Henry Docwra

Henry Docwra, 1st Baron Docwra of Culmore (1564 – 18 April 1631) was a leading English-born soldier and statesman in early seventeenth-century Ireland. He is often called "the founder of Derry", due to his role in establishing that city.

He was born at Chamberhouse Castle, Crookham, near Thatcham, Berkshire, into a minor gentry family, the Docrwas, who came originally from Yorkshire. He was the only son of Edmund Docwra MP and his wife Dorothy Golding, daughter of John Golding of Halstead, Essex, and sister of the noted translator Arthur Golding. His father was a prominent local politician, who sat in the House of Commons as MP for Aylesbury in the Parliament of 1571, but Edmund was later obliged by financial difficulties to sell Chamberhouse. The family's lack of money may be the reason why his son pursued a military career. Henry had no influential relatives and this was to be a considerable difficulty to him throughout his career, in an age when such connections were of great importance.

After serving for some years as a professional soldier in the Netherlands and France, Docwra was sent to Ireland in about 1584. He was made the constable of Dungarvan Castle, and served under Sir Richard Bingham, the governor of Connaught, in 1586. Bingham besieged Annis Castle near Ballinrobe, and used Ballinrobe as a base from which to attempt to pacify County Mayo. He was unable to subdue the powerful Burke clan, the dominant power in Mayo, and the campaign ended inconclusively.

Docwra left Ireland around 1590. Like many ambitious young army officers and courtiers of the time, he entered the service of the Earl of Essex, the royal favourite, and fought beside him in the war against Spain. He took part in the Siege of Rouen in 1591-2, and in the Capture of Cadiz in 1596. He was knighted by Essex in person for unspecified "acts of valour" at Cadiz. He saw military service with Maurice of Nassau in Maurice's campaigns in Brabant, and spent much of the late 1590s in the Netherlands. He did not take part in Essex's ill-fated Islands Voyage expedition to the Azores in 1597.

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