Probably a contemporary of Jonson 's at Westminster , Carleton graduated BA from Christ Church, Oxford in 1595. He travelled for the next five years, and then briefly became secretary to Sir Thomas Parry, ambassador to France (1602-3). In 1605 he saw, and wrote an account of, Blackness . He was appointed ambassador to Brussels in May 1610, but at the last minute his commission was changed to Venice, where he replaced Sir Henry Wotton. He was knighted that September, and arrived in Venice in November. He finished in Venice in 1615, and the following year went as ambassador to The Hague. Having gained Buckingham 's favour, he returned to England in 1625, when he was made vice-chamberlain of the household and a privy councillor, but he was sent almost immediately on an embassy to France . Returning to England in 1626, he supported Buckingham in his impeachment, although without much success. Charles created him Lord Carleton of Imbercourt in May 1626, as a means of strengthening support for the king in the upper house. He was soon, however, sent on yet another embassy to The Hague, not returning until after his wife's death in April 1627; he was created Viscount Dorchester in July 1628. A month later he witnessed the assassination of Buckingham . He died in February 1632, leaving a vast surviving correspondence.