[103e] Stow’s Annals, p. 415.
[103f] This appears to be an error: John Talbot, third Earl of Shrewsbury, was the son of John Talbot, second Earl of Shrewsbury, who was slain at the battle of Northampton, in 1460 (see Chap. III.), and grandson of John Talbot, the first Earl of Shrewsbury, renowned for his warlike exploits in France, and slain by a cannon shot at the battle of Castillon, near Bourdeaux, on the 7th of July, 1453. According to Ralph Brooke, in his Catalogue of the Nobility, &c., p. 197, John, the third Earl of Shrewsbury, was not slain at Towton, but died at Coventry in 1473, and was buried at Worksop. See also Dugdale’s Baronage, vol. i. p. 332, where his death in the 13th of Edward IV. is mentioned.
[103g] William Viscount Beaumont, was the son and heir of John Viscount Beaumont, slain at the battle of Northampton on the 9th of July, 1460, fighting on the Lancastrian side (see Chap. III.); and married—first, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Scrope, brother to Lord Scrope of Bolton; and secondly, Joan, daughter of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham. William Viscount Beaumont fought for that party at the battle of Towton, and, according to Dugdale, was taken prisoner there. He was attainted by the act of attainder of the first year of Edward IV. He took part with John Earl of Oxford, for the Lancastrians, at the battle of Barnet, in 1471, and fled into Scotland, and afterwards into France, landed with the Earl of Oxford in Cornwall, and assisted him in holding St. Michael’s Mount against Edward IV.; but upon its surrender, he was brought prisoner, with the earl, to the King. Upon the accession to the throne of Henry VII., he was restored by an act of Parliament; and died without issue, in the twenty-fourth year of that king’s reign.
[104a] Sir John Neville, commonly called John Lord Neville, was the brother and heir presumptive to Ralph, second Earl of Westmoreland. Many years ago, when I wrote the paper on the battle of Stoke, I, on the authority of Hall and Holinshed, mentioned the Earl of Westmoreland, as having been slain at Towton; Fabyan also says that the earl was slain there. I am now satisfied, that those writers have erroneously mentioned the death of the Earl of Westmoreland, who did not die until the second year of Richard III.; and that, instead of him, they meant Sir John Neville, commonly called John Lord Neville, who was the second Earl of Westmoreland’s brother and heir presumptive. See Dugdale’s Baronage, vol. i. pp. 290, 299, 300; Leland’s Coll. vol. ii. p. 715 [498], in which is the following statement, ‘Syr John Nevel the Erle of Westmerlandes brother and Andrew Trollop were killid at this tyme.’; see also the act of attainder against the Lancastrian leaders, Rot. Parl. 1st Edward IV. vol. v. p. 476, which does not name the Earl of Westmoreland, but it does include, “John, late Lord Nevill”; besides which, Ralph, second Earl of Westmoreland, was summoned to the very Parliament which passed this act of attainder; consequently, it cannot be supposed that he had taken a part in the battle. See also the act of reversal of the attainder, Rot. Parl. 12th and 13th Edward IV. vol. vi. p. 24, of “Rauf Nevyll, first begoten son of John Nevyll Knyght, late Lord Nevyll,” attainted by the name of “John, late Lord Nevyll,” who was afterwards third Earl of Westmoreland.
[104b] According to Dugdale, in his Baronage, vol. ii. pp. 85 and 86, Robert Lord Willoughby of Eresby, a valiant and celebrated commander, distinguished in the French wars, died in the thirtieth year of Henry VI., leaving Joan, the wife of Sir Richard Welles, his daughter and heir; and, the issue male of the principal branch being thus extinct, Sir Robert Willoughby, son of Thomas, a younger brother of the last Robert Lord Willoughby, became the next heir male, and is stated to have died on the 30th of May, in the fifth year of Edward IV. (Quære—Could it have been Thomas, the younger brother, who was called Lord Willoughby, and slain at the battle of Towton?) The death of Lord Willoughby is mentioned in Fenn’s Collection of Original Letters, vol. i. p. 219; and in note 12 at the foot, it is stated that “Richard Welles, a son of Lord Welles, in 1455, was summoned as Lord Willoughby, in right of his wife Joanna, heir of the great warrior, Robert Lord Willoughby.” See note respecting Leo Lord Welles, infra, note 3. Dugdale, however, does not mention Sir Richard Welles or Lord Willoughby, as having been engaged at Towton Field.
[104c] Leo Lord Welles, of the Lancastrian party, slain at Towton Field, and attainted by Parliament in first of Edward IV., was grandson and heir of John Lord Welles, whose oldest son, Eudo, died in his lifetime. Leo Lord Welles left issue (by Joan his first wife, daughter and heir of Sir Robert Waterton), Sir Richard Welles, his next heir, who, in the fourth year of Edward IV. (having also the title of Lord Willoughby, in right of his wife, Joan, daughter and heir of Robert Lord Willoughby), had, through the King’s special favour, restoration of the goods, &c., of which his father died seized; and the next year had restitution of various manors, lordships, property, &c., which had come to the crown by the attainder of his lather, Leo Lord Welles. In the ninth year of Edward IV., the said Richard Lord Welles, and his son and heir, Sir Robert Welles, were concerned in the insurrection of the Lancastrians in Lincolnshire, and, with Sir Thomas Dimock, were beheaded. According to Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 12, this Richard Lord Welles, was summoned to Parliament by the name of Richard Welles, Lord Willoughby, from the thirty-third year of Henry VI., to the 6th of Edward IV., inclusive.
[104d] Thomas Lord Roos. See Chap. IV.
[105a] Anthony Widevile, or Wodevile, had summons to Parliament by the title of Lord Scales, in right of his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lord Scales, of Nucells, widow of Henry Bourchier, and was afterwards Earl Rivers. He was brother of Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV. He was not slain at Towton Field, although he seems to have taken a part in the battle. (See Fenn’s Collection of Original Letters, vol. i. p. 219, note 13.) He was the son and heir of Richard Widevile, or Wodevile, Earl Rivers, and Jaquette his wife, daughter of Peter Earl of St. Pol, and widow of John Duke of Bedford, third son of King Henry IV.; and he was, when Earl Rivers, beheaded at Pontefract, by order of the Council, during the Protectorate, and, as is believed, at the instigation of Richard Duke of Gloucester, on the 13th of June, 1483. Lord Richard Grey (son of the Queen Dowager Elizabeth, by her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby), and Sir Thomas Vaughan, were executed there, at the same time. The Wodeviles were originally of the Lancastrian party; and Sir John Grey of Groby, the first husband of Elizabeth afterwards the Queen of Edward IV., lost his life fighting for that party, at the first battle of St. Alban’s, in 1455; but after Elizabeth’s charms had made a conquest of the heart of Edward, and he had married her, the Wodeviles became staunch Yorkists.
[105b] Thomas Lord Grey of Rugemont, called “Thomas Grey, Knight, Lord Rugemond Grey,” in the act of attainder of the 1st of Edward IV., was originally Sir Thomas Grey, Knight, grandson of Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthin, and a younger brother of Edmund Grey, first Earl of Kent, and was advanced to the dignity of Baron of Rugemont Grey, in the twenty-eighth year of Henry VI.; being a zealous Lancastrian, he was, after the battle of Towton, included in the act of attainder, and having died without issue, his title became extinct. He is charged in the act of attainder, with other treasonable acts committed after the battle of Towton; and amongst others, with having on the 26th of June then last, in conjunction with Thomas Lord Roos, Sir Thomas Grey, Sir Humphrey Dacre, Sir John Fortescue, Sir William Talboys, Sir Edward Mountford, Thomas Neville, Clerk; Humphrey Neville, Esq.; and Thomas Elwick, Esq., made war against the King at Ryton and Branspeth, in the bishoprick of Durham. Rot. Parl. 1 Edward IV. (A.D. 1461), vol. v. p. 476. See Appendix No. I.
[105c] There appears to be an error in the statement of Stow, that Lord Fitzhugh perished at the battle of Towton; because William Lord Fitzhugh, who married Margery, daughter of William Lord Willoughby of Eresby, died in the thirty-first year of the reign of Henry VI., and was succeeded by his son and heir, Henry Lord Fitzhugh, who was a supporter of the Lancastrian party during the life of Henry VI.; but after the accession of Edward IV., was held in respect by him, and was employed by him in the fourth year of his reign at the siege of Dunstanborough Castle, and other matters of importance; and died in the twelfth year of that King’s reign. He married Alice, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and sister of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the King-Maker. The act of attainder of 1st Edward IV., does not include Lord Fitzhugh, from which circumstance, a presumption arises, that he was not engaged in the battle.