Life

He was the eldest son of George Clifford, esq., of Bobbing Court in Kent, by his wife Ursula, daughter of Roger Finch. He served in the army sent under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...

 to the siege of Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

 in 1591, being then a captain. He and John Wotton especially distinguished themselves in rescuing from the enemy the dead body of the earl's brother, Walter Devereux, who had fallen into an ambush during a demonstration before Rouen. In the same year Clifford was knighted. He represented the borough of Pembroke

Pembroke (UK Parliament constituency)

Pembroke was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pembroke in West Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:For the creation and early history of the seat, see...

 in the parliament which met 19 February 1593. At the bachelors' commencement in 1595 the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 conferred on him the degree of M.A.

On the news being received of the siege of Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 by the Spanish, the Earl of Essex pushed to Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

; he wrote to Sir Anthony Shirley (3 April 1596) that he had sent Clifford to see whether he could ascertain the state of the town. Later in the same year Clifford accompanied the expedition against Cadiz

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

, in the capacity of serjeant-major of the troops. He was one of the officers who formed the council. The declared value of his share of the plunder was £3,256.

By letters patent dated 4 September 1597 he was appointed President of Connaught in Ireland, with the command and conduct of forty horsemen and a band of footmen. For some months previously he had acted as chief commissioner of the province, and constable of Athlone Castle. The Earl of Essex, having received a supply of a thousand men from England, prepared to march northward, and, in order to divide the forces of Hugh Ó Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, he directed Clifford to penetrate from Connaught into Ulster to create a diversion. Clifford's force consisted of fifteen hundred foot and a hundred horse. On coming to the Curlew Mountains

Curlew Mountains

Viewed to the west travelling north, dominates the surrounding lakes of the north Roscommon and Leitrim countryside. Situated between Boyle, and Castlebalwin, the Curlew Mountains oversees the north Connacht countryside....

, the baggage and ammunition were halted under the protection of the horse, while the infantry attempted the passage. The Irish under O'Rourke attacked them vigorously, but were checked, and the men, having nearly consumed their ammunition, were seized with a panic and took to flight. Clifford and Sir Andrew Ratcliffe with 120 men were slain on the field. This was in 1599, about the month of August.

Clifford left in manuscript A brief Declaration relating to the Province of Connaught, how it stood in 1597.

Family

Clifford married Mary, daughter of Francis Southwell of Wymondham Hall, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, and widow successively of Thomas Sydney and Nicholas Gorge. By her he had issue two sons, Henry and Conyers, and a daughter, Frances, who died young. His wife survived him, and married a fourth husband, Sir Anthony St. Leger, knight. She died on 19 December 1603, aged thirty-seven.