Henry CLIFFORD

(2nd E. Cumberland)

Born: 1517, Skipton, Yorkshire, England

Christened: 4 Oct 1531

Died: 2/8 Jan 1569/70, Castle Brougham, Westmoreland, England

Buried: 4 Dec 1593, Skipton Church, Skipton, Yorkshire, England

Father: Henry CLIFFORD (1º E. Cumberland)

Mother: Margaret PERCY (C. Cumberland)

Married 1: Eleanor BRANDON (C. Cumberland)

Children:

1. Margaret CLIFFORD (C. Derby)

2. Charles CLIFFORD

Married 2: Anne DACRE (C. Cumberland) ABT 1552/3, Kirk Oswald

Children:

3. George CLIFFORD (3º E. Cumberland)

4. Francis CLIFFORD (4º E. Cumberland)

5. Eleanor CLIFFORD

6. Mary CLIFFORD

7. Frances CLIFFORD (B. Wharton)

8. Henry Francis CLIFFORD

Eldest son of Henry Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland, by Margaret, daughter of Henry Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland. Henry, 12th Lord Clifford was made Knight of the Bath in 1533 on the vigil of Queen Anne Boleyn's coronation and in the same year he was contracted to married Henry VIII's niece Eleanor Brandon. Henry VIII was present at the wedding and in his will he entailed the crown to Eleanor's children if there was no issue from Henry's own children or by his other niece Lady Frances. The expenses of this alliance seriously impoverished his estate, and obliged him to alienate 'the great manor of Temedbury, co. Hereford, the oldest estate then remaining in the family'. He succeeded to his father's titles in Apr 1542.

Henry Clifford and Eleanor Brandon had three children, two boys whom both died in infancy and a daughter Margaret. Eleanor died in 1547 and her husband was heartbroken. He was very ill for a long time and retired to the country to recover.

After his retirement in 1547 he is said to have visited the court only thrice: at Queen Mary's coronation, on his daughter's marriage, and again soon after Queen Elizabeth's accession. He was the bearer of the Third Sword at the Catholic Queen Mary's coronation and was Lord Lieutenant of Westmorland from 1553 to 1559 but when Elizabeth came to the throne he was accused of protecting popish priests in the North with Lord Dacre, his father-in-law. A similar charge was advanced in Feb 1562. He was in 1569 strongly opposed to the contemplated marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and the Duke of Norfolk. In 1569 he supported Mary Queen of Scots claim to the English throne but he did not take part in the Catholic Rising of the Northern Earls. He had promised support to the great rebellion of that year; but when the critical moment arrived he did not act with vigour, but as a ' crazed man ', leaving his tenants to the leadership of Leonard Dacre (FROUDE, vii. 469, ix. 412, 446, 449, 511). According to Dugdale, he even assisted Lord Scrope in fortifying Carlisle against the rebels. He died shortly after 8 Jan 1569/70,at Brougham Castle, and was buried at Skipton, where his skeleton was seen by Whitaker in Mar 1803. It is described as being that 'of a very tall and slender man'... 'Something of the face might still be distinguished, and a long prominent nose was very conspicuous'.

A curious story, from the family manuscripts at Appleby: he was on one occasion, while in a trance, laid out and covered with a hearse-cloth ready for burial. He slowly recovered, after having for a month or more been fed with milk from a woman's breast. He is said to have been a strong man in later life.

The second Earl of Cumberland is described by his daughter as having 'a good library', being 'studious in all manner of learning, and much given to alchemy'. His second wife was Anne (d. Jul 1581), daughter of William, third lord Dacre of Gillesland. By his second wife he had two sons, George and Francis, respectively third and fourth earls of Cumberland, and a daughter, Frances, who married Phillip, lord Wharton.

to Bios Page	to Family Page
to Peerage Page	to Home Page