Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (6 August 158425 July 1643) was an English nobleman who joined the Royalist side in the English Civil War after some delay and became lieutenant-general of the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge and Norfolk. He was killed in a friendly fire incident after being captured by Parliamentary forces.

Early life Pierrepont was the second son of Sir Henry Pierrepont of Holme Pierrepont, Nottinghamshire, and his wife Frances Cavendish, a daughter of Sir William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick. His sister became Grace, Lady Manners, of Haddon Hall.

In 1596 he became an undergraduate of Oriel College, Oxford, and was later a benefactor in the rebuilding of the college's Front Quad.

Career Pierrepont was one of the two Members of Parliament for Nottinghamshire in 1601. He became a JP for Nottinghamshire in 1608 and was appointed High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1615. He was created Baron Pierrepont and Viscount Newark in 1627 and Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull the following year.

He eventually became a Royalist, joining King Charles, and was appointed lieutenant-general of royal forces in the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge and Norfolk. father-in-law of Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare, and of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle.

Pierrepont's daughter Lady Frances (born 1615) married Philip Rolleston, Esquire.

He was succeeded in his peerage by his son Henry, who built the first Thoresby Hall in 1670. The author Frances Catherine Barnard was a descendant.

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