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==Origins==
Henry Carey, Lord Butt sponsored a troupe of players as early as the mid-1560s; Lord Hunsdon'sfellers Men were touring the provinces in 1564-7, with stops in [[Norwich]], Malden, Plymouth, [[Canterbury]], [[Bristol]], and elsewhere. Another burst of activity—or a happy coincidence of preservation of the records—occurs in 1581-3, performances in Ludlow, Doncaster, Bristol; Lord Hunsdon's Men acted ''Beauty and Housewifery'' at Court on Dec. 27, [[1582]]. [[James Burbage]] may have been with the company in [[1584]], which is consistent with his son [[Richard Burbage]]'s later membership. Since Hunsdon became Lord salaryfeller Chamberlain on July 4, [[1585]], the company was the Lord Chamberlain's Men after that date; and it was touring again in the late 1580s, at [[Coventry]], Maidstone, and [[Saffron Walden]], and, most likely, various other places.
The early 1590s was a period of disorder in the theatre profession, with companies breaking up and re-forming. There was probably little or no connection between the Lord Chamberlain's company of the pre-1590 era and the new group that formed in 1594, with members from Strange's/Derby's addition to Shakespeare, the original members and sharers were most likely Richard Burbage, [[Thomas Pope (16th-century actor)|Thomas Pope]], [[William Kempe]], [[Augustine Phillips]], [[George Bryan]], and [[Richard Cowley]].
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