Sir Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, born in 1536, was one of the most prominent men of his time. In his earlier years a poet, he was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, his second cousin. In June, 1586, she granted him the reversion of Knole, but as this estate was leased to the Earl of Leicester, he did not come into actual possession until 1603. He married in 1554 Cicely, the daughter of Sir John Baker, of Sissinghurst. On the 8th of June, 1567, he was knighted, and on the same day created a baron under the title of Lord Buckhurst. After many services to the State he was made Lord High Treasurer in May, 1599. This office was confirmed to him by James I, whom he met on his arrival in England. In 1604 he was created Earl of Dorset. He died suddenly from a stroke while sitting at the council board in Whitehall on the 19th of April, 1608.

His literary and poetical works, including The Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex first performed in front of Queen Elizabeth I in 1561, were subsequently republished in 1859 by his descendant Reginald W. Sackville-West entitled The Works of Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst