The Death of Sir Henry Unton - 23 March 1596
- thedudleywomen
- Mar 23
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 27
On 23 March 1596, scholar, soldier and ambassador Sir Henry Unton, the eldest surviving son of the late Anne Seymour, Countess of Warwick, died whilst serving on a diplomatic mission to France, aged around 38 years old.
According to the c.1596 portrait, Henry was born in c.1555 at the manor house of Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire; this had come into the possession of the Unton family through the first marriage of his mother. Henry, sometimes referred to as 'Sir Henry Umpton', was the second son of Anne Seymour, daughter of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and his second wife Anne Stanhope, and her second husband Sir Edward Unton. The couple had married in April 1555, six months after the death of Anne's first husband John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick; despite her second marriage, Anne continued to use the title of 'Countess of Warwick' throughout her life (Strong, 1999; History of Parliament, 2024; National Portrait Gallery, 2024).
Following his father's death in 1582, Henry was granted the guardianship of his mother Anne, whom an inquest, held in October 1582, heard was "a lunatic enjoying lucid intervals" (Nichols, 1841, pg. xliv); he remained responsible for her care until her death in February 1591. Despite Anne's longstanding incapacitation, due to her mental illness (the 1582 inquest heard that she first began suffering from episodes of mental illness since 1566), his relationship with his mother was important enough to ensure that it was depicted in the memorial portrait 'Sir Henry Unton' c.1596.
Despite being the second son, Henry was the favoured child of his father; on his death bed, Sir Edward Unton wrote that he he wished to make Henry his heir over his elder son Edward, as "he deserves it", but felt he could not "to the prejudice of his elder brother" (Strong, 1999, p.90). As such, he received a well-rounded education, including at Oriel College, Oxford, although did not receive his Master's degree. His high level of education was reflected in his later years, as he became a patron of music, literacy and the arts to many (History of Parliament, 2025). His mother Anne and her younger sisters, despite being female, had received a privileged humanist education, under French educator and painter Nicolas Denisot, becoming fluent in French, Italian, Greek and Latin, with their virtues being widely praised (Strong, 1999; Scard, 2020). Given his later appointment as ambassador to France, it is highly likely that Henry, and at least his brother Edward, received similar levels of education, including in multiple languages, as Henry was later described as a 'linguist', and was known to be fluent in French and Italian (Strong, 1999; History of Parliament, 2025). After completing his education, he followed in his father's footsteps, and travelled throughout Europe, to France, Italy and Hungary, before returning home and marrying in 1580 and starting his own family (Strong, 1999). As a young man starting his career, Henry gained the patronage of favoured men of the Elizabethan court, including Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (the younger brother of his mother's first husband John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick), Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State and Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor; it was in Hatton's household that Henry gained employment, prior to being dispatched to the Netherlands in 1586, along with Hatton's nephew and heir, William Hatton, who would become his life-long friend and companion (Nichols, 1851; History of Parliament, 2025).
The pair fought alongside Leicester and his men at the Battle of Zutphen in September 1586, the English army having been dispatched to support the Dutch Protestant Rebels against the Spanish Catholic rulers. Many Catholic aristocrats and Leicester allies fought in that battle, including Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Sir Philip Sidney, Leicester's nephew, who would die three weeks later of gangrene caused by a bullet wound sustained during the fighting (Stewart, 2000). Following the battle, both Henry and William Hatton were knighted by Leicester; on their return to England, the men were both part of the 344-strong funeral procession four months later on 16 February 1587, walking amongst the twelve knights following Philip's body from where it had been lying in state at Holy Trinity 'Minories', to St Paul's Cathedral, as depicted in the magnificent ten-metre funeral roll (Bodleian Libraries, 2025; History of Parliament Online, 2025).
Following the death of Leicester in 1588 and later Walsingham in 1590, Unton then appears to fall under the patronage of the Earl of Essex, whom he served with in the Netherlands, and had become the new favourite of the aging Elizabeth I. Likely through recommendations from Essex, Henry was appointed as the Ambassador to France in July 1591. This was a difficult time, as France was divided by religious civil war; the French Huguenot king Henri IV had claimed the French throne, but his reign was not recognised by Catholic citizens, with his monarchy challenged by the Catholic League, supported by Catholic Spain (Strong, 1999). During this initial expedition in the summer of 1591, Henry first suffered from a period of ill health, reporting that he suffered from a fever accompanied by "an attack of yellow jaundice" (Nichols, 1841, p. liv).
Following his recovery, Henry and the Earl of Essex both incurred the wrath of the queen by disobeying direct orders in supporting Henri IV in the Siege of Rouen, an unsucessful attempt to recapture the medieval Normandy town. Whilst Essex was eventually forgiven, Henry was not so fortunate, as he found himself increasingly isolated, and lacking the support of favoured men at court, as his old mentor Christopher Hatton died in November 1591. On his return to England, Henry found himself in disgrace and banished from court; he subsequently took up a position in parliament for the next three years, until it was decided he should be reappointed as ambassador (History of Parliament, 2025).
In December 1595, Henry was again sent back as the Ambassador to France. However, by February 1596, he wrote how 'misery' and 'sickness' was spreading through the English camp, in the Spanish-held town of Le Fère, Picardy, with one of his servants having previously died. By 20 February, Henry's own health had deteriorated, stating that his "weakness is greatly increased" (Nichols, 1841, p. liv). Strong (1999) notes that on 24 February, Henry fell from his horse, following which, regular correspondance ceased, with the injured and weak ambadassor taking to his bed the following day, 25 February. Henry wrote to William Cecil, Baron Burghley, Lord Treasurer, on 17 March, stating that for the past few days, he had been suffering from a 'malignant fever', and had been attended by physicians, and felt somewhat improved. However, on what was to be his final correspondance written on 20 March, Henry reported that his fever continued and his weakness has 'greatly increased'. Henry reported that in an attempt to treat his failing health, he underwent bloodletting and purging, an ancient but common practice of intentionally draining blood in an attempt to treat a multitude of illnesses and diseases, including by the French King, Henri IV's personal physician, although reflected that no treatment brought him relief "and so I must humbly take my leave" (Nichols, 1841, pp. lvii-lviii), Over the next few days, his health health, which was said to be a fever 'accompanied by the purples', continued to significantly deteriorate. French King Henri IV, despite the risk of infection, visited Henry in his final hours, paying his respects to his ally and friend. Henry's lingering death finally ended on 23 March 1596 (Nichols, 1841; History of Parliament, 2025).
Following his death, Henry's body was transported back to England; he was initially brought back to the manor of Wadley, which he had inherited from his father in 1581. On 08 July 1596, his funeral was held at All Saints' Church, Faringdon, the parish church where both of his parents had been buried in Oxfordshire, and close to where he had built a new home. As he died whilst holding the position of Ambassador to France, Henry was entitled to the funeral honours similar to those of the rank of a Baron, where it was said that he was buried with 'great pomp' and ceremony (History of Parliament, 2025).
Music had always played an important part in Henry's life and household, just as it had his paternal grandfather Edward Seymour (Woods, 1999). In his honour, John Dowland, Elizabethan composer and lutist, composed the piece 'Sir Henry Umpton's Funeral'. This piece was later published in 1604, along with a collection of slow, mournful works called 'Lachrimæ' (or 'Seaven Teares'), scored specifically for string instruments (violins, viols and lutes) (Strong, 1999).
Following Henry's death, poems were written and published dedicated to the life and death of a man who could claim ancestry from great Tudor families, specifically his Seymour heritage. William Gager was one such poet, who was familiar with Henry, but did not know him personally; he contributed to a collection of funerary poems edited by Henry's personal chaplain, Robert Wright. In one, Gager claimed a previous close friendship between Henry and Sir Walter Devereux, the younger brother of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, with whom he had fought at the Siege of Rouen in 1591, where the younger 'Wat' had lost his life (History of Parliament Online, 2025; The Philological Museum, 2025).
Also after his death, Henry's widow Dorothy commissioned an unusual narrative portrait, commemorating multiple significant events throughout his life: from infancy, as a child in the arms of his mother Anne, his education at Oriel College, serving in the Netherlands with Robert Dudley, his death in France, to his subsequent transportation back to England and funeral and burial at Faringdon. His ancestry was also highlighted, specifically that of his Seymour ancestry: the Seymour coat of arms displayed above the depiction of his mother, along with an inscription (now illegible), referring to her father Edward "oe protector of his persone and ye relm" and uncle Thomas "Lord Admiral of England, and married unto Katherine Parr", ord Admiral of England, and married unto Katherine Parr," despite their convictions for treasons and subsequent executions (National Portrait Gallery, 2024). Strong (1999, p.84-5) describes the portrait as a 'memento mori': a deliberate piece of propaganda, retelling the "glories of the house of Unton under Sir Henry", emphasied by "a Triumph of Fame, who blows her trumpet...towards Sir Henry's right ear".
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