Essex, Walter Devereux, 1st earl Of

Related Category: British and Irish History: Biographies

1541?–1576, English soldier. He helped in the suppression of the Northern Rebellion of 1569 and was created earl of Essex in 1572. In 1573 he volunteered to colonize a part of Ulster, then controlled by the O'Neill clan, and bring it under English rule. Famine, desertion of his troops, and the vacillation of Queen Elizabeth I negated his ruthless efforts to subdue the Irish. He was recalled (1575) and died soon afterward. His son, Robert, became the 2d earl of Essex.