Captain Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of Mulgrave, 3rd Baron Sheffield, (7 December 1565 – 6 October 1646) was an English peer and member of parliament, who served as

Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire. List of Lord Lieutenants From 1642 until 1660 the position was vacant, however after the Restoration, a separate lieutenant was appointed for each of the three ridings; se ...

from 1603 to 1619 and Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire from 1604 to 1646. He was created

Earl of Mulgrave The title Earl of Mulgrave has been created twice. The first time as a title in the Peerage of England and the second time as a Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1626 for Edmund Sheffield, 3r ...

in 1626.

Early life

Edmund Sheffield was born on 7 December 1565 to

John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield , of Butterwick ( – 10 December 1568) was an English nobleman. Early life John Sheffield was born in Butterwick, Lincolnshire to Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield and Lady Anne De Vere, dau ...

and Douglas Howard, daughter of

William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham (c. 151012 January 1573) was an English diplomat and military leader. He served four monarchs, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, in various official capacities, most notably on dip ...

. Sheffield's grandfather, Sir Edmund Sheffield, a second cousin of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, was raised to the

Peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in 1547 as ''

Baron Sheffield of Butterwick Baron Sheffield is a title that has been created four times: once in the Peerage of England, twice in the Peerage of Ireland, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation, as ''Baron Sheffield of Butterwick'', was in the Pe ...

'', and was murdered in the streets of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

during

Kett's Rebellion Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in the English county of Norfolk during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land. It began at Wymondham on 8 July 1549 with a group of rebels destroying fences that had been put up by wealt ...

in 1549. Sheffield was educated at Christ Church, Oxford from 1574 to 1579.

Career

In 1582, Sheffield was commanded by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

to accompany the

Duke of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of count. ...

on his return voyage to the European mainland. Sheffield later served as a volunteer in the Netherlands in 1585. Sheffield served under the command of his maternal uncle, Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham, against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

in 1588, captaining the "Victory", "Dreadnought and "White Bear" (also known as the "White Rose"). On 25 July 1588, Sheffield was knighted by for valiant services in the

Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the Habsburg Spain, Habsburg Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was ...

. For his services,

granted Sheffield in 1591 the Manor of Mulgrave in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, part of the forfeited estate of Sir Francis Bigod. On 21 April 1593, Sheffield was made a Knight of the

Most Noble Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cr ...

. Sheffield later served in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. On 13 January 1598, Sheffield was appointed Governor of

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, Holland. Sheffield requested appointment to the presidency of the Council of the North under

but was unsuccessful. Under

King James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

, Sheffield was made

on 1 August 1603 and President of the North on 19 September 1603. Sheffield held both posts until 1619 when he resigned to please the Spanish ambassador, having executed a Catholic priest without the leave of

. Sheffield took an active interest in the colonialisation of the United States, causing him financial difficulty. Sheffield joined the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day ...

on 23 May 1609 and the

New England Company The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England (also known as the New England Company or Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America) is a British charitable organization created to promote ...

on 3 November 1620. On 1 June 1621, he was one of the signatories to the first Plymouth patent. Sheffield was made 1st

on 5 February 1626 following the coronation of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

. However, he took the side of the Parliament in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

as one of the twelve peers who signed the petition of 28 August 1640. Due to his age, Sheffield was not able to attend 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 ...

consistently, however his proxy vote allowed his grandson

Sir Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

to be commissioned Captain-General of the

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

in 1645.

Personal life

Sheffield married Ursula Tyrwhitt before 13 November 1581, daughter of Sir Robert Tyrwhite of Kettleby and Elizabeth Oxenbridge. They had six sons and eleven daughters: * Charles Sheffield * Sir John Sheffield * Edmund Sheffield * William Sheffield * Phillip Sheffield * George Sheffield * Mary Sheffield, wife of

Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (29 March 1584 – 14 March 1648) was an English politician and army officer who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1648. He was a commander in the Parliamentarian army ...

and mother of

* Magdalen Sheffield * Elizabeth Sheffield * Tryphena Sheffield * Dorothy Sheffield * Douglas Sheffield * Margaret Sheffield * Ursula Sheffield * Sarah Sheffield * Anne Sheffield * Frances Sheffield, wife of

Sir Philip Fairfax ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

of Steeton and mother of

William Fairfax William Fairfax (1691–1757) was a political appointee of the British Crown in several colonies as well as a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. Fairfax served as Collector of Customs in Barbados, Chief Justice and governor of the ...

Ursula died in 1619. Due to financial difficulties, Sheffield set out to marry a rich wife. On 4 March 1619, Sheffield married Mariana Irwin (or Irvine), the 16 year old daughter of his dancing master Sir William Irvine (or Urwin), a Scottish courtier who was a

Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers. Gen ...

to Prince Henry and

.Thomas Birch & Folkestone Williams, ''Court and Times of James the First'', 2 (London: Colburn, 1849), pp. 145–46. They had three sons and two daughters: * Captain James Sheffield * Colonel Thomas Sheffield * Robert Sheffield * Margaret Sheffield * Sarah Sheffield

Death and legacy

Sheffield died on 6 October 1646 at Butterwick House in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. He was buried in St Pauls, Hammersmith in a tomb of black and white marble long, high and over, defended with iron rails, where a monument to his memory was erected by his wife Mariana, Countess of Mulgrave. Sheffield was succeeded by his grandson,

Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave (December 161124 August 1658) was an English peer who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War period. Early life Edmund Sheffield was born in December 1611 to Sir John Sheffield ...

, son of Sir John Sheffield. Sheffield's

Garter stall plate Garter stall plates are small enamelled brass plates located in St George's Chapel displaying the names and arms of the Knights of the Garter. Each knight is allotted a stall in St George's Chapel and the stall plate is affixed to his personal st ...

is visible in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulgrave, Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of 1565 births 1646 deaths 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

Earls of Mulgrave 3 Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Knights of the Garter Lord-lieutenants of Yorkshire English MPs 1604–1611 Virginia Company