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Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, (1536 - 1608) was an English statesman and poet. He was a Member of Parliament, and Lord Treasurer. His house, Knole House, at Knole in Kent, is celebrated.
He was author, with Thomas Norton, of the play Gorboduc (1562).
He was created 1st Baron Buckhurst in 1567, and Earl of Dorset in 1604. Dorset quickly became one of the favourites of the King, James I, and was soon promoted to finance minister. However, Dorset's sqaundering of the Royal Treasury was to prove disastrous to King James' already serious financial situation, and he was nicknamed "Lord Fill-Sack" (a pun on Dorset's last name), for the way in which he would unhesitatingly line his pockets. Dorset died in 1608 and James' next minister, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, was also to prove disastrous in terms of corruption and waste.
Preceded by:
New Creation
| Earl of Dorset
| Followed by:
Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset
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