SOUTHAMPTON, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of, English statesman, b, 6 October, 1573d. in Holland, 10 November, 1624. In 1596 he served in the expedition of the Earl of Essex to Cadiz, and in 1599 he was general of horse under Essex in Ireland. After seeing further service in Holland, he took part in the insurrection that, his former chief headed in London, and was sentenced to death, but pardoned by the queen. He took part in the colonization of this country under Sir Walter Ralegh, sending out the expedition in the "Concord," under Batholomew Gosnold in 1602, at his own expense, and also interested many others in schemes for developing the New World, including his brother-in-law, Lord Arundel, and the latter's son-in-law, Cecil Calvert, afterward Lord Baltimore. In 1605, with Lord Arundel he despatched an expedition to New England. Though his name does not appear in the first charter of the London company of Virginia, he is credited with the chief part in obtaining it, and in the second charter his name stands next to those of the high officers of state. When his friend, Sir Edwin Sandys, who had converted him to Protestantism, retired from the treasurership of the company (its chief office), Southampton was unanimously chosen in his stead, and he continued the liberal policy of Sandys, retaining office till the company's charter was taken away. Southampton was a firm supporter of religious liberty, and was imprisoned by the king's order for some time in 1621 on a charge of corresponding with the Independents. After the Virginia company had been suppressed, he commanded a regiment in the Netherlands in the struggle for Dutch independence. In their winter-quarters at Rozendaal he and his son were seized with fever. The latter died, and the earl followed him after recovering sufficiently to reach Bergen-op-Zoom on his way home. Shakespeare dedicated to him his "Venus and Adonis" in 1593, and the "Rape of Lucrece" in 1594, and he is the only man from whom the poet acknowledges receiving a benefit.