English diplomat and moderate Royalist, a leading advocate of conciliation and reform during the events leading to the Civil War (1642–51).

He served as ambassador to Spain for King James I (ruled 1603–25) during most of the period from 1611 to 1624, and in 1622 he was created earl of Bristol.

In 1623 Bristol earned the undying hostility of Prince Charles (later King Charles I) by informing James of the blunders made by Charles and the royal favourite, George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, on a diplomatic mission to the Spanish court. Thus, when Charles ascended the throne, Bristol was removed from the Privy Council. In 1626 Charles imprisoned him to prevent him from bringing charges against Buckingham. Two years later the House of Lords obtained his release. Returning to his seat in the Lords, he helped obtain passage of the Petition of Right, which condemned arbitrary imprisonment and taxation by the king.

Bristol then retired from public life until 1639, when he reentered politics with the hope of relieving the mounting tensions between Charles and Parliament. Appointed a privy councillor in 1641, he was regarded by the Parliamentarians with particular hatred and distrust and was even subjected to a period of imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1642. Nevertheless, he worked for a negotiated settlement after the outbreak of the Civil War. Upon the collapse of the King's cause in 1646, he was exiled to France, where he spent the rest of his life.