Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex

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Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, KG (1573–1629) was an English noble, ambassador and military leader. He was the only son of Henry Radclyffe, 4th Earl of Sussex, and Honora Pounde. He was styled Viscount Fitzwalter from 1583 until he inherited the earldom in 1593.

In August 1594 he was sent as ambassador-extraordinary to Scotland to attend the baptism of James VI’s eldest son, Henry, acting as proxy for Elizabeth I. He travelled with a large party and met James VI and Anne of Denmark. The baptism took place at Stirling Castle, and Sussex carried the baby from his bedchamber to the Chapel Royal and back. He left Scotland on 12 September and was injured in a horse accident near Northallerton on 14 September.

In 1596 he served in the Cádiz expedition as colonel of a foot regiment, helped capture the town, and was knighted by the Earl of Essex on 27 June 1596. In 1597 he sought further military work on the continent. He served as Earl Marshal during the parliaments of autumn 1597 and 1601, and was colonel-general of foot in the London army in August 1599, as well as becoming a Knight of the Garter that year. Although he was implicated in Essex’s rebellion of 1601, he was one of the peers chosen to try Essex, briefly imprisoned but soon released. He became lord lieutenant of Essex on 26 August 1603 and was governor of Harwich and Landguard Fort.

After the Union of Crowns, Sussex travelled with Anne of Denmark to Windsor and had a quarrel with the Earl of Argyll on the way. At Worksop Manor, a proclamation by the Duke of Lennox and the Earls of Shrewsbury and Cumberland urged followers to lay aside private quarrels. On 20 July 1603 he asked the queen to relieve him of some debts owed to the crown by earlier earls. In 1622 he sold the Newhall estate in Essex to the Duke of Buckingham for £22,000 and resigned the lord-lieutenancy; he was reappointed joint lord lieutenant in 1625. He was a frequent court attendee, helped at ceremonies such as the creation of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1616, and bore the orb at Charles I’s coronation in 1626.

Sussex died on 22 September 1629 at his house in Clerkenwell and was buried at Boreham with his father and uncle. He was married twice. His first wife, Bridget Morison, sister of Sir Charles Morison, lived through a troubled marriage and died in December 1623; they had four children who all predeceased him. His second wife was Frances Meautas, widow of Francis Shute, who died in November 1627. Sussex was succeeded by his cousin Edward Radclyffe. He was a patron of writers and scholars, with several poets and authors dedicating works to him.