Henry Cobham

Sir Henry Cobham (1537–1592) was an English diplomat.

Life The fifth son of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham, he was always known as, and signed himself, Henry Cobham. He went to Spain with Sir Thomas Chaloner the elder who was accredited as ambassador resident at Madrid in 1561, returning to England the same year with despatches. In 1567 he carried letters from Elizabeth I to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and the Archduke Charles at Vienna, when the queen hoped to reopen the negotiations for her marriage with the archduke, and returned with a negative answer.

In 1570 Cobham was sent to Antwerp, ostensibly on a mission of courtesy, but really to ascertain the destination of the fleet which the Duke of Alva was then equipping. He went on to Speyer, where he had audience of the Emperor (17 September), and went via Paris to Spain, accredited to Philip II as an envoy extraordinary. His instructions were to demand the release of the English ships seized by Alva in alleged retaliation for depredations committed by English privateers, and the expulsion of English Catholic refugees from Spain. He remained at Paris until 1583, when he was recalled.

Cobham represented Kent in the parliaments of 1586 and 1589, and was a member of the "privy council of the house" and committees. He died in 1592 at Sutton-at-Hone.

Family Cobham married Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Sutton of Nottinghamshire, widow of Walter Haddon by whom he had three sons. Of these the second became John Brooke, 1st Baron Cobham, but by his death without issue the title became extinct.