Henry Constable

Henry Constable (1562 – 9 October 1613) was an English poet, known particularly for Diana, one of the first English sonnet sequences. In 1591 he converted to Catholicism, and lived in exile on the continent for some years. He returned to England at the accession of King James, but was soon a prisoner in the Tower and in the Fleet. He died an exile at Liège in 1613.

Henry Constable, born in Newark-on-Trent in 1562, was the only child of Sir Robert Constable and Christiana Dabridgecourt, widow of Anthony Forster, and daughter of John Dabridgecourt of Langdon Hall, Warwickshire. His paternal grandparents were Sir Robert Constable and Katherine Manners, the daughter of George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros, and sister of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. According to Sullivan, the connections Robert Constable acquired through his marriage 'opened up a career of military service and public office'. Constable served under Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, in the campaign after the Northern Rebellion of 1569, and was knighted by Sussex at Berwick. He was Marshal of Berwick from 1576 to 1578, and was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance at some time before 4 August 1588. In the same year he had a son who was also named Henry, who became a Royalist army officer and the 1st Viscount Dunbar. Other children included daughter, Dorothy Lawson, who became a priest harbourer.