Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland

Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland KG (1493 – 22 April 1542) was a member of the Clifford family which was seated at Skipton Castle, Yorkshire from 1310 to 1676.^[1]

Quartered arms of Sir Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland, KG

Arms of Clifford: Chequy or and azure, a fess gules

Monument of Sir Henry Clifford, Holy Trinity Church, Skipton

Origins

He was born at Skipton Castle, a son of Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford by his wife Anne St John, daughter of Sir John St John of Bletso by his first wife Alice Bradshaigh.^[2][3]

Career

As a youth, Clifford spent time at the court of King Henry VIII and was knighted at Henry's coronation in 1509. He was later appointed Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1522 and became hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland on the death of his father in 1523. As part of King Henry VIII's plans for the defence of the Scottish border, he was created Earl of Cumberland on 18 June 1525 and made Warden of the West Marches and Governor of Carlisle Castle. Replaced by William, Baron Dacre, he was reinstated to the post in 1534 after Dacre was accused of treason. During the Pilgrimage of Grace he remained loyal to the crown and was besieged in Skipton Castle by the rebels. He was made a Knight of the Garter by a grateful King Henry VIII in 1537.^[4]

Marriages and progeny

He married twice:

• Firstly to Margaret Talbot (died before 1516), daughter of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury and Anne Hastings, daughter of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings and Katherine Neville.
• Secondly he married Margaret Percy, daughter of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland and Catherine Spencer, daughter of Sir Robert Spencer of Spencer Combe, Devon. By Margaret Percy he had seven children, including:
  • Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, eldest son and heir, who married Lady Eleanor Brandon, a niece of King Henry VIII.^[5]
  • Catherine Clifford (1513-1598) a notable recusant,^[6] married John Scrope, 8th Baron Scrope of Bolton, and secondly Sir Richard Cholmondely^[7]

Death and burial

He died in 1542 and was buried in Skipton church, where his monument survives.^[4]

References

1. "Skipton Castle North Yorkshire - Clifford and Cumberland History". www.skiptoncastle.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
2. Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume XII/1, page 121.
3. Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2005. pg 219. Google eBook
4. Hoyle, R.W. (23 September 2004). "Clifford, Henry, first earl of Cumberland". Oxford English Dictionary of Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5647.
5. Countess of Pembroke, Anne Clifford Herbert (2018). Malay, Jessica L. (ed.). Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676. Oxford University Press. p. 270. ISBN 9781526117878.
6. Emerson, Kathy Lynn (1984). Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth Century England. Whitston Publishing Company. p. 53. ISBN 9780878752461.
7. Kinney, A.; Lawson, J. (2014). Titled Elizabethans: A Directory of Elizabethan Court, State, and Church Officers, 1558–1603. Springer. p. 128. ISBN 9781137461483.

External links

• A listing of the Clifford family

Peerage of England
New creation	Earl of Cumberland 1525–1542	Succeeded by Henry Clifford
Preceded by Henry Clifford	Baron de Clifford 1524–1542