Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset

Who was Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset?

Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset was the son of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset.

Born at Charterhouse, 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.

Sackville is perhaps best remembered as the first husband of Lady Anne Clifford. They married on 27 February 1609, but 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, not to mention his extravagance and indebtedness – "one of the seventeenth century’s most accomplished gamblers and wastrels".

A rumor noted later by the antiquary John Aubrey had it that one of Richard Sackville's "concubines" was Venetia Stanley. She was said to have had children by him and he settled upon her an annuity of £500 per annum. Among the Earl's other mistresses was Martha Penistone, the wife of Sir Thomas Penistone, one of the Earl's retinue.