Ralph Sadleir

The Right Honourable Sir Ralph Sadler Knight banneret, PC
Possible portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger
Secretary of State
In office April 1540 – 23 April 1543
Monarch	Henry VIII
Preceded by	Thomas Cromwell
Succeeded by	William Paget
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 16 May 1568 – 15 June 1587
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Preceded by	Sir Ambrose Cave
Succeeded by	Sir Francis Walsingham
Personal details
Born	Ralph Sadler 1507 Hackney, Middlesex
Died	30 March 1587 (aged 79–80) Standon, Hertfordshire
Resting place	St. Mary's Church, Standon, Hertfordshire 51°52′52″N 0°01′38″E / 51.881111°N 0.027222°E / 51.881111; 0.027222
Spouse(s)	Ellen (or Margaret) Barre
Children	Thomas Sadler Edward Sadler Henry Sadler Anne Sadler Mary Sadler Jane Sadler Dorothy Sadler Richard Sadler
Parents	Henry Sadler

Sir Ralph Sadler PC, Knight banneret (1507 – 30 March 1587; also spelled Sadleir, Sadlier) was an English , who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI. Having signed the device settling the crown on Jane Grey in 1553, he was obliged to retire to his estates during the reign of Mary I. Sadler was restored to royal favour during the reign of Elizabeth I, serving as a Privy Councillor and once again participating in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 1568.

Ralph Sadler was born in Hackney, Middlesex, the elder son of Henry Sadler, a minor official in the service of the Marquess of Dorset and Sir Edward Belknap. Henry Sadler was originally from Warwickshire, but later settled in Hackney. Ralph had a brother, John, who commanded a company at the Siege of Boulogne in 1544.

At around seven years of age, Sadler was placed in the household of Thomas Cromwell, later Earl of Essex, where he received an excellent education. He was taught to read and write, becoming fluent in French, Latin and Greek and acquired a working knowledge of the law. He proved to be not only intelligent and resourceful, but also capable of great feats of horsemanship and was skilled at falconry. He was fortunate to find allocation of lodging at Court, without which an aspiring courtier had to seek permission from the King, and a potentially ruinous bill for accommodation near Hampton Court. He pleaded with Cromwell that banishment from court would mean utter disgrace and penury.