Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland

Who was Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland?

Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland 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. In 1607 he became joint Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland, Northumberland and Westmorland. He was elected Member of Parliament for Westmorland in 1614, and was re-elected in 1621. In 1621 he became Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland. He was created Baron Clifford in 1628.

Clifford succeeded to the title of Earl of Cumberland in 1641 and died two years later in 1643 at the age of 52.

Clifford married Frances Cecil, daughter of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Elizabeth Brooke. They had one child: Elizabeth Clifford, 2nd Baroness Clifford who married Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington.