Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset

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Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, c. 1613, by William Larkin.
Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, c. 1613, by William Larkin.[1]

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (b. March 18, 1589, Charter House, London – d. March 28, 1624, Dorset House, London) was the son of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset.

Born at Charther House, London, Sackville was styled Lord Buckhurst from 1608 until 1609, when he succeeded his father as Earl of Dorset and inherited the family home of Knole House.

During the years, 1612–24, Sackville served as a Lord Lieutenant of Sussex.

Richard Sackville is perhaps best remembered as the first husband of Lady Anne Clifford; they married on 27 February 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.[2]

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 6 October 1622, died 22 August 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 at Dorset House, London, and was succeeded by his younger brother Edward Sackville. The 3rd Earl was buried on April 7, 1624 at St. Michael's Parish Church in Withyham, Sussex.

[edit] References

  1. ^ An added inscription on this painting misidentifies the sitter as Edward Sackville, Richard's younger brother, later 4th Earl of Dorset. See Karen Hearn, ed. Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630. New York: Rizzoli, 1995. ISBN 0-8478-1940-X, p. 198-199
  2. ^ Shakespeare Studies Vol. 25 (1997), p. 242.

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Political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Dorset
Lord Lieutenant of Sussex
16121624
Succeeded by
The Earl of Dorset
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Robert Sackville
Earl of Dorset
1609–1624
Succeeded by
Edward Sackville
Languages