1st Baron Hunsdon (1559-1596)
English soldier and courtier
Born c.1524 Died 1596
Henry Carey, was a son of William Carey (d. 1529); his mother was Mary (d. 1543), a sister of Anne Boleyn, and he was consequently cousin to Queen Elizabeth. Member of parliament for Buckingham under Edward VI and Mary, he was knighted in 1558, was created Baron Hunsdon in 1559, and in 1561 became a privy councillor and a knight of the Garter. In 1568 he became governor of Berwick and warden of the east Marches, and he was largely instrumental in quelling the rising in the north of England in 1569, gaining a decisive victory over Leonard Dacre near Carlisle in February 1570. Hunsdon received very little money to cover his expenses, but Elizabeth lavished honours upon him, although he did not always carry out her wishes. In 1583 he became lord chamberlain, but he did not relinquish his post at Berwick. Hunsdon was one of the commissioners appointed to try Mary, Queen of Scots; after Mary's execution he went on a mission to James VI of Scotland, and when the Spanish Armada was expected he commanded the queen's bodyguard. He died in London, at Somerset House on the 23rd of July 1596.
Extracted from the entry for HUNSDON, HENRY CAREY, 1ST BARON in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, the text of which lies within the public domain.