John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester KB (14 February 168027 September 1737) was an English soldier, peer, landowner, and courtier, and from 1705 to 1737 was

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

, with a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Life

Leicester was born at his family seat of

Penshurst Place Penshurst Place is a historic building near Penshurst, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poets and courtiers, siblings Mary Sidney and Philip ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He was one of the five sons of

Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester (17 December 1649 – 11 November 1702) was the son of Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester, and the former Lady Catherine Cecil. Life As a child, Robert Sidney and his sister Dorothy had their portrait pai ...

(1649–1702) by Lady Elizabeth Egerton (1653–1709), the daughter of

John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, PC (30 May 1623 – 26 October 1686), was an English nobleman from the Egerton family. Life The surviving son of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater, and his wife Lady Frances Stanley, his matern ...

. Before inheriting the title and estates, Leicester was Lieutenant Colonel of the

1st Regiment of Foot Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

, 1702 to 1705, then briefly a member of the

English House of Commons The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

as one of the two members for

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

, sitting as a Whig, and later in 1705 succeeded his brother,

Philip Sidney Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age. His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...

, as Earl of Leicester. He was a

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household, the term being fir ...

, 1717 to 1727,

Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is the name of a ceremonial post in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but it may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the ...

, 1717 to 1728,

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government post usually held by the Government Whip (politics), Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is Margaret Whe ...

, 1725 to 1731,

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551 – 1558 * William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July ...

from 1724 until his death, a Privy Councillor and Constable of the Tower of London from 1731. Leicester died at Penshurst Place and is buried at

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...

. His younger brother Jocelyn Sidney succeeded as 7th Earl of Leicester.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leicester, John Sidney, 6th Earl Of 1680 births 1737 deaths 6th Earl of Leicester Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Lord-lieutenants of Kent Lord-lieutenants of the Tower Hamlets Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports Sidney, John Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People from Penshurst Grenadier Guards officers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...