William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury

The Earl of Banbury
Born	1544
Died	25 May 1632
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Bray (c.1524 – 31 October 1605) Elizabeth Howard (1605–1632)
Children	Edward Nicholas
Parent(s)	Sir Francis Knollys Catherine Carey

Arms of Sir William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG

William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC (1544 – 25 May 1632) was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James.

Biography

He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, and of Reading, in Berkshire, and his wife, Catherine Carey. Knollys was a member of parliament (MP) for Stafford in 1571, Tregony from 1572–81 and 1583–84 and for Oxfordshire from 1584–1586, 1592–1593 and 1601. In 1584 he was made castellan of Wallingford Castle. In 1596 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, a position he held until his death. In 1586 he served as a captain in the Netherlands under his brother-in-law Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who knighted him.

William rebuilt Caversham Park where he often resided. He was first married to Dorothy Bray, daughter of Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye by his wife Jane Halliwell and widow of Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos of Sudeley (d 1573). Dorothy was 20 years his senior, and had at least five children from her first marriage, though their marriage proved childless.

In the mid-1590s, William took in Mary Fitton, the daughter of a family friend. Intended to be her protector from wayward influence of courtiers, he fell in love with her himself and wished his wife dead so he could marry her. He expressed desire for children with her, and when made godfather to Mary sister's daughter (Anne Newdigate) he named that child Mary. His infatuation with his ward was the cause of much court laughter:

Party Beard, party beard...

...the white hind was crossed:
Brave Pembroke struck her down

And took her from the clown

went one song about him. He was derided as "Party Beard" because his beard was three colours: white at the roots, yellow mid-way and black at the ends. Mary refused him. He courted her even after she had an illegitimate child (who died) with the earl of Pembroke but Mary was not interested and after his wife Dorothy died (31 October 1605 at Minty, buried at Rotherfield Greys) he remarried quickly.

In 1603 he was created 1st Baron Knollys. On 23 December 1605, Knollys married Lady Elizabeth Howard (1586–1658), the daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk. In 1616 he was created 1st Viscount Wallingford and in 1626 1st Earl of Banbury.

Elizabeth remarried shortly after Knollys' death to Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden. There is some debate as to whether Elizabeth's two sons, Edward (1627–1645) and Nicholas (1631–1674) (titular 2nd and 3rd Earls respectively), were William's offspring, as her first son was born when William was 80 years old. As a result, the House of Lords refused to seat them as Earls of Banbury and considered them to be illegitimate sons of Elizabeth and Edward Vaux.

Ancestry

Family of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury

Sir Richard Knollys               Robert Knollys                       Margaret D'Oyley               Sir Robert Knollys                             Sir JohnTroutbeck               Elizabeth Troutbeck                       Margaret Hulse               Sir Francis Knollys                                   Sir Richard Penystone               Sir Thomas Penystone                       Margaret Herris               Lettice Penystone                             Richard Bulstrode               Alice Bulstrode                       Alice Knyffe               William Knollys                                         Sir William Carey               Sir Thomas Carey                       Alice Furford               Sir William Carey                             Sir Robert Spencer               Margaret Spencer                       Eleanor Beaufort               Catherine Carey                                   William Boleyn               Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire                       Lady Margaret Butler               Mary Boleyn                             Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk               Lady Elizabeth Howard                       Elizabeth Tilney

References

This article contains text from A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland: Extinct, Dormant, and in Abeyance, Vol. VIII, by John Burke,

• Haynes, Alan. Sex in Elizabethan England. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited, 1997. ISBN 0-905778-35-9

Political offices
Preceded by William Paget	Comptroller of the Household 1596–1600	Succeeded by Henry Vane the Elder
Preceded by Sir Francis Knollys and The Lord Norreys	Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire 1596–1632 joint with The Lord Norreys 1596–1601, The Earl of Holland 1628–1632	Succeeded by The Earl of Holland
	Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire 1596–1632 joint with The Lord Norreys 1596–1601, The Earl of Berkshire 1628–1632	Succeeded by The Earl of Berkshire
Preceded by Sir Francis Knollys	Custos Rotulorum of Oxfordshire bef. 1594–1632
Preceded by The Lord North	Treasurer of the Household 1601–1616	Succeeded by The Lord Wotton
Peerage of England
New creation	Earl of Banbury 1626–1632	Succeeded by Edward Knollys (Title disallowed)