19th-century drawings of monumental effigy of Robert Willoughby,
Callington
Church, Cornwall. He wears the collar of the
Order of the Garter
and his head rests on the crest of Willoughby
a Saracen's head, couped at the shoulders, ducally crowned, and with earrings
[1]
Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke
,
de jure
9th
Baron Latimer
[
citation needed
]
(c. 1452 ? 23 August 1502),
KG
, of
Brook
, near
Westbury
, Wiltshire, was one of the chief commanders of the royal forces of King
Henry VII
against the
Cornish rebellion of 1497
.
[1]
Origins
[
edit
]
Born about 1452 at
Brook
, then written "Broke", in the parish of
Westbury
in Wiltshire, he was the son of Sir
John Willoughby (1421-1477)
. His mother was Anne Cheyne, second daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edmund Cheyne (1401?1430) of Brook, by his wife Alice Stafford, only daughter and eventual heiress of Sir
Humphrey Stafford
(c.1379?1442)
"With the Silver Hand"
,
[3]
of
Hooke
, Dorset, and of
Southwick
,
North Bradley
, Wiltshire, and an aunt of
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon
(d. 1469). The de Cheney (also known as Chesney or Cheyne) family holds a significant place in the history of the Channel Islands. They emerged as prominent figures in governance and were among the most substantial landowners after the Crown. Edmund de Cheney served as the governor of both Guernsey and Jersey in 1360.
[4]
Prior to that, Nicholas de Cheney had been appointed as the Warden of the Islands in 1297.
[5]
The de Cheney family also owned extensive lands in Guernsey, including the Fief of Anneville, recognized in Guernsey tradition as the oldest fief. Through the seigneury of this fief, the de Cheney family held feudal rights over more than a quarter of the island and were de jure members of the Royal Court of Chief Pleas, the then governing body of the island. The fief of Anneville had been purchased by Guillaume de Chesney in 1248. Robert Willoughby inherited it in right of his mother.
[6]
Sir Edmund was the son and heir of William Cheyne (c.1374?1420) by his wife Cecily Strecche (d.1443); William was the son of
Sir Ralph Cheyne
(c.1337?1400) of
Poyntington
in Somerset, and of Brook (three times
Member of Parliament
for
Wiltshire
, Deputy
Justiciar of Ireland
,
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
, and Deputy
Warden of the Cinque Ports
) by his wife Joan Pavely, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Pavely of Brook.
[7]
Career
[
edit
]
He was
High Sheriff of Cornwall
in 1479 and
High Sheriff of Devon
in 1480. He was
Lord of the Manor
of
Callington
and steward of the
Duchy of Cornwall
.
[1]
The barony of
Willoughby de Broke
, named after the manor of
Brook
,
Westbury
, Wiltshire, was created when Robert Willoughby was summoned to Parliament by
writ
in 1492. On his death on 23 August 1502, the title passed to his eldest son
Robert Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby de Broke
.
[8]
He died at the manor house of
Callington
, for he directed in his will that he should be buried in the church of the parish he died in.
[9]
Marriage and children
[
edit
]
He married in 1472 Blanche Champernowne, daughter and heiress of John Champernowne of
Bere Ferrers
, Devon, by Elizabeth Bigbury. John was the son of Alexander Champernowne of
Modbury
and Joan Ferrers, da. of Martyn Ferrers of
Bere Ferrers
. He thus acquired the manors of
Callington, Cornwall
and
Bere Ferrers
, amongst others.
[
citation needed
]
He had four children with Blanche:
[10]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Hamilton Rogers, W.H.
,
The Strife of the Roses & Days of the Tudors in the West
, Exeter, 1890,
"Our Steward of Household", Robert, Lord Willoughby de Broke, K.G
., pp. 1?37
online text, freefictionbooks
;
online text, with images, Project Gutenburg
. Although Hamilton Rogers claims that de Broke was Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall, he may have confused him with his son, the 2nd Baron Robert Willoughby de Broke, who was Lord Steward and Lord Warden of the Stannaries in Cornwall and Devon: see list of
Lord Wardens of the Stannaries
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Rogers, p. 346
- ^
Mis-drawn and mis-blazoned by Rogers as a cross engrailed. The Bere Ferrers bench ends, where perhaps the wood disallows great detail in carving, shows not a cross crosslet but rather a thick plain cross.
- ^
Epithet by
William Dugdale
, see below
- ^
List of governors of Guernsey
- ^
The Island Wiki: Warden of the Isles
- ^
The Guernsey Magazine
- ^
History of Parliament
: House of Commons, 1386?1421, vol. 2, Stroud, 1992, Cheyne, Sir Ralph, pp. 554?555
- ^
Cokayne Complete Peerage
- ^
Hamilton Rogers, William Henry
The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West
. See Sources.
- ^
Cokayne
Complete Peerage
- ^
Rogers, p. 346, quoting "Lysons"
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Hamilton Rogers, William Henry
The Ancient Sepulchral Effigies and Monumental and Memorial Sculpture of Devon, Exeter, 1877, pp. 346?7 & Appendix 3, pedigree of Willoughby de Broke.
- Luckett, Dominic (1996), "The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty: Henry VII and the Lords Willoughby de Broke",
Historical Research
,
69
(170): 254?65,
doi
:
10.1111/j.1468-2281.1996.tb01857.x
- Luckett, Dominic. "Willoughby, Robert, first Baron Willoughby de Broke (1452-1502), soldier".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/29602
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- Baron Willoughby of Broke
from Crofts Peerage.