Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland ( 1640 - 1702 )

Birth: Paris, France, Europe (5 September 1641) Death: Althorp House, Northamptonshire, England, Europe (28 September 1702) Burial: Brington, Northamptonshire, England, Europe Occupation: politician; diplomat Education: Pupil of Thomas Pierce; Christ Church, Oxford (1661) Career: Travelled abroad (1658-1665); Commissioned in Prince Rupert's Regiment of Horse (1667); Ambassador Extraordinary to Madrid (1671-1672), Paris (1672); one of the Plenipotentiaries at Cologne (1673); Privy Councillor (1674-1681, 1682-); Gentleman of the Bedchamber (1674); Ambassador Extraordinary to The Hague (1678-1679); Secretary of State (North) (1679); intrigued against the Duke of York; Lord President of the Council (1685); in the pay of the French, he also revealed state secrets to the prince of Orange through his wife and her lover, his uncle Henry Sidney; fled to Rotterdam, disguised as a woman (1688); briefly imprisoned by the Dutch (1689); became a Roman Catholic (1688) but recanted (16910; returned to England (1691); Lord Chamberlain (1697) Membership: Fellow Election Date: 15/05/1662.