Henry Cromwell, 2nd Baron Cromwell (before 1 March 1538 – 20 November 1592), the son of Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell and Elizabeth Seymour, was an English peer during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was the grandson of Henry VIII's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, 1st earl of Essex, nephew of the Protector Somerset and first cousin of Edward VI.
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Family
Henry Cromwell was the eldest son of Gregory Cromwell, 1st baron Cromwell, only son and heir of Thomas Cromwell, and Elizabeth, widow of Sir Anthony Ughtred (d. 1534), daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, Wiltshire, and Margery Wentworth. He was baptised on 1 March 1538, probably at Hampton Court, where the Lady Mary almost certainly stood as godmother. Shortly after the baptism, his parents left for Lewes in Sussex to the former Cluniac Priory of St. Pancras, recently acquired by his grandfather, where they remained from March 1538 until early 1539, when they took up residence in Leeds Castle, Kent.
Henry's grandfather, Thomas Cromwell, had been created Baron Cromwell of Wimbledon in 1536 and Earl of Essex in 1540 as a reward for his service as chief minister to Henry VIII, but he had lost those titles by attainder in June 1540. On 18 December 1540, his son Gregory was created 1st Baron Cromwell. This title was a new creation rather than a restoration of his father's forfeited barony. Henry succeeded his father as the second Baron Cromwell under that creation. A minor at his father's premature death from sweating sickness on 4 July 1551, he was first summoned to Parliament in 1563.