Egerton entered Lincoln's Inn in 1559 and was called to the bar in 1572; he practised in the chancery courts. He was governor of Lincoln's Inn in 1580, Lent reader in 1582 and treasurer in 1587; he also became solicitor-general in June 1581 and attorney-general in June 1592. He was knighted at the end of the following year. In Apr. 1594 he became master of the rolls, and he succeeded Sir John Puckering as Lord Keeper in May 1596, apparently as Elizabeth 's personal choice. He also became a privy councillor, and was subsequently a patron of Bacon. He was reappointed Lord Keeper by James upon his accession, and James made him Baron Ellesmere and Lord Chancellor in July 1603. He was also chancellor of Oxford from 1610-1617. He died in 1617.

Knollys was knighted by Leicester in the Low Countries in 1586, and appointed comptroller of the royal household and a privy councillor upon the death of his father, Sir Francis Knollys, in 1596. In Dec. 1602 he succeeded Roger, Lord North , as treasurer of the royal household. Under James he became, successively, Baron Knollys of Rotherfield Greys (May 1603), cofferer to the household of Henry , Prince of Wales (1606), master of the court of wards (Oct. 1614), KG (1615) and Viscount Wallingford (1616). Charles created him earl of Banbury in 1626, and he died in London in 1632.

Cecil was the younger son of William Cecil , Lord Burghley . He was knighted during the queen 's visit to Theobalds in 1591, and became a privy councillor in the same year. He was appointed secretary of state in 1596, while Essex (who had delayed, if not blocked his appointment) was on the expedition to Cadiz. In early 1598 he went, with Ralegh, Southampton and others, to France , the object of the embassy being the prevention of an alliance between France and Spain . His father died in Aug. of the same year. Cecil continued as secretary under James , becoming successively Baron Cecil of Essingden (13 May 1603), Viscount Cranbourne (20 Aug. 1604), Earl of Salisbury (4 May 1605), and KG (20 May 1605). He was also, following his father, master of the court of wards, and lord high steward to Anne of Denmark . He became lord treasurer in May 1608, following the death of Thomas, Earl of Dorset , and was also chancellor of Cambridge.

Fortescue for a time oversaw the studies of Princess Elizabeth , of whom he was a cousin on the Boleyn side. On her accession, he became keeper of the great Wardrobe in Blackfriars, where he lived throughout the reign. He was also an MP, sitting in every parliament from 1572. He became chancellor of the exchequer and under-treasurer in 1589, and also a privy councillor. He ceased to be chancellor of the exchequer upon James 's accession, and died in 1607.

Spencer was a member of the earl of Pembroke 's Men in 1597, and may previously have been one of the Lord Chamberlain 's Men. When Pembroke 's Men disbanded after the Isle of Dogs controversy, Spencer joined Henslowe's Admiral's Men, and his name first appears in the Diary on 11 Oct. 1597. His duel with Ben Jonson took place in Hoxton fields; he was buried at St Leonard's, Shoreditch on 24 Sept. 1598.

Pembroke 's 1597; Admiral's 1597-1602; he was possibly also a playwright.