Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick

He was the first husband of Penelope Devereux, whom he divorced in 1605 on the grounds of her adultery.

He married twice: His first marriage was on 10 January 1581 to Lady Penelope Devereux (January 1563 – 7 July 1607), a daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex.

In 1605, Lord Rich was granted a divorce from his wife, who admitted adultery with Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy.

By Penelope, Rich had seven children: His second marriage, in 1616, was to Frances Wray (1568–1634), widow of Sir George St Paul, 1st Baronet, and second daughter of Sir Christoper Wray, Lord Chief Justice to Queen Elizabeth I. Wray was described as "a person of shining conversation and eminent bounty"; she survived her second husband and in her second widowhood was one of the richest women in Lincolnshire.

[citation needed] He died in March 1619, aged 59, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587–1658).