Sir William Skipwith (d. July 7, 1547) married first ca. June 1, 1505, Elizabeth Tyrwhit, daughter of Sir William Tyrwit of Kettleby in Lincolnshire, by whom he had one son:
Sir William Skipwith, who also married an Elizabeth, as shown in this a2a abstract from the Lincolnshire Archives dated Nov. 12, 1564:
“Contents:
“(Counterpart)
“Sir William Skipwith kt. and Dame Elizabeth his wife to Sir Ralph Chamberlain, Sir John Tyrrell, Sir Edward Dymock Knights and Andrew Gedney, Esq. Consideration: marriage of Richard Skipwith son and heir of Sir William and Elizabeth and Mary Chamberlaine a daughter of Sir Ralph. Property: manors of Cawthorpe and Manby, Aswarby, settled in tail male on the heirs of Richard and Mary with remainder to the male heirs of Sir William’s brothers (Lionel, John, George and Henry) in order of age.”
Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry, pp. 752-753, gives this account of the children of Sir William Skipwith by Elizabeth Tyrwhit and Alice Dymoke:
[Sir William Skipwith] “married (1st) before 1510 Elizabeth Tyrwhit (or Tyrwhitt), daughter of William Tyrwhit, Knt., of Kettleby, Lincolnshire. They had one son, William, Knt. He married (2nd) Alice Dymoke, daughter and co-heiress of Lionel Dymoke, Knt., of Mareham-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire, by his 1st wife, Joan, daughter of Rhys Griffith, Esq…. They had four sons, Lionel, John, Esq., George and Henry, Esq., and seven daughters, Jane (wife of Richard Bolle), Mary (wife of George Fitzwilliam), Dorothy (wife of Arthur Gedney), Elizabeth (wife of Thomas Clifford), Margaret (wife of George Tailboys, 2nd Lord Tailboys, Peter Carew, Knt., and John Clifton, Knt.), Anne (wife of William Hatcliffe), and Bridget (wife of — Cave).”
Richardson notes that Sir Lionel Dymoke and his widow Anne, who was not the mother of his children, left wills, but doesn’t quote the contents. On p. 106 he states that Sir Lionel Dymoke’s surviving children were two daughters, Alice and Anne; Anne was the younger and married John Goodrick ca. 1518.
Where did Richardson get his list of children?
I don’t have the specific visitations of Yorkshire he cites. I do have Lincolnshire Pedigrees, and here’s the chart contained therein, which I’ve adapted:
CP shows Sir William Skipwith’s daughter Margaret who married George Tailboys (b. ca. 1522) was a daughter of Alice Dymoke, so we might place her birth as ca. 1522, assuming she was born about the same time as her husband:
“George (Tailboys), Lord Tailboys… was b. about 1522…. m., between 26 Apr. and 15 May 1539, (h) Margaret, cousin to his guardian, William [Fitzwilliam], Earl of Southampton, niece of Sir Thomas Henneage, (l) and da. of Sir William Skipwith, of Ormsby, co. Lincoln, by his 2nd wife, Alice, da. and coh. of Sir Lionel Dymoke, of Mareham-on-the-Hill, co. Lincoln.” {The Complete Peerage (1953) Vol. XII Pt. 1, pp. 603-604.}
Sir Thomas Heneage, d. 21 August 1553, m. Catharine Skipwith, dau. of John and Catharine (Fitzwilliam) Skipwith.
Sir Lionel Dymoke left a will in 1519 (PCC Ayloffe), and his widow Anne in 1521 (PCC Maynmaryng). Alice (Dymoke) Skipwith of Culverthorpe, Lincolnshire, widow of Sir William Skipwith, also left a will, dated June 29, 1549, and probated April 26, 1550 (PCC Coode PROB 11/33/176). I downloaded all three wills from the UK The National Archives website.
The images are clear and of good quality, but the first page of Sir Lionel Dymoke’s will suffers from bleed-through. Probate proceedings are in Latin. The text of Sir Lionel Dymoke’s will was given in English and Latin; the text of the others in English only. Lionel and Anne’s wills are short.
I understand enough of the writing in Alice Skipwith’s will to determine it’s Sir William Skipwith’s widow. We can place her death as ca. 1550. It’s a lengthy affair–at the time it was written, her daughter Margaret (“my daughter Taylboys”) was still the wife of George Tailboys. She mentions her children, including “henry Skipwith my sonne.”
I’m no expert at deciphering 16th century English handwriting, so the wills of Sir Lionel Dymoke and his widow Anne, which predate Alice Skipwith’s will by about 30 years, are very difficult to read. I can’t tell if either of them mention Sir Lionel Dymoke’s daughters. Sir Lionel Dymoke mentions his father Thomas Dymok. His bequests appear to be to friends and the church.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the wills of Lionel or Anne didn’t mention Lionel’s daughters. Prior to the probate reform of 1540 important arrangements for a father’s children were made in other ways.
*****
Henry Skipwith, son of Sir William Skipwith and Alice Dymoke, was ancestor to the Skipwiths of Virginia.
In connection with the marriage of Sir William Skipwith to Alice Dymoke, the a2a website has this abstract:
“These documents are held at Lincolnshire Archives [Paper, a single sheet.]
Contents:
“Of John Compton, collector of rents of Sir William Skipwith through the right of his wife Alice, daughter and coheir of Sir Lyon Dymoke in Maring cum aliis villatis (Mareham). Michaelmas, 1538 to the same 1540. [Horncastle, Upper Toynton, Haltham, Scrafield, Roughton and Claxby].”
Michaelmas is a day in the Christian calendar which falls on September 29th, and was one of the English, Welsh, and Irish quarter days when accounts had to be settled.
*****
Alice Dymoke was a descendant of the Capetian kings of France through Edward I’s second queen Margaret (Marguerite), daughter of king Philip III. The Dymoke and Welles arms are on the achievement* at the tomb of Alice’s grandson, Sir William Skipwith (d. 1610), in the church at Prestwould, and his right to display those arms are confirmed by Alice (Dymoke) Skipwith’s will.
INSCRIPTIONS
On the south wall of the chancel, in the year 1631, was erected a very fair monument of alabaster and touch, coloured and gilt, erected for Sir William Skipwith, of Cotes, knight, and Lady Jane his second wife, at the cost and expense of the said Lady Jane; where, under an arch, lie both their proportions, neatly cut and graven. Sir William has a piked beard and hair, plated armor, trunk hose, sword by his side; a mattress under him. At his feet his crest. His lady had a ruff, and hood falling back; double falling ruffles, and mantle; her head on a cushion; Plate LII fig. i.
On the top of the arch standeth an old atchievement, in an oval frame, with these coats; fig. 2.
1. Argent, three bars Gules, a greyhound in chief, courant Sable. Skipwith.
2. Quarterly, Sable and Argent, a bend Or. Langton.
3. Argent, three bars Azure, charged with as many cross crosslets Or. Memthorpe.
4. Azure, three crescents Argent. Thorpe.
5. Argent, on a cross engrailed Sable, five mascles Or. Arches.
6. Argent, a cross engrailed Gules. De la Lind.
7. Azure, a lion rampant Ermine. } Ormesby.
8. Sable, three chessrooks Argent, a chief Or. }
9. Quarterly, Ermine and Vaire, Or and Azure. Gibthorpe.
10. Or, a chevron Gules between three Fleurs de lis Vert. Hiltoft.
11. Or, frette Azure, in a canton Gules, a cross Moline Argent. Mumby or Willoughby.
12. Sable, a falcon sitting upon a trunk of a tree Or. Le Muer.
13. Sable, a fess between three mullets Or. Dimok.
14. Sable, two lions passant in pale Ermine, coronne Or. Heronville.
15. Vaire, Argent and Azure, a fess Gules, frette Or. Marmion.
16. Sable, a sword in pale, point towards the chief Argent, hilted Or. Kilpeck.
17. Ermine, four fusils in fess Gules. Hebden.
18. Or, a lion rampant queue fourche Sable. Welles.
19. Gules, a fess dauncette between six cross crosslets crossed Or. Engaine.
20. Barry of Six, Ermine and Gules;over all three crescents Sable. The crest; a turnpike Gules, the foot Or. Waterton.
In the spandrils of the arch are two less escutcheons:
Skipwith; impaling, Azure, fretty Argent, Cave.
Skipwith, impaling, Party per pale, Argent and Gules alion rampant Sable, Roberts; fig. 3,4.
Under the arch, on a table of touch, this epitaph:
To frame a man who in those guiftes excelles,
Which make the cuntry happy where hee dwelles,
We first conceive what names his line adorne:
It kindles Virtue to be nobly borne.
This picture of true Gentry must bee gracd
With glittering jewells round about him placd;
A comely body, and a beauteous mind;
A heart to love, a hand to give inclind;
A house as free and open as the ayre;
A tonge which joyes in language sweete and faire;
Yet can, when need requires, with courage bold
To publike eares his neighbors griefs unfold:
All these we never more shall find in one;
And yit all these are closd within this stone.
Below, on two smaller tablets of touch, thus written:
1. HERE LYETH THE BODY OF SIR WILLIAM SKIPWITH, OF COOTES, KNIGHT, AND DAME JANE SKIPWITH, HIS LAST WIFE, BEING THE DAUGHTER AND HEIRE OF JOHN ROBERTES, OF WOLLASTONE, IN THE COUNTRY OF NORTHAMPTON, ESQ. HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 3RD DAY OF MAY, IN THE YEARE OF OUR LORD 1610; AND SHEE LIVED TWENTY YEARS AFTER HIM; AT WHOSE COST AND CHARDGES THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED, ANNO 1631.
2. HIS FIRST WIFE WAS MARGARET CAVE, DAUGHTER OF ROGER CAVE, OF STANFORD, LEASTERSHIERE, ESQ.; BY WHOM HE HAD FOURE SONS AND FOURE DAUGHTERS: THE ELDEST WHEREOF IS SR HENRY SKIPWITH, KNIGHT AND BARONETT.
[The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, by John Nichols, Vol. 3, Part 1 (London, 1800) pages 358-359 containing EAST GOSCOTE HUNDRED. Monumental inscription in the Church of PRESTWOULD (dedicated to Saint ANDREW): Page 357 of the above volume records that Dame Jane (JOANNA) Skipwith was buried in the church of PRESTWOULD on 4 Apr 1630 and that Amy (Kemp) SKIPWITH was buried on 7 Sep 1631. Price, pp. 29-30.]
The description of the achievement refers to “Mumby or Willoughby.” “Mumby” is not a family, but a well-traveled manor of that name in Lincolnshire, once held by Sir Lionel Dymoke, among others. For the Willoughby family, see below.
*A heraldic assemblage of certain components, among them the arms the individual was entitled to display.
*****
I haven’t verified the marriage between Sir Thomas Skipwith and Margaret, allegedly daughter of John Lord Willoughby. An a2a abstract dated June 6, 1422 shows that Robt. Lord Willoughby of Eresby, Robt. Hilton kt., et al. delivered seizin of properties in Lincolnshire to Margaret, widow of Thos. Skipwith, which they had of the gift of Thos. Skipwith. The Robert Lord Willoughby mentioned must be the 6th Lord Willoughby (ca. 1385-1452); he had one child, a daughter, Joan, who married Richard de Welles. The title Lord Willoughby passed to the Welles family.
There were other Willoughbys in Lincolnshire who appear to be related to the lords Willoughby, and an a2a abstract dated June 3, 1417 shows Thos. son of William Willughby kt. and John Willughby son of Thos., et al. granting various advowsons in Lincolnshire to Thomas Skipwith esq. and Margaret his wife.
The Thos. Willughby mentioned in this latter abstract could be the younger brother of Robert 6th Lord Willoughby (and thus a son of William the 5th lord), but the chronology seems very tight. This is still the period when marriages were contracted early. Douglas Richardson’s Plantagenet Ancestry doesn’t mention an earlier marriage for William’s son Thomas.
Unfortunately, in his Magna Carta Ancestry pp. 886-888, Richardson contributes errors of his own, terming Robert 4th Lord Willoughby as the 3rd (the 2nd and 3rd were actually Johns). According to CP 12 pt. 2 “Willoughby” and its associated chart, this individual was clearly the 4th. Whether he was ever married to Alice, a daughter of Sir William de Skipwith, is moot. Richardson shows that his son, William Willoughby the 5th lord, was issue of Margery la Zouche. He then makes Thomas Skipwith’s wife a granddaughter of William 5th Lord Willoughby–but lists only William’s daughter Elizabeth who married Henry Beaumont as having a daughter named Margaret. Perhaps Richardson meant to say Sir Thomas Skipwith’s wife was a granddaughter of Robert 4th Lord Willoughby, which is more plausible.
According to CP, Robert 4th Lord Willoughby had a son John, of whom I know little (Bryan, b. ca. 1383, seems to have been the youngest son). Robert’s son John never held the title, but was living Feb. 3, 1407 as shown by a grant with his brother William. Obviously there’s confusion in the account of the Willoughby family. I don’t know who Margaret Skipwith’s parents were, so I’m not going to fog it up further.
This pedigree chart, adapted from Lincolnshire Pedigrees pp. 894-895, ties into the chart above. Note that it claims Sir Thomas Skipwith’s wife Margaret to be a daughter of William 5th Lord Willoughby:
The individual who most interests me in the above chart is John Skipwith, d. 15 Jul 1415, buried in the parish church of Covenham, MP for Lincolnshire in 1406, 1407, and Apr 1414. John Skipwith married by Jul 1397 Alice Tilney, daughter of Sir Frederick Tilney of Boston, Lincolnshire. The Tilneys were a family of considerable influence and wealth in Lincolnshire. Although a second son, due to untimely deaths John Skipwith eventually succeeded to the family estates. Holder of many offices throughout his life, according to History of Parliament Online, during his tenure as sheriff of Lincolnshire, “he and his henchmen appear to have inflicted a virtual reign of terror upon the county, and as a result of six separate petitions submitted to the chancellor by his victims he was summoned to appear before the justices of assize at Lincoln in August 1397 to face charges of robbery with violence, blackmail, extortion, false imprisonment and intimidation. All these allegations were found to be true, although the court’s verdict had little effect upon his career….” Of course, the backdrop here is the turmoil during the latter part of the reign of King Richard II, and the subsequent Lancastrian usurpation.
*****
It’s been alleged that Margaret Cave, wife of Sir William Skipwith (d. 1610), was connected to Cardinal Henry Beaufort. Ignoring the dubious authenticity of any Henry Beaufort descent, the claim arose through confusion concerning members of the Danvers family and has no merit.
The UK National Archives has recently updated and improved its website. a2a can now be accessed at this link:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a
