George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich

Who was George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich?

George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1628 when he was raised to the peerage.

Goring was the son of George Goring of Hurstpierpoint and Ovingdean, Sussex, and his wife Anne Denny, sister of Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich. He matriculated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1600, and may subsequently have spent some time in Flanders. He was knighted in 1608, became a favourite at court and benefitted from successful overseas policy and monopolies granted by King Charles I. In 1621 he was elected Member of Parliament for Lewes. He was made Knight Marshal in 1623. He was re-elected MP for Lewes in, 1624, 1625, 1626 and 1628. In 1628 he was created Baron Goring. He became a privy councillor in 1639 and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.

One year later the troubles between Charles and his Parliament became acute and Goring devoted his fortune freely to the royal cause; the king in November 1644 recreated for him the title which he created in 1628 for Lord Denny, Earl of Norwich, his uncle, which had just become extinct on his death. He went with Queen Henrietta Maria to the Netherlands in 1642 to raise money for the king, and in the autumn of the next year he was seeking arms and money from Cardinal Mazarin in Paris. His acts were revealed to the parliament in January 1644 by an intercepted letter to Henrietta Maria. He was consequently impeached of high treason but prudently remained abroad until 1647, albeit deprived of his lands and income, when he received a pass from parliament under a pretext of seeking reconciliation.