Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset ( 1638 - 1706 )

Birth: 24 January 1638 Death: Bath, Somerset (29 January 1706) Burial: Withyam, Sussex Profession: Courtier Education: Privately educated Career: Travelled in Italy, returning to England at the Restoration; Colonel of Militia for Middlesex (1660-1662), Kent (1666); Commissioner for Assessment for Kent (1661-1663, 1664-1674), and for Sussex (1673-1674); Deputy Lieutenant of Kent (1661-1668?); MP for East Grinstead (1661-1675); accused of murder, but the prosecution was dropped or he was acquitted (1662); served in the Navy (1665); as a young man, he was notorious as a rake, Nell Gwynne being his mistress until she became the King's mistress (1668); Envoy to Louis XIV (1669); Gentleman of the Bedchamber (1669-1685); patron of men of letters, including John Dryden (FRS 1663) and Matthew Prior (FRS 1698); Lord Lieutenant of Sussex (1670-1688, 1689-death); Captain in the Duke of Buckingham's Foot (1672); inherited the estates of Lionel Cranfield, 3rd Earl of Middlesex, his maternal uncle, (1674); Custos Rotulorum of Sussex (1677-1688, 1689-death); High Steward of Stratford-upon-Avon (1684-death); helped his brother-in-law, Henry Compton, Bishop of London, to arrange the escape of Princess Anne (1689); Keeper of Greenwich Palace (1689-1697); Privy Councillor (1689-death); Lord Chamberlain of the Household (1689-1697); Joint Lieutenant of Somerset (1690-1691); one of the Lords Justices (1695-1698) Honours: Baron Cranfield of Cranfield and Earl of Middlesex 1675; KG 1692 Memberships: FSA (1699) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 11/01/1699.