, the first earl of Essex of this name and family, a general equally
, the first earl of Essex of this
name and family, a general equally distinguished for his
courage and conduct, and a nobleman not more illustrious
by his titles than by his birth, was descended from a most
ancient and noble farrr!“, being the son of sir Richard Devereux, knight, by Do 'thy, daughter of George earl of
Huntingdon, and gra.idson of Walter viscount of Hereford,
so created by king Edward the Sixth. He was born about
1540, at his grandfather’s castle in Carmarthenshire, and
during his education applied himself to his studies with
great diligence and success. He succeeded to the titles of
viscount Hereford and lord Ferrers of Chartley, in the
nineteenth year of his age, and being early distinguished
for his modesty, learning, and loyalty, stood in higii favour
with his sovereign, queen Elizabeth. In 1569, upon the
breaking out of the rebellion in the north, under the earls
of Northumberland and Westmoreland, he raised a considerable body of forces, which joining those belonging to
the lord admiral and the earl of Lincoln, he was declared
marshal of the army, and obliged the rebels to disperse.
This so highly recommended him to the queen, that in
1572 she honoured him with the garter, and on the 4th of
May, the same year, created him earl of Essex, as being
descended by his great grandmother from the noble
family of Bourchier, long before honoured with the same
title. In the month of January following, he was one of
the peers that sat in judgment upon the duke of Norfolk.
At this time he was such a favourite with the queen, that
some, who were for confining her good graces to themselves, endeavoured to remove him by encouraging an inclination he shewed to adventure both his person and fortune for her majesty’s service in Ireland. Accordingly, on
the 16th of August, 1573, he embarked at Liverpool, accompanied by lord Darcy, lord Rich, and many other persons of
distinction, together with a multitude of volunteers, who
were incited by the hopes of preferment, and his lordship’s
known reputation. His reception in Ireland was not very
auspicious landing at Knockfergus on the 16th of September, he found the chiefs of the rebels inclined apparently to submit; but having gained time, they broke out
again into open rebellion. Lord Rich was called away by
his own affairs, and by degrees, most of those who went
abroad with the earl, came home again upon a variety of
pretences. In this situation Essex desired the queen to
carry on the service in her own name, and by her own
command, though he should be at one half of the expence.
Afterwards he applied to the earls of Sussex and Leicester,
and the lord Burleigh, to induce the queen to pay one
hundred horse and six hundred foot; which, however, did
not take effect; but the queen, perceiving the slight
put upon him, and that the lord deputy had delayed sending him his commission, was inclined to recal him out of
Ulster, if Leicester and others, who had promoted his removal, had not dissuaded her. The lord deputy, at last,
in 1574, sent him his patent, but with positive orders to
pursue the earl of Desmond one way, while himself pressed
him another. The earl of Essex reluctantly obeyed, and
either forced or persuaded the earl of Desmond to submission; and it is highly probable, would have performed
more essential service, if he had not been thwarted. The
same misfortune attended his subsequent attempts; and,
excepting the zeal of his attendants, the affection of the
English soldiers, and the esteem of the native Irish, he
gained nothing by all his pains. Worn out at length
with these fruitless fatigues, he, the next year, desired
leave to conclude upon honourable terms an accommodation with Turlough Oneile, which was refused him. He
then surrendered the government of Ulster into the lord
deputy’s hands, believing the forces allowed him altogether insufficient for its defence; but the lord deputy
obliged him to resume it, and to majrch against Turlough,
Oneile, which he accordingly did; and his enterprize
” being in a fair way of succeeding, he was surprized to receive instructions, which peremptorily required him to
make peace. This likewise he concluded, without loss of
honour, and then turned his arms against the Scots from
the western islands, who had invaded and taken possession,
of his country. These he quickly drove out, and, by the
help of Norris, followed them into one of their islands;
and was preparing to dispossess them of other posts, when
he was required to give up his command, and afterwards
to serve at the head of a small body of three hundred men,
with no other title than their captain. All this he owed to
Leicester; but, notwithstanding his chagrin, he continued
to perform his duty, without any shew of resentment, out
of respect to the queen’s service. In the spring of the
succeeding year he came over to England, and did not hesitate to express his indignation against the all-powerful
favourite, for the usage he had met xvith. But as it was
the custom of that great man to debase his enemies by
exalting them, so he procured an order for the earl of Essex’s return into Ireland, with the sounding title of earl -marshal of that kingdom, and with promises that he should be left
more at liberty than in times past; but, upon his arrival
at Ireland, he found his situation so little altered for the
better, that he pined away with grief and sorrow, which at
length proved fatal to him, and brought him to his
end. There is nothing more certain, either from the
public histories, or private memoirs and letters of that age,
than the excellent character of this noble earl, as a
brave soldier, a loyal subject, and a disinterested patriot;
and in private life he was of a chearful temper, kind, affectionate, and beneficent to all who were about him. He
was taken ill of a flux on the 21st of August, and in great
pain and misery languished to the 22d of September,
1576, when he departed this life at Dublin, being scarcely
thirty-five years old. There was a very strong report at
the time, of his being poisoned; but for this there seems
little foundation, yet it must have been suspected, as an
inquiry was immediately made by authority, and sir Henry
Sidney, then lord deputy of Ireland, wrote very fully upon
this subject to the privy-council in England, and to one
of the members of that council in particular. The corpse
of the earl was speedily brought over to England, carried
to the place of his nativity, Carmarthen, and buried there
with great solemnity, and with most extraordinary i<
monies of the unfeigned sorrow of all the country round
about. A funeral sermon was preached on this occasion,
Nov. 26, 1576, and printed at London 1577, 4to. He
married Lettice, daughter to sir Frances Knolles, knight
of the garter, who survived him many years, and whose
speedy marriage after his death to the earl of Leicester,
upon whom common fame threw the charge of hastening
his death, perhaps might encourage that report. By this
lady he had two sons, Robert and Walter, and two daughters, Penelope, first married to Robert lord Rich, and
then to Charles Blount, earl of Devonshire; and Dorothy,
who becoming the widow of sir Thomas Perrot, knight,
espoused for her second husband Henry Percy earl of
Northumberland.