Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset

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Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (b. March 18, 1589, Charter House, London – d. March 28, 1624, Dorset House, London) succeeded to the title of his father, Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset, in 1609 at which time he inherited the family home of Knole House.

During the years, 1612–24, Sackville served as a Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, along with the Earls of Nottingham and Arundel.

Richard Sackville is perhaps best remembered as the first husband of Lady Anne Clifford; they married on Feb. 27, 1609. Their marriage was not a success; partisans of the Earl tended to blame Lady Anne's powerful personality, while partisans of the Countess pointed to the Earl's repeated infidelities and his extravagance and indebtedness.

At the time of their marriage, Lady Anne had been in a long-running legal contest over her inheritance rights; in 1617, the 3rd Earl signed away her claim on contested ancestral lands to James I, in return for a cash payment, which the Earl used to pay off his gambling debts.^[1]

The 3rd Earl and Lady Anne had five children between 1615 and 1624; unfortunately none of their three sons, born in 1616, 1618, and 1621, survived their father. Their two daughters, Isabella (born Oct. 6, 1622, died Aug. 22, 1719) and Margaret (born posthumously on July 2, 1624, died May 1676), were longer lived.

The 3rd Earl died without a male heir on Easter Sunday of 1624, and was succeeded by his younger brother Edward Sackville. The 3rd Earl was buried on Arpil 7, 1624 at St. Michael's Parish Church in Withyham, Sussex.