Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex

The Earl of Sussex

Arms of Sir Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, KG

Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, KG (also spelled "Radcliffe") (1507 – 17 February 1557) was a son of Robert Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Sussex and his wife Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex.

His maternal grandparents were Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his wife Catherine Woodville.

He was a second cousin to among others Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, queen consort of Scotland, Henry VIII of England, Elizabeth Tudor, Mary, queen consort of France, Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset, Katherine Tudor, Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, Margaret Courtenay and Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester.

Marriages and children

He was first married to Elizabeth Howard, a daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and his second wife Agnes Tilney. They had two sons:

• Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (c. 1525 – 9 June 1583).
• Henry Radclyffe, 4th Earl of Sussex (c. 1532–1593).

The Complete Peerage gives the date of death for his first wife as 18 September 1534. Burke's Peerage agrees on the date but changes the year to 1537. Either way Henry would not remain a widower for long.

He married secondly Anne Calthorpe. The marriage resulted in a divorce or annulment in 1555. But they had two known children:

• Egremont Radclyffe (died 1578). He took part in the Rising of the North but escaped to Continental Europe after its failure. He was executed in Namur, accused of attempting to poison John of Austria. John is believed to have died of typhus.
• Lady Frances Radclyffe (died 1602). Married Sir Thomas Mildmay, by whom she had two sons.

Earl

On 27 November 1542 his father died and Henry succeeded him as Earl of Sussex. His second cousin Mary I created him a Knight of the Garter in 1554, alongside the later Philip II of Spain, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy and William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham.

References

•  "Radcliffe, Robert". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.