Essex, Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (c. 1541–1576)

English nobleman and soldier. In 1569 he raised troops to suppress the northern rebellion under the earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, and was made earl of Essex in 1572 for his service. His attempts to subdue and colonize Ulster (1573–75) were unsuccessful, though he conducted his campaign with great cruelty. Elizabeth I recalled him in 1575, but he was reappointed earl marshal of Ireland in 1576, and died in Dublin.