Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (16 September 1622 – 27 August 1677) was an English peer and politician.

Background

He was born at Dorset House, the second of three children of

Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset KG (159117 July 1652) was an English courtier, soldier and politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622 and became Earl of Dorset in 1624. He fought a duel in his early life, and was later i ...

and Mary Curzon, daughter and heiress of Sir George Curzon of

Croxall Hall Croxall Hall is a restored and extended 16th century manor house situated in the small village of Croxall, Staffordshire (close to the southeastern border with Derbyshire and historically part of it). It is a Grade II* listed building. The man ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. His elder sister Mary died in 1632; his younger brother Edward participated in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, and was captured and killed by Parliamentary forces in 1646. Frances Cranfield, Lady Buckhurst (1622-1687), after Anthony van Dyck

Life

Sackville sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, 1640–1643, as Lord Buckhurst, representing East Grinstead in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

; he was involved in the political events leading to the

, and was arrested by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1642 and fined £1500 in 1644. After that point, however, he played no active role in the conflict. He resumed a political career in 1660; he sat in the new parliament or convention that managed the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, and, among other posts, chaired the committee that was in charge of the reception of King Charles II. The new King appointed Sackville lord lieutenant of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in 1660. In the 1660s he was able to restore many of the possessions and privileges that his family had lost in the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

. Sackville was an occasional poet; a poem in mourning of

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

was included in the memorial volume ''Jonsonus Virbius'' (1638), published in the year after the poet laureate's death.

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the ''Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist, ...

reproduced a report that Sackville translated

Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

's''

Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...

''. Sackville was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1665.

Family

For four decades he was married to Lady Frances Cranfield, daughter of

Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex (1575 – 6 August 1645) was an English merchant and politician. He sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1622 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cranfield. Life He was the second son ...

; they had seven sons and six daughters. Their daughter Mary married

Roger Boyle, 2nd Earl of Orrery Roger Boyle, 2nd Earl of Orrery (24 August 1646 - 29 March 1682), styled Lord Broghill between 1660 and 1679, was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament. Boyle was born in Dublin, the son of Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, by Lady Margaret, da ...

, in 1665 and had issue. Another daughter Frances married

George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough (c. 162011 December 1683) was an Irish politician. He was the son of Sir Richard Lane, 1st Baronet, of Tulsk, by his wife Mabel Fitzgerald. Career He was attached to the exiled Court of Charles II of Eng ...

and had issue. His eldest son, Charles Sackville, succeeded him as the 6th

Earl of Dorset Earl of Dorset is a title that has been created at least four times in the Peerage of England. Some of its holders have at various times also held the rank of marquess and, from 1720, duke. A possible first creation is not well documented. Abou ...

References

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorset, Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of 1622 births 1677 deaths Lord-Lieutenants of Middlesex Lord-Lieutenants of Sussex

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Fellows of the Royal Society English MPs 1640–1648 Earls of Dorset Occasional poets