George Clifford , 3rd Earl of Cumberland Sir George Clifford , 3rd Earl of Cumberland , KG ( 8 August 1558 – 30 October 1605 ) was an English peer , as well as a naval commander and courtier in the court of Queen Elizabeth I . Background . Clifford was born at Brougham Castle in Westmorland . Son of the 2nd Earl of Cumberland , Henry Clifford , he was orphaned by his father ' s death in 1570 . Clifford subsequently succeeded to his father ' s titles . His guardianship was granted to the second Earl of Bedford , who married the young Clifford to his daughter Lady Margaret Russell in 1577 . The Clifford family was traditionally based in the north with lands in Westmorland ; however , life at court meant that George Clifford spent an increasing amount of time in southern England , away from his family ' s estates . As a result Brougham Castle , one of his properties in the north , was neglected and abandoned . At least one courtier commented on his northern upbringing , Charles Chester wrote to the steward of the Earl of Essex that he disliked George Cifford as ' the rudest Earll by reson of his northerly bringen up . ' Life at court . Clifford rose in the world as an accomplished jouster , becoming Queen Elizabeth ' s second champion on the retirement of Sir Henry Lee . She made him a Knight of the Garter in 1592 and he sat as a peer in the trial of Mary , Queen of Scots . He turned to sailing as a career at some point , commanding a ship in the Anglo - Spanish War . He had little success during the war but was later renowned for his naval battles against the Spanish fleet , and particularly Spanish shipping , in the Caribbean . He help to set up an expedition with Walter Raleigh which led to the capture of the very rich carrack Madre de Deus off Flores in 1592 . He had his own 38 - gun ship built , the " Scourge of Malice " . He is famous for his short lived 1598 capture of " Fort San Felipe del Morro " , the citadel protecting San Juan , Puerto Rico . He arrived in Puerto Rico on 15 June 1598 but by November of that year Clifford and his men had fled the island due to harsh civilian resistance . His buccaneer ing earned him quite a lot of money , but it seems that he lost so much at jousting and horse racing that he was eventually obligated to sell his inherited lands . Clifford was involved in the formation of the East India Company . Clifford died at The Savoy in Middlesex . Although he had two sons , Robert and Francis , they died before reaching the age of 5 . He had only one surviving child , his daughter Anne Clifford , who inherited the barony and to whom he left £15 , 000 at his death . He left the vast majority of his estate to his brother Francis Clifford , who also inherited the earldom . His tomb is in Holy Trinity church , Skipton , adjacent to the family seat at Skipton Castle . A cabinet minitaure by Nicholas Hilliard , c . 1590 , commemorates Clifford ' s appointment as the Queen ' s champion , showing him in tilting attire with the Queen ' s glove as her favor pinned to his hat . Armour . George Clifford ' s tournament armour survives ; it is considered the finest surviving garniture from the Tudor period . Holding the title of Queen ' s Champion , Clifford ' s armour would have to have been unrivaled in beauty . It was made at the Greenwich workshop originally established by King Henry VIII , and a drawing of it is included in the Jacob Album , a book of designs for 29 different armors for various Elizabethan gentlemen . Clifford ' s armour , as it is part of a garniture , includes many pieces of exchange , including a grandguard , an extra helmet , a shaffron and several lance guards . These extra pieces allowed for Clifford to modify his armour for different forms of tournament combat . The armour is of blued steel and etched and inlaid with elaborate gilded designs , incorporating columns of alternating Fleurs - de - lis and Tudor rose s , as well as the letter E ( for Queen Elizabeth I . ) it is currently located in the Armor Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , next to the two armour of Sir James Scudamore which were also made at the Greenwich armory . In literature . In Virginia Woolf ' s novel " " , The ' Earl of Cumberland ' discovers Orlando and his lover asleep amongst his cargo ; he believes them to be ghosts sent to punish him for his buccaneering . In his terror , the Earl vows to mend his ways and , in repentance , founds a row of almshouses . Although not explicitly stated , the period of the episode in the novel ( shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth I ) would suggest that the Earl referred to is the 3rd Earl .