William Jennings Capell, a retired grocery clerk from Yuba City, California and distant cousin of the 11th Earl, is the heir presumptive to the Earldom of Essex.
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The heir presumptive is the present holder's fourth cousin once-removed William Jennings Capell (b. 1952).
This appears true in the later section of her reign, post-Armada, when fractions led by the Earl of Essex, and the Cecils, argued over which way the war against Spain should proceed.
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Sir Robert Cecil, second son of Sir William Cecil, was Secretary of State in 1596 and master of Court of Wards after a clash with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
After a brief return to Lucca, in 1714, he set off for London, where he arrived with the reputation of a virtuoso violinist, and soon attracted attention and patrons, including William Capel, 3rd Earl of Essex, who remained a consistent patron.
In September 1644 AD, the English Civil War was at its height and the town of Lostwithiel was taken by the Earl of Essex who made it his headquarters.
Their ambition to drive a tunnel under Cassiobury Park, recently purchased by the borough council from the Earl of Essex, was opposed by local politicians.
Essex | James Earl Jones | Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex | Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma | Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | University of Essex | David Essex | Earl | Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts | Earl of Derby | Earl Warren | Earl of Pembroke | Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer | Earl of Warwick | Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | Earl of Shrewsbury | William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham | Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester | Essex County | Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick | Earl of Leicester | John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon | Essex County, Massachusetts | Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex | Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester | Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer | Earl of Devon | Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig | My Name Is Earl |
In 1591 he served under the Earl of Essex at Rouen and was knighted at the siege of Rouen in that year.
Some of his troops transferred to the Earl of Essex's force in Normandy, and Norreys' campaign proved so indecisive that he left for England in February 1592 and did not return to Brittany until September 1593, when he seized the great fortress of Crozon outside Brest, defended by 200 Spanish troops.
He is said by some, especially William Sanderson, to have persuaded the Earl of Essex to make his ill-fated march into Cornwall in 1644; he escaped with the earl from Fowey after the defeat of the parliamentary army in the first days of September 1644.
While at court he accused Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley of treason, with the "most indecent and contumelious words", and Lee's cousin, Thomas Lee (a captain in the Irish service who was later hanged for his involvement with the coup attempt of the Earl of Essex), wrote to Cecil seeking the opportunity to meet the charges.
On 12 December 1595 he wrote to the Earl of Essex from Rouen, with this uncertain but "constant bruit", saying that he would come to London and kiss Queen Elizabeth and the Earl's hands.
His son Sir William Temple (1555–1627) was secretary to Sir Philip Sidney and the Earl of Essex and afterwards provost of Trinity College, Dublin.
He joined the army of the Earl of Essex after the first Battle of Newbury, and took part in the occupation of Newport Pagnell.
Lacey, Robert: Robert, Earl of Essex: An Elizabethan Icarus (Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1971) ISBN 0-297-00320-8