George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland
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George Clifford (8 August 1558, Brougham Castle, Westmorland - 30 October 1605, The Savoy, Middlesex) was the third Earl of Cumberland and fourteenth Baron Clifford of Westmoreland, as well as an English naval commander and courtier in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Son of the second Earl of Cumberland, Henry Clifford, he was orphaned by his father's death in 1570. His guardianship was granted to the second Earl of Bedford, who married the young Clifford to his daughter Margaret in 1577.
Clifford rose in the world as an accomplished jouster, becoming Queen Elizabeth's second champion on the retirement of Sir Henry Lee. She made him a Knight of the Garter and he sat as a peer in the trial of Mary Queen of Scots. He turned to sailing as a career at some point, commanding a ship in the Anglo-Spanish War. He had little success during the war but was later renowned for his naval battles against the Spanish fleet, and particularly Spanish shipping, in the Caribbean. He is famous for his short lived 1598 capture of La Fortaleza, the citadel protecting San Juan, Puerto Rico. He arrived in Puerto Rico in June 15, 1598, but by November of that year, Clifford and his men had fled the island due to harsh civilian resistance.
His buccaneering earned him quite a lot of money, but it seems that he lost so much at jousting and horse racing that he was eventually obligated to sell his inherited lands. He had only one child, his daughter Anne Clifford, to whom he left £15,000 at his death, while passing his titles to brother Francis Clifford.
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| Preceded by Henry Clifford |
Earl of Cumberland | Succeeded by Francis Clifford |
| Baron de Clifford |
[edit] References
- George Clifford - at Tudor PLace
