John Fortescue

Notes:

"Sir John, who was an Esquire of the Body to King Edward the Fourth, was sent by him as Sheriff into Cornwall, where he had to conduct the siege of St. Michael's Mount, which was defended by the Earl of Oxford. This was in 1471; in 1481 he was Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Essex, and in a year or two the King made him "Master Porter" of Calais. King Richard the Third, who had succeeded by the murder of his nephew, sent Sir John Fortescue a fresh appointment as Esquire of the Body to the King, with a salary of fifty marks, which appointment carried with it the title of 'Sir;' but Sir John Fortescue joined his old adversary the Earl of Oxford, and they offered their services to the Earl of Richmond, who soon after became Henry the Seventh. Landing at Milford Haven on August 6, 1485, on the 22nd the decisive battle of Bosworth Field was fought, in which Sir John, who had been knighted by Henry on his landing, took his part. The victory gave the throne without a rival to Henry the Seventh, and the King rewarded Sir John by making him, within a month of the battle, Chief Butler of England, and by many grants of forfeited manors. At the coronation he was made Knight banneret. Sir John was much at Court henceforward, among other occasions at the festivities in 1494, when Prince Henry, afterwards Henry the Eighth, then but two years old, was created Duke of York and a Knight of the Bath. At length, crossing over to Calais with the King and Queen, in May, 1500, to avoid the plague, of which thirty thousand persons died in London in that year, his own life came to a close immediately after a speedy return to England, for he died at Punsborne July 28, 1500." [John Morris, citation details below]

John married Alice Boleyn before 1473. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Adrian Fortescue was born about 1476; died on 10 Jul 1539 in Tower of London, London, England.

Notes:

According to John Morris (citation details below), he was killed at the Battle of St. Albans fighting on the Lancastrian side.

He may have been a son of his father's first wife, Eleanor Norreys; secondary sources disagree.

Richard married Alice de Windsor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1435
• Alternate death: Bef 1436

Notes:

According to John Morris (citation details below), he fought at Agincourt in 1415, and in 1422 he was governor of Meaux in France. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (citation details below), he was "not a soldier, as historians of the family have claimed, but a local administrator and man of affairs, above all in the service of the Courtenay family."

John married Clarice before 1408. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (citation details below), she was John Fortescue's first wife. The ODNB makes no mention of another wife, Eleanor, who is called the mother of Henry Fortescue in the History of Parliament (citation details below) entry on the latter. The ODNB identifies Clarice as the mother of both Henry and John, and we follow that.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1409
• Alternate death: Aft 1411

William married Elizabeth Beauchamp. Elizabeth (daughter of John de Beauchamp and Margaret de Whalesborough) was born in of Whympston in Modbury, Devon, England; died after 1409. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1411