William Knyvett (died 1515)

Sir William Knyvett (c. 1440 – 2 December 1515) was an English knight in the late Middle Ages. He was the son of John Knyvett and Alice Lynne,^[1][2] the grandson of Sir John Knyvett, and assumed the titles of Sheriff of Norfolk & Suffolk, Burgess of Melcombe, Bletchingley, & Grantham, Constable of Rising Castle.^[3]

Life

Sir William married three times. The first was to Alice Grey, daughter of John Grey, Esq., of Kempston, eldest son of Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn by his second wife, Joan Astley; by whom he had issue.^[1] His second marriage was to Lady Joan Stafford, daughter of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Lady Anne Neville, by whom he had issue.^[1] His final marriage was to Lady Joan Courtenay, widow of Sir Roger Clifford, and daughter of Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon, a friend of York, and his wife, Lady Margaret Beaufort; they had no issue.^[1][3]

Sir William Knyvett died 2 December 1515. In his will dated 18 September 1514 and proved 19 June 1516 he requested to be buried in the church of Wymondham, Norfolk.^[4]

Issue

His children by his first wife, Alice Grey, were:

• Sir Edmund Knyvett (d.1504^[5]) of Buckenham, who married Eleanor Tyrrell,^[1] the daughter of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk by Margaret, daughter of Robert Darcy, knight.^[6] Eleanor was sister of Sir James Tyrrell.^[7] Sir Edmund Knyvett, his eldest son by his first marriage, was partly disinherited by his father, who left Buckenham Castle and other properties to Sir Edward Knyvett, the eldest son of his second marriage to Joan Stafford.^[8][9][10] Children of Sir Edmund Knyvett and Eleanor Tyrrell:
  1. Sir Thomas Knyvett of Buckenham, Norfolk (c. 1485 – 10 August 1512) who married Muriel Howard (d.1512), the widow of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle, by whom she was the mother of Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, who was at one time betrothed to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Muriel Howard was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth Tilney.^[10] Children of Sir Thomas Knyvett and Muriel Howard, who through their mother were all first cousins to Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Katherine Howard:
     • Sir Edmund (1508–1551), who by 1527 had married Anne Shelton, the daughter of Sir John Shelton of Carrow, Norfolk, and his wife, Anne Boleyn. Knyvet's wife was a sister of Mary Shelton, and also a first cousin of Anne Boleyn. Sir Edmund Knyvett and Anne Shelton had two sons.^[9][11]
     • Katherine Knyvett, Lady Paget, married Henry Paget, 2nd Baron Paget
     • Ferdinand
     • Anne Knyvett, lady in waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon, m. 1) Thomas Thursby (d.1543) of Ashwicken, the son of Thomas Thursby (d.1510), Merchant, thrice Mayor of King's Lynn and founder of Thoresby College, in 1527;^{[12][13][14][15]} and 2) Henry Spelman, the son of Sir John Spelman (d.1546), and the father of Sir Henry Spelman and of Erasmus Spelman, whose son Henry went to Virginia, by license dated 26 January 1543/4.^[16][17][18]
     • Henry (died c.1546). Henry was the grandfather of Katherine Knyvett who married her third cousin Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and is the ancestor of the Earls of Suffolk and Berkshire
  2. Edmund Knyvett (d. 1 May 1539), esquire, sergeant porter to King Henry VIII, who married Joan Bourchier, the only surviving child of John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners,^[7] and had:
     1. John Knyvett (1510–1561), who m. Agnes, daughter of Sir John Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, and had:
        1. Thomas Knyvett (1539–1616) of Ashwellthorpe, de jure 4th Baron Berners, High Sheriff of Norfolk from 1579, m. Muriel Parry, daughter of Sir Thomas Parry, Comptroller of the Household to Queen Elizabeth I, and had:
           1. Katherine Knyvett, Lady Paston, one of the writers of the Paston Letters
           2. Abigail Knyvett, m. Sir Edmund Moundeford of Mundford and Hockwold, Norfolk the grandson of Francis Mountford,^[19] as his second wife. From his first marriage he had Sir Edmund Moundeford (1596 – May 1643), who left much of his inheritance to his half-sister, Abigail's daughter Elizabeth
  3. Christopher^[6]
  4. Sir Anthony Knyvett, knight^[6]
  5. James^[6]
  6. William^[6]
  7. Margaret^[6]
  8. Dorothy^[6]
  9. Anne Knyvett,^[6] lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon, m. Sir George St. Leger^[6] (c.1475-1536) of Annery, Devon, and had Sir John St. Leger,^[20] Katherine, and George^[21]
• Anne Knyvett who married John Thwaites, Esq.^[1]
• Bennet Knyvett,^[1] a daughter^[22]
• Elizabeth Knyvett^[1][22]

By his second wife, Lady Joan Stafford, Sir William Knyvett had three sons including along with three daughters:^[1]

• Sir Edward Knyvett,^[1] (d.1528^[5]) the eldest son of his second marriage,^[6] who received a great inheritance from his father at the expense of his brother.^[8][9][10] He married Anne Calthorpe, widow of John Cressener, and daughter of John Calthorpe, knight, by Elizabeth, daughter of Roger Wentworth.^[6]
• Charles Knyvett,^[1] according to Carole Rawcliffe, in The Staffords, Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham 1394-1521, Charles Knyvett witnessed against the Duke because he had "wrongfully withheld" the possessions of Elizabeth Knyvett after her death^[23]
  1. Robert Knyvett (c.1512–1549), gentleman, son and heir, slain in Kett's Rebellion^[6]
• John Knyvett^[22]
• Elizabeth,^[22] likely the Elizabeth Knyvett who is mentioned in her father's will in 1514 as being of a marriageable age. And also likely the Elizabeth Knyvett who died in 1518, when Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham gives 15l 'To M. Geddyng, toward the burying of my said cousin', after giving at Easter last 'Eliz. knevet' the 20l due to her at Lady Day.^[23][21] The two were related through her mother.
• Anne Knyvett who married Charles Clifford, Esq.^[1]

References

1. Douglas Richardson; Kimball G. Everingham (30 July 2005). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 394–96. ISBN 978-0-8063-1759-5. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
2. Tim Powys-Lybbe. "Sir William Knyvett". Tim.ukpub.net. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
3. "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors & Cousins (over 144,000 names) - Person Page 915". Our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
4. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Douglas Richardson. ISBN 978-1-4610-4520-5.
5. Sir Edmund Knyvett married Eleanor Tyrrell (died 1514), the daughter of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk, and sister of Sir James Tyrrell. They had six sons and three daughters, including Edmund Knyvett (died 1 May 1539), esquire, who married Joan Bourchier, the only surviving child of John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners. Sir Edmund Knyvett was drowned at sea in 1504; Richardson II 2011, p. 322 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFRichardson_II2011 (help).
6. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Douglas Richardson. ISBN 978-1-4610-4513-7.
7. Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. II (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. p. 322. ISBN 1449966381
8. Sir Edward Knyvett married Anne Calthorpe, widow of John Cressner, and daughter of Sir John Calthorpe by Elizabeth, daughter of Roger Wentworth, esquire. Sir Edward Knyvett died without issue in 1528. His heir was his nephew, Robert Knyvet, son of his brother, Charles Knyvett (died before 22 October 1528). Robert Knyvett was slain during the suppression of Kett's Rebellion in 1549.
9. Virgoe, Roger (1982). Bindoff, S.T. (ed.). Knyvet, Sir Edmund (by 1508–51). The House of Commons, 1509–1558. Vol. II. London: Secker & Warburg. pp. 482–483.
10. Gunn, S.J. (2004). "Knyvet, Sir Thomas (c. 1485–1512), Courtier and Sea Captain". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15799. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 20 November 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. Lehmberg, Stanford (2004). "Knyvett, Sir Edmund (c.1508–1551), Landowner and Member of Parliament". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15797. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 20 November 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
12. Bannerman, W. Bruce (William Bruce) (1906). Miscellanea genealogica et heraldica. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, England : Mitchell, Hughes & Clarke. p. 139.
13. "K". A Who’s Who of Tudor Women. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2020. In the covenant for a marriage settlement dated May 31, 1527, Anne was described as “one of the queen’s gentlewomen and one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Knyvett deceased.” She was to marry Thomas Thuresby or Thoresby of Asshewykyne.
14. "Norfolk Record Office - NROCAT: on-line catalogue". nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2020. CatalogueRef: BL/O/X/12. Title: Copy of covenant for a marriage settlement on Ann Knyvett, one of the Queen's gentlewomen and one of the daughters of Sir Thomas Knyvett deceased, and Thomas Thuresby [Thoresby] of Asshewykyne, esq., for conveyance by said Thomas Thuresby to Sir Robert Dymook [the King's champion], chancellor to Queen Katherine, Sir Philip Tylney, Gryffyth Richards, Christopher Jenny, John Scott, Charles Bulkley, Sir John Cressener, William Conningesby, Thomas Guybon senior, Francis Mounfforde, John Fyncham of Fyncham, esq., and Thomas Guybon, son and heir of above Thomas, of manors of Rustons and Redehall, moiety of manor of Bawdsey and all possessions in Gayton, Gaytonthorpe, Congham, Rydon, Bawsey, Walton and Rysing. Date: 31 May 1527. Level: Piece. Repository: Norfolk Record Office. Extent: 1 roll
15. "CatalogueRef: NCC will register Attmere 338. Title: Aylemer (Aylmere), Cecily, dowghter of Rycharde Aylmere, citizen and alderman of Norwich. Date: 1541. Description: Will. Made of Myntlynge. Level: Item, Repository: Norfolk Record Office". nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2020. These be the wittenes Anne Thorysby Elyn Grenall Thomas Buttler
16. Dashwood, G.H. (ed.). The Visitation of Norfolk in the year 1563, taken by William Harvey, Clarenceux King of Arms: Volume 1 (PDF). Norwich. p. 253.
17. Thoresby, Ralph (1715). Ducatus Leodiensis, Or, The Topography of the Ancient and Populous Town and Parish of Leedes, and Parts Adjacent in the West-Riding of the County of York: With the Pedigrees of Many of the Nobility and Gentry, and Other Matters Relating to Those Parts. Maurice Atkins, and sold. Wocken in Norfolk, p. 575. is more truely written Ash-Wicken-Thoresby, by that learned Antiquary Sir Henry Spelman (in his Icenia, p. 144.) whose Father married Anne the Widow of Thomas Thoresby of Ash-Wicken Thoresby Esq; she was descended from the first Thomas Duke of Norfolk who by his former Wife Elizabeth Daughter and Heir of Sir Frederick Tylney, and Relict of Humfrey Bourchier Lord Berners, had Issue Thomas Duke of Norfolk, Elizabeth (who married Thomas Bullen Viscount Rochford, by whom she had Issue Queen Anne Bullen the Mother of Queen Elizabeth) and Muriel, who married first John Grey Viscount Lisle, and 2dly, Sir Thomas Knevet, by whom she had Issue the said Anne, the Wife of Thomas Thoresby, and Henry Spelman Esquires, as my kind Friend John Hare Esq; Richmond Herald, shewed me in some valuable Manuscripts in the College of Arms, London.
18. Harleian Society (1886). The Publications of the Harleian Society. Robarts - University of Toronto. London : The Society. 1543-4 [...] Jan. 26 Henry Spylman & Anne Thursby, of diocese of Norwich.
19. Rye, Walter; Hervey, William; Cooke, Clarenceux; Raven, John. The visitacion [i.e., visitation] of Norfolk, made and taken by William Hervey, Clarencieux King of Arms, anno 1563, enlarged with another visitacion [sic] made by Clarenceux Cook : with many other descents, and also the vissitation [sic] made. Family History Library.
20. "ST. LEGER, Sir John (by 1516-93/96), of Annery in Monkleigh, Devon. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
21. "K". A Who’s Who of Tudor Women. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
22. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Douglas Richardson. ISBN 978-1-4610-4520-5.
23. "Henry VIII: May 1521, 11-20 | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2020. Paid to Eliz. knevet at Easter last, money due to her at Lady Day, 20l. To M. Geddyng, toward the burying of my said cousin, 15l.

Political offices
Preceded by William Hopton	High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk 1480 and 1471	Succeeded by Alexander Cressener