William Bonville

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1340, of Shute, Devon, England
• Alternate death: 14 Feb 1408

Notes:

"[A]mong the most prominent west-country gentry in the late fourteenth century, serving as MP for Devon and Somerset on ten and seven occasions respectively, and receiving a large number of local offices and commissions. He was a liveried retainer of the leading regional magnate, Edward Courtenay, earl of Devon, a close political and family bond that was destined to be violently sundered in the mid-fifteenth century." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry on his namesake grandson]

According to the History of Parliament: MP for Somerset, 1366; Devon, 1371, 1376, 1378, 1379, Nov 1380, 1381, May 1382, Oct 1382; Somerset Oct 1383, Apr 1384; Devon Apr 1384; Somerset Nov 1384, 1386, Feb 1388, 1393, 1395; Devon Jan 1397, Sep 1397; Somerset 1399; Devon 1402. He was also elected for Devon in Oct 1377 but was on active service overseas, so his seat was taken by Thomas Pomeroy. Not counting this last, this comes to twelve times for Devon and nine times for Somerset.

Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset 1 Nov 1381 - 24 Nov 1382; of Devon, 15 Nov 1389 - 7 Nov 1390.

"The Bonvilles, of French origin, established themselves in Devon shortly after the Conquest and by the end of the 14th century their wealth and standing in the county had become second only to that of the Courtenays. The antagonism between the heads of the respective families in the mid 15th century, which expressed itself on the battlefields of the Wars of the Roses and ended in the extinction of the main Bonville line, was exacerbated if not caused by jealousy of the material prosperity of the Bonvilles, for which Sir William himself was largely responsible. At his death in 1408 he was holding some 40 manors, and extensive lands and rents, in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire, providing his grandson and heir with an income sufficient to justify his elevation to the House of Lords. Such material assets led Sir William into wide fields of public service and military enterprise. In 1369 he served under the duke of Lancaster at Caux and later at Boulogne, and in October 1377 he was again absent overseas and unable to take his seat in Parliament. His military career, however, was only an interlude in a remarkably active political life: beginning in 1366, Bonville sat, either for Devon or Somerset, in 20 out of the 33 Parliaments convened in the next 36 years. His position in the West Country, if not already evident from this near monopoly, may be gauged by the frequency of his appointments to royal commissions, some of which were of major importance." [History of Parliament]

William married Margaret d'Aumarle before 1365. Margaret (daughter of William d'Aumarle and Agnes) was born about 1347 in of Woodbury, St. Thomas, Devon, England; died on 25 May 1399. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Alice before 6 Jun 1402. Alice died on 27 Mar 1426; was buried in Newenham Abbey, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Thomas Carew before 1395. Thomas (son of Leonard de Carew and Elizabeth Arundel) was born about 1368 in of Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales; died on 25 Jan 1431. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth Fitz Roger before 18 Oct 1377. Elizabeth (daughter of John Fitz Roger and Alice) was born on 15 Aug 1370 in of Chewton, Somerset, England; died on 15 Apr 1414. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan Courtenay. Joan (daughter of Hugh Courtenay and Philippe l'Arcedekne) died before 3 Aug 1465. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Richard Champernoun. Richard (son of Richard Champernoun and Katherine Daubeney) was born in of Modbury, Devon, England; died on 20 Jan 1420. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1392
• Alternate birth: 12 Aug 1392, Shute, Devon, England
• Alternate birth: 31 Aug 1392, Shute, Devon, England
• Alternate birth: 13 Aug 1393
• Alternate birth: 30 Aug 1393
• Alternate death: 19 Feb 1461

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Bonville was knighted before 1417 during the campaigns in France of King Henry V. He was Knight of the shire for Somerset in 1421, and for Devon in 1422, 1425 and 1427. In 1423 he was appointed by the king as Sheriff of Devon. He was Seneschal of Aquitaine at various times from 1442 to 1453, and Governor of Exeter Castle from 1453–61. In 1443 Bonville was retained to serve King Henry VI for a one-year term and in 1449 was retained to serve the King at sea. He was summoned to Parliament from 10 March 1449 to 30 July 1460 by writs directed, for the most part, Willelmo Bonville domino Bonville et de Chuton ("To William Bonville, lord of Bonville and Chewton"), by which he is held to have become Baron Bonville. On 8 February 1461 he was nominated to the Order of the Garter.

In 1441 riots resulted from a dispute over the Duchy of Cornwall between Bonville and Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon, and on 14 December 1455 the two sides fought the Battle of Clyst Heath near Exeter, which resulted in the defeat of Bonville, the sacking of Shute and injury to a number of persons.

Bonville was to all outward appearances loyal to King Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses until he joined the Yorkist side at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460. Both his son, William Bonville, and his grandson, William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington, were slain at the Battle of Wakefield on 31 December 1460.

Less than two months later in 1460 the Yorkists suffered another defeat at the Second Battle of St Albans, where Lord Bonville and another Yorkist, Sir Thomas Kyriel, were taken prisoner by the victorious Lancastrians. The two men had kept guard over King Henry VI during the battle to see that he came to no harm. The King had been held in captivity by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and transported in the train of the latter's army, but had been abandoned on the battlefield. In return for their gallantry the King promised the two men immunity. However Queen Margaret, who was present at the battle, remembered that Lord Bonville had been one of the men who had held King Henry in custody after the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, and wanted revenge. Disregarding the King's promise of immunity, she gave orders for the beheading of Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriel the next day, 18 February 1461. It is alleged that she put the men on trial and appointed as presiding judge her seven-year-old son, Prince Edward. "Fair son", Margaret is said to have inquired, "what death shall these knights die?" The young prince replied that they were to have their heads cut off, an act which was swiftly carried out, despite the King's pleas for mercy.

Bonville was not attainted, as within three weeks of his death the Yorkist King Edward IV came to the throne. Bonville's widow, Elizabeth, was assigned a substantial dower in recognition of his services to the Yorkist cause.

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

While his extensive and complex inheritances led to some violent disputes with neighbours during these years, these were on nothing like the scale of disorder that was to characterize Bonville's notorious conflict with the Courtenays during the 1440s and 1450s.

This power struggle was triggered by the appointment of Bonville in 1437 as royal steward in Cornwall for life. This was seen by the young Thomas Courtenay, thirteenth earl of Devon, recently come of age and in possession of a severely reduced inheritance, as a serious challenge to his own regional authority. The bitterness of the strife that grew from this was symptomatic of a change in the local balance of power and wealth that had over a generation tilted against the Courtenay earls (the traditional leaders of west-country society) in favour of a small group of powerful gentry among whom Bonville was pre-eminent.

Violence reached an alarming level during the summers of 1439 and 1440, and the situation was worsened by a serious blunder on the part of the government--the appointment of the earl to the stewardship of the duchy of Cornwall, a post so similar to that held by Bonville as to be hardly distinguishable from it. Urgent attempts at even-handedness and arbitration failed, and the dispute was only temporarily resolved by the appointment of Bonville as seneschal of Gascony in December 1442, thereby removing him temporarily from the scene (he sailed from Plymouth in March 1443 but was back in Devon by April 1445). Even though the government, coming increasingly under the influence of the duke of Suffolk, was careful not to antagonize the earl of Devon, the latter was clearly seen to be the principal culprit. Bonville's connection with Suffolk grew stronger. He was a member of Suffolk's entourage at Margaret of Anjou's betrothal ceremonies at Rouen in May 1444, and married his daughter Elizabeth to one of Suffolk's henchmen, Sir William Tailboys. This development culminated in the parliament of 1449, when Bonville was raised to the peerage as Baron Bonville of Chewton.

Antagonisms hardened after the fall of Suffolk in 1450. The earl of Devon attached himself to the duke of York, and felt confident enough in the summer of 1451 to risk an encounter in the field with Bonville (and his ally, James Butler, earl of Wiltshire). Despite much plunder and violence, a major showdown was avoided when York's unexpected arrival in the west country persuaded the earl of Devon to lift the siege of Taunton Castle, which Bonville had made his headquarters. Although temporarily imprisoned (as were Devon and the other principal malcontents), Bonville was soon able to exploit the dramatically changed political situation that followed the humiliating submission of York and Devon to the king at Dartford on 3 March 1452.

Between 1452 and 1455 Bonville became the dominant force in west-country politics [...] and the king personally reinforced his position by staying at Bonville's house at Shute on his progress through the west country in the summer of 1452. Bonville was confirmed as steward of the duchy of Cornwall in 1452 (the post that had triggered the violence in 1439), and appointed constable of Exeter Castle in 1453, both posts to be held for life. [...]

These partisan appointments of Bonville to positions within the earl of Devon's traditional zone of influence forced the earl to take increasingly desperate measures [...] [T]he enmities that had grown over more than twenty years proved irresolvable. The death in 1458 of Bonville's old adversary afforded him little comfort. The new earl of Devon [...] quickly gained favour with Queen Margaret, and this presented enormous risks for Bonville and his family.

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Kirkby. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Margaret Grey after 12 Dec 1414. Margaret (daughter of Reynold Grey and Margaret de Ros) was born about 1399; died after May 1426. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Elizabeth Courtenay before 9 Oct 1427. Elizabeth (daughter of Hugh Courtenay and Anne Talbot) died on 28 Oct 1471; was buried in Porlock, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan Carminow. Joan (daughter of Thomas Carminow and Joan Hill) died before 12 Apr 1502. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 24 Nov 1419

Notes:

Burgess (M.P.) for Barnstaple, Devon.

Family/Spouse: Alice Bois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Little Modbury, Devon, England

Notes:

Also called John Bountle.

John married Alice Dennis before 1478. Alice (daughter of William Denys and Joan St. Aubyn) was born about 1451; died after 1500. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William Tailboys. William (son of Walter Tailboys and (Unknown first wife of Walter Tailboys)) was born about 1415; died on 26 May 1464 in Sandhills, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England; was buried in Grey Friars Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Executed immediately following the Yorkist loss at the battle of Wakefield.

William married Elizabeth Harington about 1442. Elizabeth died before 1458. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Catherine Neville in 1458. Catherine (daughter of Richard Neville and Alice Montagu) was born about 1442; died between 22 Nov 1503 and 25 Mar 1504; was buried in Ashby de la Zouche, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sheriff of Devon, 1469-70.

Nicholas married Margaret Dinham after 26 Oct 1461. Margaret (daughter of John Dinham and Joan Arches) died on 13 Dec 1471; was buried in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1453.

William married Elizabeth Chuderlegh before 1458. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Thomas Fortescue. Thomas (son of John Fortescue and Isabella Gibbs) was born in 1490; died about 1554. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1451
• Alternate death: 30 Jan 1495

Notes:

MP for Lincolnshire 1472-75, 1478; Sheriff of Lincolnshire 1480-1.

The attainder of his father was reversed in 1472. He was admitted a member of Corpus Christi Guild at Boston, Lincolnshire in 1488.

Ancestor of George Washington:

Sir Robert Talboys = Elizabeth Heron
Sir George Talboys = Elizabeth Gascoigne
Anne Talboys = Sir Edward Dymoke
Frances Dymoke = Sir Thomas Windebank
Mildred Windebank = Robert Reade
Col. George Reade of VA = Elizabeth Martiau
Mildred Reade = Augustine Warner Jr.
Mildred Warner = Lawrence Washington
Augustine Washington = Mary Ball
George Washington = Mrs. Martha Dandridge Custis

Robert married Elizabeth Heron before 1467. Elizabeth (daughter of John Heron and Elizabeth Heron) died before 30 Jan 1495; was buried in Kyme Priory, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Thomas Grey. Thomas (son of John Grey and Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort of England) died on 20 Sep 1501. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In 1497 he marched to the relief of Exeter when that city was besieged by the pretender Perkin Warbeck. He was killed by a cannonball while sitting in council at the Siege of Thérouanne, a stage in the Battle of the Spurs.

Edmund married Katherine Huddesfield before 16 Jan 1479. Katherine (daughter of William Huddesfield and Elizabeth Bozun) died after 9 Jun 1528. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Margaret Courtenay. Margaret (daughter of Philip Courtenay and Elizabeth Wonwell) died in 1536. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Joan Brett after Feb 1538. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Robert Tyrwhit. Robert (son of William Tyrwhit and Anne Constable) was born about 1482 in of Kettleby, Lincolnshire, England; died on 4 Jul 1548 in Kettleby, Lincolnshire, England; was buried in Wrawby, Kettleby, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

De jure Lord Kyme, styled Earl of Angus. Sheriff of Lincolnshire, 1526. He was knighted at the Battle of Blackheath in 1497. He was judged a lunatic 2 Mar 1517, and his person and lands were taken into custody.

George married Elizabeth Gascoigne before Apr 1493. Elizabeth (daughter of William Gascoigne and Margaret Percy) died in 1559; was buried in Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

2nd Marquess of Dorset.

Thomas married Margaret Wotton in 1509. Margaret died after 6 Oct 1535. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Many sources, including the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, have her as a daughter of Philip Champernoun, but Brice Claggett (citation details below) and Neil P. Thompson argued convincingly that he has to have been, instead, her first husband, after whom she married John Astley.

As "Kat" Champernoun she was governess to the young Lady Elizabeth and, in the words of Brice Clagett (citation details below), "is credited with providing her with the foundation of her excellent education. On Elizabeth's accession in 1558 Kat, now Mrs. Astley, became chief gentlewoman of the privy chamber, and was one of the Queen's closest confidantes until her death in 1565."

Family/Spouse: Philip Champernoun. Philip (son of John Champernoun and Margaret Courtenay) was born about 1479; died on 2 Aug 1545 in Modbury, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Katherine married John Astley about 1545. John (son of Thomas Astley and Anne Wood) was born in of Norfolk, England; died about Jul 1595; was buried in All Saints, Maidstone, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Modbury, Devon, England

Family/Spouse: Katherine Carew. Katherine (daughter of Edmund Carew and Katherine Huddesfield) was born about 1500; died on 18 Jul 1565 in London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Richard Thimbleby. Richard (son of John Thimbleby and Margaret Boys) was born about 1507 in of Irnham, Lincolnshire, England; died on 25 Sep 1590 in Irnham, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Esquire of the Body; Chamberlain at Berwick-upon-Tweed; Sheriff of Lincolnshire 1540-41; Gentleman of the Privy Chamber; Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire 1557-58; Knight of the shire for Lincolnshire 1545; Knight of the shire for Huntingdonshire 1554 and 1559.

Family/Spouse: Bridget Wiltshire. Bridget (daughter of John Wiltshire and Margaret) died after Jan 1534. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Elizabeth Oxenbridge between Apr 1538 and 4 Aug 1539. Elizabeth (daughter of Goddard Oxenbridge and Anne Fiennes) died before 28 Apr 1578 in St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Anne married Edward Dymoke between 1523 and 1 Apr 1529. Edward (son of Robert Dymoke and Anne Sparrow) was born about 1508 in of Scrivelsby, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England; died on 16 Sep 1567. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Lincolnshire, 1529.

Gilbert married Elizabeth Blount about 1519. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1st Duke of Suffolk. 3rd Marquess of Dorset.

Family/Spouse: Frances Brandon. Frances (daughter of Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor) was born on 16 Jul 1517 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England; died on 11 Nov 1559 in London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"She […] had a position in the households of queens Anne of Cleves and Katherine Parr, while her sister-in-law Lady Berkeley was governess to Princess Elizabeth. A committed protestant, with her sister Katherine Raleigh she is reported to have protected the persecuted reformers in Devon. In the summer of 1546 Lady Denny (and by extension her husband) was one of the court protestants whom religious conservatives tried to incriminate through accusations wrung from Anne Askew, a distant relative of Joan's uncle Sir Gawain Carew; Anne would admit only that Lady Denny's servant had brought her money, and Sir Anthony survived as a leading figure among Seymour's associates at the close of the reign." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, citation details below]

Joan married Anthony Denny about 4 Feb 1538. Anthony (son of Edmund Denny and Mary Coke) was born on 16 Jan 1501 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England; died on 10 Sep 1549 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England; was buried in St. Mary's, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Walter Ralegh. Walter was born in 1505 in of East Budleigh, Devon, England; died in 1581. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Joan, which has led to confusion with her sister who was definitely named Joan.

Jane married Robert Gamage before 1531. Robert (son of Thomas Gamage and Margaret St. John) was born in of Coety, Glamorgan, Wales; died between 27 Oct 1570 and 4 Jan 1571. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Thomas Welby on 20 Jul 1560 in Irnham, Lincolnshire, England. Thomas (son of Thomas Welby and Katherine Bray) was born in of Moulton near Spalding, Lincolnshire, England; died in 1570 in Bath, Somerset, England; was buried on 15 Feb 1571 in St. Peter's, Bath, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Henry Darcy. Henry (son of Arthur Darcy and Mary Carew) was born in of Brimham, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1607

Notes:

"Even though Frances Dymoke survived her husband Thomas Windebanck, and died testate around 1612, they must have been divorced or separated 'in some manner' as we have instances of Mary, widow of Edward Hunte, called, or calling herself, the 'wife' of Thomas Windebank, clerk of the Signet, at least between the years 1591-1600. The will of Thomas Windebank, around 1607/8, does not name a wife, and only mentions the known children by Frances." [John C. Brandon, citation details below]

Frances married Thomas Windebank on 19 Aug 1566 in Scrivelsby, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England. Thomas (son of Richard Windebank and Margaret ferch Griffith) was born about 1550 in of St. Martin in the Fields, London, England; died on 24 Oct 1607; was buried in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Known to history as Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Days Queen."

Jane married Guildford Dudley on 21 May 1553 in Durham House, London, England. Guildford (son of John Dudley and Jane Guildford) died on 12 Feb 1554 in Tower Hill, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Katherine married Henry Herbert on 21 May 1553. Henry (son of William Herbert and Ann Parr) was born after 1537; died on 19 Jan 1601 in Wilton, Wiltshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]