Henry Unton

Sir Henry Unton (or Umpton) (c. 155723 March 1596) was an Elizabethan English diplomat. Life Unton was born at Wychwood and was the second son of Sir Edward Unton (d. 1583) of Wadley House, near Faringdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). His mother Lady Anne Seymour (d. 1588) was a daughter of the Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector under Edward VI. His elder brother was Edward Unton, who died in 1589. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, Unton became the member of parliament for New Woodstock in 1584. He served with the English forces in the Netherlands in 1585 and 1586, being present at the skirmish of Zutphen. In 1586 he was knighted by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. In 1591, through the good offices of the earl of Essex, Unton was sent as ambassador to Henry IV of France; he became very friendly with this king and accompanied him on a campaign in Normandy before he was recalled to England in June 1592.