Wake, Isaac, Sir (1581 -1632)
Sir Isaac Wake was the second son of the Reverend Arthur Wake, Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and Master of St John's Hospital in Northampton. He was educated at Christ Church, where he matriculated 25 May 1593, aged twelve, and took his B.A. in 1597. He became a Fellow of Merton College in 1598, took his M.A. in 1603, entered the Middle Temple in 1604, and was Public Orator of Oxford University 1604 1621. In 1609 he travelled in France and Italy, and soon after became Secretary to Sir Dudley Carleton at Venice, with whom he remained until Carleton's return in July 1615. Wake then became British representative at the Court of Savoy, returning to England in 1618. Knighted on the 9 April 1619, he immediately returned to Turin. He was back in England in 1623 and married Anna, daughter of Edmund Bray of Barrington, in December 1623. He was returned Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford in 1624, but was sent back in May as Ambassador to Savoy and Venice. Towards the end of 1626 he was employed on a mission to Berne and Zurich on behalf of the Grisons. He served as ambassador to the Court of Versailles 1630 1632.