Henry Unton

Sir Henry Unton, 1586 (artist unknown)

Sir Henry Unton (or Umpton) (c. 1557 – 23 March 1596) was an Elizabethan English diplomat.

Henry was the second son of Sir Edward Unton (d. 1583) of Wadley House, near Faringdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), his mother, Anne (d. 1588), being a daughter of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, the protector.

Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, Unton became a member of parliament in 1584 and served with the English forces in the Netherlands in 1585 and 1586, being present at the skirmish of Zutphen. In 1586 he was knighted by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

In 1591, through the good offices of the earl of Essex, Unton was sent as ambassador to Henry IV of France; he became very friendly with this king and accompanied him on a campaign in Normandy before he was recalled to England in June 1592.

Again securing a seat in parliament, he lost for a short time the favour of Queen Elizabeth. However, in 1593 he went again as ambassador to France. He died in the French camp at La Fere on the 23rd of March 1596, a collection of Latin verses being published in his memory at Oxford later in the year. This was edited by his chaplain, Robert Wright (1560-1643), afterwards bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.

External links

• Royal Berkshire History: Sir Henry Unton
• Tudor Place: Sir Henry Unton (Ambassador in France)
• Sir Henry Unton: A resource to supplement the MAPE Focus on History pack

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Unton, Sir Henry". [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]] (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)

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