1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Unton, Sir Henry

UNTON (or Umpton), SIR HENRY (c. 1557–1596), English diplomatist, was the second son of Sir Edward Unton, or Umpton (d. 1583), of Wadley, near Faringdon, Berkshire, his mother, Anne (d. 1588), being a daughter of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, the protector. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, Unton became a member of parliament in 1584 and served with the English forces in the Netherlands in 1585 and 1586, being present at the skirmish of Zutphen. In 1586 he was knighted. 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. Again securing a seat in parliament he lost for a short time the favour of Queen Elizabeth; however, in 1593 he went again as ambassador to France. He died in the French camp at La Fere on the 23rd of March 1596, a collection of Latin verses being published in his memory at Oxford later in the year. This was edited by his chaplain, Robert Wright (1560–1643), afterwards bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.

There is an interesting picture in the National Portrait Gallery representing Unton and various scenes in his life. Many of his official letters are in the British Museum and in the Public Record Office, London. A collection of these was edited by Joseph Stevenson (1847), and some are printed in W. Murdiu’s Burghley Papers (1759).