James Harrington 1430-1485

On 23rd September 1459 a Lancastrian army of James Tuchet 5th Baron Audley, 2nd Baron Tuchet [aged 61] and John Sutton 1st Baron Dudley [aged 58] fought with a Yorkist army commanded by Richard Neville Earl Salisbury [aged 59] at Blore Heath, Staffordshire [Map] whilst he, Salisbury, was travelling to Ludlow [Map] to join up with the main Yorkist army. Forewarned by scouts Salisbury arranged his troops into battle order the night before, arranging his wagons defensively, and digging trenches.

The Yorkist army included John Conyers [aged 48], [his father] Thomas Harrington [aged 59], James Harrington [aged 29], John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu [aged 28], William Stanley [aged 24], Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley [aged 26], John Savile, Walter Strickland [aged 48] and John Wenlock 1st Baron Wenlock [aged 59].

The Lancastrian army included brothers John Dutton, Thomas Dutton [aged 38] and Peter Dutton who were killed.

James Tuchet 5th Baron Audley, 2nd Baron Tuchet was killed, probably by Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley. His son John [aged 33] succeeded 6th Baron Audley of Heighley in Staffordshire, 3rd Baron Tuchet. Anne Echingham Baroness Audley Heighley [aged 39] by marriage Baroness Audley of Heighley in Staffordshire, Baroness Audley of Heighley in Staffordshire.

John Sutton 1st Baron Dudley and Edmund Sutton [aged 34] were captured. Lionel Welles 6th Baron Welles [aged 53] fought.

William Troutbeck [aged 23], Richard Molyneux of Sefton and John Egerton [aged 55] were killed.

After the battle Margaret of Anjou Queen Consort England [aged 29] took refuge at Eccleshall Castle, Staffordshire [Map]. Thomas Harrington, John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu and Thomas Neville [aged 29] were captured at Acton Bridge, Tarporley [Map] and imprisoned at Chester Castle [Map] having been detached from the main Yorkist force.

Warkworth's Chronicle [1461-1474]. 24th June 1465. Also the same yere, Kynge Herry [aged 43] was takene bysyde a howse of religione in Lancaschyre, by the mene of a blacke monke of Abyngtone¹, in a wode called Cletherwode, besyde Bungerly Hyppyngstones [Map]², by Thomas Talbott^3,4, sonne and heyre to Sere Edmunde Talbot of Basshalle, and Jhon Talbott his cosyne of Colebry⁶, withe other moo, whiche disseyvide⁷, beyngne at his dynere at Wadyngtone Halle [Map]⁸, and caryed to Londone on horse bake, and his lege bownde to the styrope⁹, and so brought thrugh Londone to the Toure, where he was kepte longe tyme by two squyres and ij. yomen of the crowne, and ther menne, and every manne was suffred to come and speke withe hym, by licence of the kepers,

Note 1. A blacke monke of Abyngtone. In the curious fragment printed by Hearne, at the end of the Chronicle of Sprottus, we are informed that William Cantlow was the name of this rascal. Henry's capture, in the MS. No 5, in the College of Arms, is placed under the year 1465: "Hoc et anno, circiter festum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, captus est Henricus Sextus, nuper Rex Anglie, du[c]tus et publice per Chepam Londonie, cum aliis secum captis; ductus usque ad Turrim Londonie, ibique honorifice commendatus custodie mansit. [During this year, around the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul [29th June], Henry VI, the former King of England, was captured, led publicly through Cheapside in London, along with others captured with him; he was taken to the Tower of London, where he remained in custody with honorable commendation.]" Fol. 170, vo,

Note 2. Bungerly Hyppyngstones [Map]. This was a ford, obtained by stepping-stones, across the river Ribble. - J.G.N.

Note 3. Thomas Talbott, sonne and heyre to Sere Edmund Talbot of Basshalle. Sir Edmund Talbot, of Bashall, in the parish of Mitton, co. York, died in the 1st Edw. IV. His son, Sir Thomas, was then under age (pedigree in Whitaker's History of Craven, 2d edit. 1812, p. 25); but there can be little doubt that, before his traitorous achievement, he had married Alice, daughter of Sir John Tempest, of Bracewell, under whose protection the unfortunate King was then living. Beside the present reward mentioned in the ensuing note, Sir Thomas Talbot appears to have received a grant of a yearly pension of £40, which was confirmed by Richard III. (pedigree, as above). He survived to the 13th Hen. VII. His father-in-law, Sir John Tempest, was Sheriff of Yorkshire in 18 and 37 Henry VI. (see pedigree of Tempest in Whitaker's Craven, p. 80.) - J.G.N.

Note 4. Thomas Talbott. In the Issue Rolls of the Exchequer of 5 Edw. IV. are the statements of monies paid to this gentleman and others for taking Henry, late de facto et non de jure King of England. It appears that Sir James Haryngton and Sir John Tempest were also concerned in the capture; but the fact of Sir Thomas Talbot being the chief actor is confirmed by the amount of their relative rewards, he receiving £100 and they each 100 marks. Their "costs and charges," amounting to 100 marks, were also paid. John Levesey also received a reward of £20, and William Rogers of Serne and David Colinley, valets of the King's chamber, together £6 13s 4d. On the 9th of July 1465, Edward, in consideration of "magnam et laboriosam diligentiam suam circa captionem et retinentiam magni proditoris, rebellis, et inimici nostri Henrici nuper vocati Regis Henrici Sexti, per ipsum Jacobum factum [his great and laborious diligence in the capture and retention of the great traitor, rebel, and our enemy, Henry, formerly called King Henry VI, was done by James himself]," gave to Sir James Haryngton a grant of Thurland Castle and other lands, formerly belonging to Richard Tunstell⁵, a partizan of Henry. - Fœdera, XI. 548.

My ancestor, Sir James Haryngton, did once take prisoner, with his party, this poor prince; for which the House of York did graunt him a parcel of lands in the northern counties, and which he was fool enough to lose again, after the battle of Bosworth, when King Henry the Seventh came to the crown." - Haryngton's Nuga Antiquæ, by T. Park, vol. II. pp. 385–86. Cf. Rot. Parl. V. 584, and Devon's Issue Rolls of the Exchequer, p. 489.

Sir James Harrington [aged 35] was of Brierly near Barnsley; a younger brother of Sir John Harrington, of Hornby, who had fallen on the Yorkists ' side at the battle of Wakefield in 1460; their father, Sir Thomas, dying also of his wounds the day after the same battle. Sir James had, in 6 Edw. IV. a grant of £340 from the issues of the county of York. Both he and his younger brother, Sir Robert Harrington, were attainted after the battle of Bosworth in 1 Hen. VII. See further respecting him in Hunter's Deanery of Doncaster, vol. ii. p. 403; to which it may be added that it is probably of him that Leland speaks: "There was a younger brother of the Haryngtons that had in gifte Horneby Castelle [Map]." (Itin. viii. f. 109 a.), that is, he had it for a time to the prejudice of his nieces, the heirs of his elder brother. - J.G.N.

Note 5. The great extent of these possessions may be seen in the Great Roll of the Pipe for 1 Edw. IV. com. Westmorland.

Note 6. Jhon Talbott his cosyne of Colebry. That is, of Salesbury, in the parish of Blackburn, co. Lancaster; see Whitaker's Whalley, 3d edit. 1818, p. 432. A yearly fee of twenty marks was granted by King Edward in consideration of the good and faithful service of Johannes Talbot de Salebury, Esq. "in captura magni adversarii sui Henrici [in the capture of his great adversary, Henry.]," until he received a grant of lands or tenements to the like value; and the same annuity was confirmed to his son Sir John Talbot, of Salebury, by King Richard the Third. See the grant of the confirmation, dated at York 6th June 1484, printed in Baines's History of Lancashire, vol. i. p. 421.—J.G.N.

Note 7. whiche disseyvide. i e. which King Henry, deceived.

Note 8. Wadyngtone Hall [Map]. Waddington is a chapelry within the parish of Mitton, little more than a mile from Bashall. It had belonged to the Tempests of Bracewell from the time of Edward I. Dr. Whitaker says (Hist. of Craven, p. 25), "Waddington Hall, though constructed of strong old masonry, has nearly lost all appearance of antiquity. But one room contains the name of King Henry's chamber." In the History of Whalley, p. 473, will be seen an etching of the ruins. At Bracewell also, (which is now likewise in ruins,) in the older stone portion of the house, "is an apartment called King Henry's Parlour; undoubtedly one of the retreats of Henry VI." (Ibid. p. 82.) At Bolton, in the same neighbourhood, after describing a very ancient hall, and its canopy over the high table, Dr. Whitaker adds, "In this very hall, and probably under the same canopy, that unhappy monarch ate the bread of affliction during a retreat, as it is reported by tradition, of several months. An adjoining well retains the name of King Harry, who is said to have directed it to be dug and walled, in its present shape, for a cold bath." It is at Bolton where there are still preserved three relics of King Henry, a boot, a glove, and a spoon; figures of which are engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine for June 1785, and again in the History of Craven, p. 106. The boot and glove are remarkably small, and show, in Dr. Whitaker's words, that "in an age when the habits of the great, in peace as well as war, required perpetual exertions of bodily strength, this unhappy prince must have been equally contemptible from corporeal and from mental imbecility." - J.G.N.

Note 9. His lege bownde to the styrope. One author, and as far as I have been able to find he is the only authority for it, says, that Henry was immediately cast into chains. - Matthæi Palmesii Pisani Continuatio Chronici Eusebiani, ed. Venetiis, 1483, fol. 155, vº. According to some writers, Henry's two religious friends, Drs. Manning and Bedle, were the only companions of his misfortunes. - Cf. Monstrelet, IV. 182.

On 22nd August 1485 King Richard III of England [aged 32] was killed during the Battle of Bosworth. His second cousin once removed Henry Tudor [aged 28] succeeded VII King of England.

Humphrey Cotes [aged 35] died. It isn't clear on which side he was fighting.

Those supporting Henry Tudor included:

John Blount 3rd Baron Mountjoy [aged 35].

John Cheney 1st Baron Cheyne [aged 43].

Richard Guildford [aged 35].

Walter Hungerford [aged 21].

Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby [aged 50].

John Wingfield.

Edward Woodville Lord Scales [aged 29].

Edward Courtenay 1st Earl Devon [aged 26].

Rhys ap Thomas Deheubarth [aged 36].

Jasper Tudor 1st Duke Bedford [aged 53].

William Beaumont 2nd Viscount Beaumont [aged 47].

Giles Daubeney 1st Baron Daubeney [aged 34].

William Stanley [aged 50].

Roger Kynaston of Myddle and Hordley [aged 52].

Henry Marney 1st Baron Marney [aged 38].

William Brandon [aged 29] was killed.

James Harrington [aged 55] was killed.

John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk [aged 60] was killed and attainted. He was buried firstly at Thetford Priory, Norfolk [Map] and therafter at Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham [Map]. Duke Norfolk, Baron Mowbray, Baron Segrave, Baron Howard forfeit.

John Sacheverell [aged 85] was killed.

Philibert Chandee 1st Earl Bath

William Norreys [aged 44], Gilbert Talbot [aged 33], John de Vere 13th Earl of Oxford [aged 42] and John Savage [aged 41] commanded,.

Robert Poyntz [aged 35] was knighted.

Those who fought for Richard III included:

John Bourchier 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby [aged 47].

John Conyers [aged 74].

Thomas Dacre 2nd Baron Dacre Gilsland [aged 17].

William Berkeley 1st Marquess Berkeley [aged 59].

Richard Fitzhugh 6th Baron Fitzhugh [aged 28].

John Scrope 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton [aged 48].

Thomas Scrope 6th Baron Scrope of Masham [aged 26].

Henry Grey 4th or 7th Baron Grey of Codnor [aged 50].

Edmund Grey 1st Earl Kent [aged 68].

Ralph Neville 3rd Earl of Westmoreland [aged 29].

John de la Pole Earl Lincoln 1st [aged 23].

Humphrey Stafford [aged 59].

George Talbot 4th Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 17].

Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk [aged 42] was wounded, captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map] for three years. He was attainted; Earl Surrey forfeit.

Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell [aged 29] fought and escaped.

John Zouche 7th Baron Zouche Harringworth [aged 26] was captured.

John Babington [aged 62], William Alington [aged 65], Robert Mortimer [aged 43], Robert Brackenbury, Richard Ratclyffe [aged 55] and Richard Bagot [aged 73] were killed

Walter Devereux Baron Ferrers of Chartley [aged 53] was killed.

William Catesby [aged 35] was executed at Leicester, Leicestershire [Map] after the battle.

George Stanley 9th Baron Strange Knockin 5th Baron Mohun Dunster [aged 25] held as a hostage by Richard III before the Battle of Bosworth.

Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland [aged 36] betrayed King Richard III of England by not committing his forces at the Battle of Bosworth.

John Iwardby [aged 35] was killed.