
Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset
KG (159117 July 1652) was an English courtier, soldier and politician. He sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
from 1621 to 1622 and became
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. About ...
in 1624. He fought a duel in his early life, and was later involved in colonisation in North America. He supported the
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
cause 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 ...
.
Early life
Sackville was the younger surviving son of
Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset
Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (1561–1609) was an English aristocrat and politician, with humanist and commercial interests.
Life
He was the eldest son of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, by Cecily, daughter of John Baker (died ...
, by his first wife
Margaret, a daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. He matriculated from
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, with his brother
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
, on 26 July 1605. He was awarded MA at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and was incorporated at Oxford from Cambridge on 9 July 1616. In August 1613 he became notorious for killing in a duel
Edward Bruce, 2nd Lord Kinloss. The duel concerned
Venetia Stanley
Venetia Anastasia, Lady Digby ( Stanley; December 1600 – 1 May 1633) was a celebrated beauty of the Stuart period (England), Stuart period and the wife of a prominent courtier and scientist, Sir Kenelm Digby. She was a granddaughter of Tho ...
, a society beauty and a granddaughter of
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby. The meeting took place on a piece of ground purchased for the purpose two miles from
Bergen-op-Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, which even in 1814 was known as Bruceland. Sackville was run through the body and lost a finger while attempting to disarm Kinloss, but ultimately dispatched his opponent with two thrusts to the chest. Though gravely wounded, Sackville survived, but Venetia Stanley ultimately married
Sir Kenelm Digby
Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, he is ...
who after his marriage maintained friendly relations with Sackville, referring to him as the "Mardontius" in his memoirs. Sackville sent, in self-justification, a long narrative from Louvain, dated 8 September 1613, with copies of Bruce's challenges. Sackville's life was attempted soon after his return to
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Early political career and colonist activity
Some sources claim that in 1614, Sackville was elected MP for
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
and was one of the leaders of the popular party
[ but this is disputed in other records of the ]Addled Parliament
The Parliament of 1614 was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James VI and I and sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614. Lasting only two months and two days, it saw no bills pass and was not even regarded as a parliament by contemp ...
. In 1616 he visited Lyons and procured the release of Sir Edward Herbert who had been arrested there. He was made a Knight of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
on 3 November 1616 when Charles I was created Prince of Wales. From 1619 he was a leading member of the party of 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 ...
which supported Sir Edwin Sandys. On 22 July 1620 he sailed as a commander in the forces sent under Sir Horatio Vere to assist Frederick V, the Bohemian king, who was James I's son-in-law. He was present at the Battle of White Mountain
The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years.
It was fought on 8 November 16 ...
on 8 November 1620.[
In 1621 Sackville was elected MP for Sussex. In March he was nominated chairman of the commons committee for the inspection of the courts of justice, but did not act. He spoke on behalf of ]Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
in parliament on 17 March 1621, and often pleaded for him with Buckingham. In July 1621 he was briefly ambassador to Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
. In November 1621 he vigorously defended the proposal to vote a subsidy for the recovery of the Palatinate, declaring that "the passing-bell was now tolling for religion". This speech has been wrongly dated as of 1623, when parliament was not sitting. In April 1623, the King "roundly and soundly" reproved Sackville at a meeting of the directors of the Virginia company. He was governor of the Bermuda Islands Company in 1623. On 23 May 1623, he received a licence to travel for three years and was nominated ambassador to Louis XIII again in September 1623. He was in Rome in 1624, and visited Marc Antonio de Dominis archbishop of Spalato, in his dungeon. While he was at Florence he received the news of the death of his elder brother Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, which took place on 28 March 1624 and he thereupon became fourth 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. About ...
.[
]
Earl of Dorset
Dorset succeeded to family estates which were heavily encumbered and he was selling land to pay off his brother's debts on 26 June 1626 (money was still owing on 26 September 1650). He became joint Lord Lieutenant of Sussex and joint Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex
This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex. From 1794 to 1965, all Lord Lieutenants were also Custos Rotulorum of Middlesex. The office was abolished on 1 April 1965, with the creation of Greater London and the post of Lor ...
, and held several other offices, including the mastership of Ashdown Forest
Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald National Landscape. It is situated south of London in the county East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation
of above sea level, its ...
, and stewardship of Great Yarmouth from 1629. He was made K.G. on 15 May 1625, and installed by proxy on 23 December. At the coronation of Charles I on 2 February 1626, he was a commissioner of claims, and carried the first sword, and he was called to the privy council on 3 August 1626. His influence at court was fully established by his appointment as lord chamberlain to Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France ( French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until his execution on 30 January 1649. She was ...
on 16 July 1628. As such, he was a prime mover in theatre and drama in London, and was the force behind the founding of the Salisbury Court Theatre at Salisbury Court off Fleet Street where he lived. He was a commissioner for planting Virginia in 1631 and 1634.[
As a peer and privy councillor Dorset showed great activity. He was a commissioner on 30 May 1635 and 10 April 1636 for dealing with the new buildings which had been erected in or about London and Westminster. He was a lord commissioner of the admiralty, one of the adventurers with the ]Earl of Lindsey
Earl of Lindsey is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1626 for the 14th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. He was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1635 to 1636 and also established his claim in right of his mother to the heredita ...
and others for draining various parts of Lincolnshire and a commissioner for improving the supply of saltpetre. On 13 June 1636, he was constable of Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle ( ; , ), in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, was built as part of Edward I of England, Edward I's Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England, campaign to conquer north Wales after 1282. Plans were probably first made to construct t ...
. While sitting on the Star-chamber commission in 1636, he advised the imprisonment of the peers who refused to pay a forced loan although in April 1636 he himself was one of the defaulters for ship-money in Kent to the extent of £5. He kept up his connection with America, and petitioned for a grant of Sandy Hook Island (lat. 44°), on 10 December 1638. He was nominated on a committee of council to deal with ship-money on 20 May 1640 but abstained carefully from committing himself to the illegal proceedings encouraged by his more violent colleagues.[
In 1640 Dorset was one of the peers nominated to act as regents while the king was absent in the north. In January 1641 he helped to arrange the marriage of the Princess Mary with the ]Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...
, and was a commissioner of regency again from 9 August to 25 November. He opposed the proceedings against the bishops, and ordered the trained bands of Middlesex to fire on the mob that gathered to intimidate parliament on 29 November 1641. According to the historian Clarendon the Commons wished to impeach Dorset either for this or "for some judgment he had been party to in the Star-chamber or council table".[
]
Civil War
Early in 1642, Dorset joined the king at York, and pledged himself to support a troop of sixty horse. He attested to the king's declaration on 15 June 1642, that he abhorred the idea of war. In July he attended the queen in Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
, but returned before the king's standard was raised at Nottingham. On 25 August he was sent, with Lord Southampton and Sir John Colepeper, to treat with the parliamentary leaders. On the same date, parliamentary soldiers plundered Knole House. He was present at the Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill, Warwickshire, Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.
All attempts at constitution ...
. He may have been in charge of the young princes as James II wrote in 1679 that "the old Earl of Dorset at Edgehill, being commanded by the king, my father, to go and carry the prince and myself up the hill out of the battle, refused to do it, and said he would not be thought a coward for ever a king's son in Christendom". He went to Oxford with the king, and more than once protested against the continuation of the war. He made a speech at the council table against one by the Earl of Bristol and this was circulated as a tract on 18 January 1643. He was made a commissioner of the king's treasury on 7 March 1643, and was Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
of the household from 21 January 1644 to 27 April 1646. Early in 1644, he was also entrusted with the privy seal and the presidency of the council. He made sensible speeches, which were printed in Oxford and London as "shewing his good affection to the Parliament and the whole state of this Kingdom". He signed the letter asking Essex to promote peace, in January 1644. He was one of the committee charged with the defence of Oxford; and was nominated by Charles in December 1645 one of those to whom he would entrust the militia. He was one of the signatories to the capitulation of Oxford on 24 June 1646.[
In June 1644 Dorset was assessed by the committee for the advance of money at £5,000 and his eldest son was assessed at £1,500. In 1645 he resigned an estate of £6,000, the committee undertaking to pay his debts. In September 1646 he petitioned to compound for his delinquency on the ]Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
articles, and his fine of one-tenth was fixed at £4,360l. It was reduced to £2,415 on 25 March 1647, and he was discharged on 4 June 1650.[
Dorset was said to be one of the six peers who intended to go to Charles at ]Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...
in October 1647 and stay with him as a council, but parliament did not permit this.[
After the execution of the king in 1649, Dorset is said never to have left his house in Salisbury Court, ]Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
. He died there on 17 July 1652, and was buried in the family vault at Wytham. His monument was destroyed by fire on 16 June 1663. An elegy on him was printed, with heavy black edges, by James Howell, in a rare pamphlet entitled "Ah-Ha, Tumulus Thalamus".[
Clarendon described Dorset as "beautiful, graceful, and vigorous: his wit pleasant, sparkling, and sublime .... The vices he had were of the age, which he was not stubborn enough to contemn or resist". He was an able speaker, and on the whole, a moderate politician, combining a strong respect for the royal prerogative with an attachment to the Protestant cause and the liberties of parliament. He was evidently an excellent man of business.][
]
Family
Dorset married Mary Curzon, daughter and heiress of Sir George Curzon of Croxall Hall, Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
in 1612. Their children were:
* Mary, died young on 30 October 1632
* Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
(1622–1677), fifth earl
* Edward, wounded at Newbury on 20 September 1643, and murdered by Parliamentary forces at Chawley in the parish of Cumnor, near Oxford, on 11 April 1646.
In 1630 Lady Mary was appointed "governess" for a term of twelve years of Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
and James, Duke of York
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
, both later Kings of England and Scotland. She received charge of the younger children, Henry
Henry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters
* Henry (surname)
* Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone
Arts and entertainmen ...
and his sister Elizabeth, on 20 July 1643, and was allowed £600 a year, with Knole House and Dorset House, in recognition of her services. She died in 1645 when she was about to be relieved of her duties, and, as a reward for her "godly and conscientious care and pains," received a public funeral in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
.[ After the Restoration, her son Richard petitioned the crown for further recognition of his late mother's service.
]
Legacy
* Dorchester County, Maryland
Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge. The county was formed in 1669 and named for the Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calvert ...
* Cape Dorset
* Dorset Island
* Dorset culture
The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from to between and , that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in ...
References
External links
Description of the duel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorset, Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of
1591 births
1652 deaths
17th-century English nobility
English duellists
Knights of the Garter
Lord-lieutenants of Middlesex
Lord-lieutenants of Sussex
Sackville, Edward
Edward
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
Cavaliers
Younger sons of earls
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Earls of Dorset
Lords of the Admiralty
Henrietta Maria of France