Henry Radclyffe, 4th Earl of Sussex, KG ( 1530 – 14 December 1593) was an English peer.

Life

He was born in England to Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, and Elizabeth Howard. He was knighted by

Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel (23 April 151224 February 1580) was an English nobleman, who over his long life assumed a prominent place at the court of all the later Tudor sovereigns. Court career under Henry VIII He was the only s ...

, on 2 October 1553, and elected to parliament as member for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

in 1555 and

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

in 1559. In 1556, he went to Ireland, to support his elder brother

Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex Thomas Radclyffe (or Ratclyffe), 3rd Earl of Sussex KG (c. 15259 June 1583), was Lord Deputy of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I. Family He was the eldest son of ...

. There he was appointed a privy councillor in 1557, and commanded a band of horsemen. In 1558 he became lieutenant of Maryborough Fort, and was besieged there by the Irish under Donogh O'Conor. He sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as member for Carlingford in 1559, and two years later was nominated lieutenant of Leix and

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

. He managed to keep the district quiet, but in 1564, when commissioners were sent from England to report on the condition of the Irish government, charges of corruption in dealing with funds appointed for the payment of the soldiers were brought against Radclyffe. He was ordered to refund at once £8,000, and on his refusal was committed to prison (January 1565). His release was ordered by the home government, and he left Ireland permanently soon afterwards. In 1577 he was granted some property there, in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

and

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

. In England, he had already been appointed constable for life of Porchester Castle, and lieutenant of Southbere Forest (14 June 1560). In 1571, when he was elected M.P. for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, he received the office of warden and captain of the town, castle, and isle of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and he was active in that capacity until his death. In 1572 he was elected MP for

. He succeeded his brother as Earl of Sussex on 9 June 1583, finding the estate burdened with a debt to the crown. For the next decade, until his death, he was the patron of The Earl of Sussex's Men, who performed several of the early

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays at

The Rose (theatre) The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre, Elizabethan playhouse, built by theatre entrepreneur Philip Henslowe in 1587. It was the fifth public playhouse to be built in London, after the Red Lion (theatre), Red Lion in Whitechapel (1567), The Theatre ...

under Philip Henslowe, including ''

Titus Andronicus ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'', often shortened to ''Titus Andronicus'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first t ...

'' and ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

''. In August 1586, he was tracking down an alleged Catholic conspiracy at Portsmouth, and was watching suspicious vessels off the coast. During 1588, he was active in furnishing stores and gunpowder for the ships commissioned to resist 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 ...

, and as joint

Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. Since 1688, all the Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire. From 1889 until 1959, the administrative county was named the County of Southampton. * ...

he commanded 3944 men of the Hampshire Trained Bands ready to defend

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. For his services, he was made

Knight 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 Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

on 22 April 1589. Republished by Ray Westlake, Military Books, 1987, and by Naval & Military Press, 2015, He died on 14 December 1593, and was buried at

Boreham Boreham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Essex, England. The parish is in the City of Chelmsford and Chelmsford (UK Parliament constituency), Chelmsford Parliament constituency. The village is approximately northeast ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, beside his brother and his wife.

Family

On 6 February 1549, he married Honora Pound daughter of Anthony Pound(e), of Drayton, Farlington, Hampshire. Henry and Honora had two children: a son Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex (12 June 1573 – 22 September 1629), first married to Bridget Morrison, from his second marriage to Frances Shute Meautys, a daughter Jane Radcliffe.

References

;Attribution

External links

Henry Radcliffe
Accessed 1 April 2009
History of Parliament Radcliffe, Sir Henry (by 1533-93) of Portsmouth, Hants
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sussex, Henry Radclyffe, 4th Earl of 1530s births 1593 deaths Earls of Sussex (1529 creation)

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 ...

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Militia officers Knights of the Garter People of Elizabethan Ireland English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Louth constituencies Radclyffe, Henry 16th-century English nobility Members of Parliament for Maldon Barons FitzWalter