George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland

Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, KG (8 August 1558 – 30 October 1605) was an English peer, naval commander and courtier of Queen Elizabeth I.

Clifford was born on 8 August 1558 at Brougham Castle in Westmorland, the son and heir of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland (died 1570).

The Barons de Clifford, a junior branch of the Clifford feudal barons of Clifford of Clifford Castle in Herefordshire, had established themselves in the late 13th century at Appleby Castle in Westmorland in the north of England;

His father died in 1570 when George was a minor aged 12. His valuable wardship and marriage was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG (died 1585) who in 1577 married him off to his daughter Lady Margaret Russell (1560–1616).

Life at court meant that George Clifford spent an increasing amount of time in southern England, away from his family's estates. As a result, Brougham Castle, one of his properties in the north, was neglected and abandoned. George's fellow courtier commented on his northern upbringing, writing to the steward of the Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex that he disliked George Clifford as "the rudest Earll by reson of his northerly bringen up".

Clifford rose in the world as an accomplished jouster and became Queen Elizabeth's second Champion on the retirement of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley. A portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard circa 1590 commemorates the appointment, showing him in tilting attire with the Queen's glove pinned to his hat as a sign of her favour. She made him a Knight of the Garter in 1592 and he sat as a peer in the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Clifford was involved in the formation of the East India Company.

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