society's _Collections_,
I, 91.]

Possibly the mental distress Burbage suffered at the hands of the
Privy Council and of Gyles Alleyn affected his health; at least he did
not long survive this last sling of fortune. In February, 1597, just
before the expiration of the Alleyn lease, he died, leaving the
Theatre to his son Cuthbert, the bookseller, Blackfriars to his
actor-son, Richard, the star of Shakespeare's troupe, and his troubles
to both. With good reason Cuthbert declared many years later that the
ultimate success of London theatres had "been purchased by the
infinite cost and pains of the family of Burbages."

When later in 1597 the Lord Chamberlain's Players were forced to leave
Cuthbert's Theatre, Richard Burbage was not able to establish them in
his comfortable Blackfriars house; instead, they first went to the old
Curtain in Shoreditch, and then, under the leadership of the Burbage
sons, erected for themselves a brand-new home on the Bankside, called
"The Globe."

The order of the Privy Council had summarily forbidden the use of
Blackfriars as a "public" playhouse. Its proprietor, however, Richard
Burbage, might take advantage of the precedent established in the days
of Farrant, and let the building for use as a "private" theatre.[310]
Exactly when he was first able to lease the building as a "private"
house we do not know, for the history of the building between 1597
(when it was completed) and 1600 (when it was certainly occupied by
the Children of the Chapel) is very indistinct. We have no definite
evidence to connect the Chapel Children, or, indeed, any specific
troupe, with Blackfriars during these years. Yet prior to 1600 the
building seems