Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland

A painting of Henry Clifford by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen

Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland (28 February 1592 – 11 December 1643) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1622. He was created a baron in 1628 and succeeded to the title Earl of Cumberland in 1641.

Clifford was the son of Francis Clifford, 4th Earl of Cumberland, and Grisold Hughes and a member of the Clifford family which held the seat of Skipton from 1310 to 1676.[1][2] He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.[3] In 1607, he became joint Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland, Northumberland and Westmorland. He was elected Member of Parliament for Westmorland in 1614, and was returned in 1621.[4] In 1621, he became Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland. He was created Baron Clifford in 1628.

Clifford was a supporter of Charles I during the so-called Bishops' Wars in Scotland, and also during the Civil War until his death.[3] He succeeded to the title of Earl of Cumberland in 1641 and died two years later in 1643 at the age of 52; as he left no sons the earldom became extinct.[5]

Clifford married Lady Frances Cecil (1593 – 14 February 1644), daughter of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Elizabeth Brooke on 25 July, 1610, at St Mary Abbots Church, Kensington.[6] They had one child: Lady Elizabeth Clifford who married Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington.[1]

  1. ^ a b Lundy, Darryl. "Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland". The Peerage. p. 1634 § 16339.
  2. ^ Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995)
  3. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cumberland, Dukes and Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 620.
  4. ^ Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 173, 183.
  5. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  6. ^ Lysons, Daniel. "Kensington Pages 170-230 The Environs of London: Volume 3, County of Middlesex". British History Online. Retrieved 7 November 2021.