HENRY RICH, EARL OF HOLLAND.
By Cornelius Jansen.
EXECUTED 1649.
Breastplate. Order of the Garter. White collar. White and gold sleeves.
Flowing hair.
He was the second son of Robert Rich, first Earl of Warwick, by the Lady Penelope Devereux, daughter of Walter Earl of Essex.
Clarendon says of him that ‘he was a very handsome man, of a lovely and winning presence and genteel conversation.’ He went to France in his youth, was afterwards in arms in Holland; and returning to England, presented himself at Court. Here he attracted the notice and favour of George Duke of Buckingham, then all-powerful with King James I. Young Rich was said to have flattered his patron not a little, and certainly if he did so, it was to some purpose. It seems to have been through Buckingham’s intervention that he married the rich heiress of Sir John Cope of Kensington, of which place Rich shortly bore the title of Baron. He also held offices at Court, both about the King’s person and that of Henry, Prince of Wales, was made Earl of Holland, Knight of the Garter, Privy Councillor, and sent Ambassador to treat, concerning the marriage of Prince Charles, first in Spain and afterwards in France. On the latter occasion, it was rumoured that his beauty and courtliness made a deep impression on the heart of Henrietta Maria.
He also went to Holland with the Duke of Buckingham on matters regarding the Palatinate, etc.
In 1639, on the first breaking out of an insurrection of the Scots, he was made General of the Horse in that expedition, and though not in arms at the commencement of the Civil War, when evil days fell on the King, Holland joined him with many other Royalist noblemen, and being appointed General of the King’s army, numbers flocked to ask commissions from him. But in July 1648, after several fluctuations of fortune, Lord Holland was pursued, and taken prisoner near St. Neot’s, in Huntingdonshire, whence he was conveyed to Warwick House, and finally to the Tower.