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Authors: Peter A. Hancock
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would have been about ten years of age and presumably, still living at home with her family. We should not be overly surprised, however, by such linkages. As an active lawyer and aspiring member of the land-owning gentry, it is unsurprising that Sir William would have made efforts to ingratiate himself with the rich and powerful. The gift of fish may well have been by the way of some form of introduction. Regardless of whether this was an introduction or something less formal, the interaction with John Talbot was to prove rather important to Sir William’s future and, as I propose here, that of his son.
Sir William’s Second Marriage
We know relatively little about William’s mother, and Sir William’s first wife, Phillippa Bishopston. We do know that she helped her husband by bringing him a considerable income. Further, we know that she fulfilled what would then be seen as her principal duty by providing children to carry on the family line. She had, of course, in her first child, produced a male heir. What is most evident is that she died young, almost certainly less than ten years after her marriage and perhaps as little as five. I have suggested that she may have died as a result of complications in childbirth; however, at the present this is simply a speculation which, although apparently reasonable, awaits further clarification. 16 What the death of poor Phillippa meant was that Sir William was a widower at a relatively young age and that William had lost his mother at the most impressionable age of between five and eight.
Sir William’s association with the Talbot family seems to have flourished in the years following his first wife’s death. Perhaps the fish worked, because just as John Talbot ( see Figure 5) was preparing for what would turn out to be his final military campaign in France in autumn of 1452, he named Sir William as one of his executors. 17 At this juncture then, when Eleanor was presumably just taking her first steps into the full marriage state, Sir William Catesby was one of the main advisors to her father. This Talbot connection, which would also assumedly have included some form of social interaction, was perhaps the basis for Sir William himself finding his second wife. As we have seen previously, this second wife was Joan Barre, widow of Sir Kynard de la Bere of Kinnersley in Herefordshire. More directly, she was the daughter of Alice, the youngest sister of the Earl of Shrewsbury and was thus John Talbot’s niece. The best estimate is that Sir William was about thirty-three while Joan was about thirty-one. Obviously, both had been married before and both had living children. It appears that the brother of Joan, Sir John de la Barre, had suggested some form of legal contract and, although Sir William Catesby was willing to provide this, he sought to emphasise that no such formality was really necessary. 18 Perhaps it was, in part, a love match second time around? Regardless, it appears that the two were married, most probably on 10 June 1453. It is, of course, pure coincidence that it was almost exactly thirty years to the day before the fateful events which were to take place at the Tower of London.
Like his son who was to follow him, Sir William was an Esquire of the Royal Body and now, in later 1453, he was knighted. Like many in those times, Sir William had to navigate carefully amongst the politics of the respective ascendancy of first, the Lancastrian and then the Yorkist cause. In this, Sir William seems to have been modestly successful, relying largely on his various relations and relationships, and like many others, never investing too deeply or heavily in any one cause such that the other could not see his value when the tide of affairs turned. It must have been a very important phase in the development of his son William who, now in his middle and later teens, must have been a keen observer of such events and strategies. It was perhaps these early experiences that
Sir William’s Second Marriage
We know relatively little about William’s mother, and Sir William’s first wife, Phillippa Bishopston. We do know that she helped her husband by bringing him a considerable income. Further, we know that she fulfilled what would then be seen as her principal duty by providing children to carry on the family line. She had, of course, in her first child, produced a male heir. What is most evident is that she died young, almost certainly less than ten years after her marriage and perhaps as little as five. I have suggested that she may have died as a result of complications in childbirth; however, at the present this is simply a speculation which, although apparently reasonable, awaits further clarification. 16 What the death of poor Phillippa meant was that Sir William was a widower at a relatively young age and that William had lost his mother at the most impressionable age of between five and eight.
Sir William’s association with the Talbot family seems to have flourished in the years following his first wife’s death. Perhaps the fish worked, because just as John Talbot ( see Figure 5) was preparing for what would turn out to be his final military campaign in France in autumn of 1452, he named Sir William as one of his executors. 17 At this juncture then, when Eleanor was presumably just taking her first steps into the full marriage state, Sir William Catesby was one of the main advisors to her father. This Talbot connection, which would also assumedly have included some form of social interaction, was perhaps the basis for Sir William himself finding his second wife. As we have seen previously, this second wife was Joan Barre, widow of Sir Kynard de la Bere of Kinnersley in Herefordshire. More directly, she was the daughter of Alice, the youngest sister of the Earl of Shrewsbury and was thus John Talbot’s niece. The best estimate is that Sir William was about thirty-three while Joan was about thirty-one. Obviously, both had been married before and both had living children. It appears that the brother of Joan, Sir John de la Barre, had suggested some form of legal contract and, although Sir William Catesby was willing to provide this, he sought to emphasise that no such formality was really necessary. 18 Perhaps it was, in part, a love match second time around? Regardless, it appears that the two were married, most probably on 10 June 1453. It is, of course, pure coincidence that it was almost exactly thirty years to the day before the fateful events which were to take place at the Tower of London.
Like his son who was to follow him, Sir William was an Esquire of the Royal Body and now, in later 1453, he was knighted. Like many in those times, Sir William had to navigate carefully amongst the politics of the respective ascendancy of first, the Lancastrian and then the Yorkist cause. In this, Sir William seems to have been modestly successful, relying largely on his various relations and relationships, and like many others, never investing too deeply or heavily in any one cause such that the other could not see his value when the tide of affairs turned. It must have been a very important phase in the development of his son William who, now in his middle and later teens, must have been a keen observer of such events and strategies. It was perhaps these early experiences that
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