Cuthbert Burbage

Cuthbert Burbage
Memorial plaque commemorating Cuthbert Burbage and others buried at St Leonard's, Shoreditch
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Cox
Issue Walter Burbage James Burbage Elizabeth Burbage
Father	James Burbage
Mother	Ellen Brayne
Born	London
Baptised	15 June 1565
Died	15 September 1636 (aged 71) Hayes, Kent
Buried	Shoreditch

Cuthbert Burbage (c. 15 June 1565 – 15 September 1636) was an English theatrical figure, son of James Burbage, builder of the Theatre in Shoreditch and elder brother of the actor Richard Burbage. From 1589 he was the owner of the ground lease of the Theatre. Best known for his central role in the construction of the Globe Theatre, he was for four decades a significant agent in the success and endurance of Shakespeare's company, the King's Men.

The Burbage family is now thought to have come to London from Bromley in Kent. Cuthbert Burbage, baptized 15 June 1565 at St Stephen Coleman Street near the London Guildhall, was the elder of the two surviving sons of James Burbage (c.1531–1597) and Ellen Brayne (c.1542–1613), the daughter of Thomas Brayne (d.1562), a London tailor, and his wife, Alice Barlow (d.1566). His younger brother was the actor Richard Burbage. He had two sisters, Ellen (baptized 13 June 1574, buried 13 December 1596) and Alice (baptized 11 March 1576).

Burbage's father found employment for him with Sir Walter Cope, a second cousin of Lady Burghley, and gentleman usher to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. According to Wallace, Cuthbert Burbage's position as 'servant' to Cope was likely as a clerk in the Treasury.

In June 1586 he reached the age of majority, and joined his father in an ongoing legal dispute over the Theatre in Shoreditch. In August of that year the London grocer John Brayne, his father's brother-in-law, died, allegedly as a result of blows at the hands of his partner in the building of the George Inn in Whitechapel, the London goldsmith, Robert Miles, who was 'tried for murder' at a coroner's inquest.