John Flower

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Rutland, 1563. Sheriff of Rutland 1565-66, 1569-70, 1577-78.

"The last 50 years of Flower’s life were dogged by financial hardship and, despite the 1564 bishops’ report describing him as an ‘earnest furtherer of religion’, suspicion of recusancy. About 1578 he was removed from the commission of the peace and in 1582 was summoned before the High Commission on suspicion of harbouring the priests Chambers and Campion. His wife, son and daughter-in-law were all Catholics, and by the time of Flower’s death on 30 Apr. 1620, when his son and heir John was aged over 50, litigation and, probably, recusancy fines had consumed most of the property." [History of Parliament]

Family/Spouse: Margery Colley. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Anne Flower

Richard married Alice Harington. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The History of Parliament page for Nicholas Fairfax (1498/99-1571), her third husband (she was his second wife), confirms that she was a daughter of Sir John Harington of Exton, Rutland, and that her first husband Richard Flower died in 1540.

Roger married Dorothy Conyers. Dorothy (daughter of Reginald Conyers) was born in of Wakerley, Northamptonshire, England; died in 1548. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Rutland 1529, 1539, 1542. Sheriff of Rutland 1520-21, 1533-34, 1540-41, 1552 to his death. Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire 1532-33. Sheriff of Lincolnshire 1537-38.

"It was the Pilgrimage of Grace that first brought Harington to more than local prominence. He was one of the first to rally to the crown, and he was later one of the pledges delivered to Aske in exchange for the messengers sent to Doncaster to declare the rebel grievances. Afterwards he played a leading part in the punishment of the rebels and the restoration of order and was among those whom Sir William Parr singled out for praise in that regard. Within three years, shortly before his attendance at the reception of Anne of Cleves, he had been made an esquire of the body, and the numerous leases and purchases of monastic lands which he made at this time, together with his knighting in 1542, probably at the opening of Parliament, were further signs of favour. He had earlier been indebted to the King for distraint of knighthood." [History of Parliament]

John married Elizabeth Moton in 1513. Elizabeth (daughter of Robert Moton and Philippa Willoughby) was born in of Peckleton, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Alice Southill. Alice (daughter of Henry Southill) was buried in Exton, Rutland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Philippa Willoughby. Philippa was born in of Rand, Lancashire, England; died on 6 Jan 1517. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Maud Prisot. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1481

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Leicestershire. Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire 1471-72.

William married Margaret Harcourt. Margaret (daughter of Robert Harcourt and Margaret Byron) died on 30 Mar 1477. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Catherine Culpepper. Catherine (daughter of John Culpepper and Julianna Cromwell) died about 1476. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Chief justice of the common pleas. "Prysot was known as a learned judge--he is recorded as citing a law book of Edward I's time which was probably Britton. His opinions are frequently recorded in the law reports, for instance in his argument for statute as the only 'positive' law, taking precedence over prescription. He was said to have assisted Sir Thomas Littleton (d. 1481) in the preparation of the latter's Tenures, and his opinions were still being referred to over a century after his death." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]

John married Margaret. Margaret died after 1474. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1475

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1457

Robert married Elizabeth Mulsho before 1441. Elizabeth (daughter of Edmund Mulsho) died in 1468. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The generally fastidious F. N. Craig (citation details below) gives her death date as 1474, but Skillington et al. (citation details below) show that in the patent roll for 1468, it's stated that various persons were commissioned to inquire "what lands Elisabeth, who was the wife of Robert Moton, knight, held in the county of Leicester of the king in chief on the day she died and who is her next heir."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 20 Sep 1410, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, England

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Oxfordshire, 1447, 1450-51. Knight of the shire for Berkshire, 1460-61. Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, 1444-45. Sheriff of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, 1455-56. Steward of Oxford University.

In 1445, he was one of those sent to France to escort Margaret of Anjou to England.

"His feud with the Staffords began in 1448 by the killing of Richard Stafford at Coventry. He was pardoned for his part in the affair in 1450. In 1457 he was still in favor with the Lancastrian government, but by 1459, he was denounced as a Yorkist. [...] [He] was slain by the adherents of the Staffords of the Lancastrian party 14 Nov. 1470." [Royal Ancestry, citation details below.]

Robert married Margaret Byron before 1441. Margaret (daughter of John Byron and Margaret Booth) died on 25 May 1486; was buried in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1479