Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Constable of the Tower of London

Notes:

William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1374-28 May 1420), was an English knight created by King Henry V 1st Count of Eu, in Normandy.

Origins
He was born in 1374, the son of Sir William Bourchier (d.1375), (the younger son of Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier (d.1349), of Halstead, Essex, Lord Chancellor) by his wife Eleanor de Louvain (27 March 1345 – 5 October 1397), daughter and heiress of Sir John de Louvain (d.1347) (alias Lovayne etc.), feudal baron of Little Easton in Essex. The arms of Louvain were: Gules billety or a fess of the last, often shown with varying number of billets and on occasion with a fess argent, for example in stained glass at Hengrave Hall, Suffolk: Gules, a fess argent, between fourteen billets or. Eleanor was descended from Godfrey de Louvain (d.1226), feudal baron of Little Easton, son of Godfrey III, Count of Louvain (1142-1190), by his 2nd marriage, and half-brother of Henry I, Duke of Brabant (1165-1235). His inheritance from his mother's Louvain lands included the Suffolk manors of Bildeston, Hopton, Shelland and "Lovaynes" in Drinkstone, and in Essex Little Easton, Broxted and Aythorpe Roding.

Career
He fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1417 he was in the retinue of King Henry V during his second expedition to France, and played a significant role in the capture of Normandy. In 1419 he was appointed Captain of Dieppe and was granted powers to receive the submission of the town and Comté of Eu. The French count of Eu had refused to pay homage to the conquering English king and thus had been held prisoner in England since Agincourt. In June 1419 King Henry V awarded six captured French comtés to certain of his more significant English supporters, and the Comté of Eu was granted to William Bourchier, thus making him 1st Count of Eu.

Marriage & progeny
He married Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford, the daughter of the Plantagenet prince, Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355-1397) (youngest son of King Edward III) by his wife Eleanor de Bohun elder daughter and coheiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341-1373), Earl of Essex and Northampton. The Wrey baronets who were the heirs of the Bourchier Earls of Bath quartered the arms of Wrey with those of Bourchier, the Royal Arms of England and Bohun. They had the following progeny:

Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404 – 4 April 1483), eldest son
Sir William Bourchier (1407-1470), jure uxoris 9th Baron FitzWarin, 2nd son.
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners (1415 – 16 May 1474), 3rd son
Thomas Bourchier, (ca. 1404 – 30 March 1486), Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal, 4th son
Eleanor Bourchier, (ca. 1417 – November, 1474), wife of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk

Death & burial
He died at Troyes, France on 28 May 1420 and was buried at Llanthony Priory, Gloucestershire
all of the above from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bourchier,_1st_Count_of_Eu

William married Lady Anne Plantagenet, of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford and Eu on 20 Nov 1405 in Little Eaton, St Alkmund, Essex, England. Anne (daughter of Thomas Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun, of Gloucester) was born in Apr 1383 in Pleshey, Essex, England; died on 16 Oct 1438 in Priory, Llanthony, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (c. 1404/c. 1406 – 4 April 1483), was the eldest son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester. On his mother's side, he was a great-grandson of Edward III of England.

Titles
He inherited the title of 5th Baron Bourchier from his cousin Elizabeth Bourchier, 4th Baroness Bourchier on her death in 1433. He became the 1st Viscount Bourchier in 1446, a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1452, and was created 1st Earl of Essex in 1461.

Career
He saw considerable military action in France and for his services was created Viscount Bourchier during the parliament of 1445–6 and elected Knight of the Garter on his third nomination in 1452. He later saw action in 1461 as a Yorkist supporter at the Second Battle of St Albans and the Battle of Towton, soon after which Edward IV created him Earl of Essex.

He held the post of Lord High Treasurer from 29 May 1455 - 5 October 1456, 28 July 1460 - 14 April 1462, and 22 April 1471 - 4 April 1483. He also became Justice in Eyre south of the Trent in 1461, holding that title until his death.

He died on 4 April 1483 and was buried at Beeleigh Abbey, although his tomb was subsequently moved to Little Easton church.

Marriage and issue
Prior to 1426, he married Isabel of Cambridge, another descendant of Edward III. She was the elder sister of Richard Plantagenet, which made her the aunt of Richard's two sons, the future Edward IV and Richard III.

Henry and Isabel were parents to at least eleven children.

William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier (d. 1480). Married Anne Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. They were parents of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex and Cicely Bourchier, wife of John Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley.[3]
Henry Bourchier (d. 1462). Married Elizabeth de Scales, Baroness Scales. No known children.[3]
Humphrey Bourchier, 1st and last Lord Bourchier of Cromwell (d. 14 April 1471). Killed in the Battle of Barnet.[3]
John Bourchier (d. 1495). Married first Elizabeth Ferrers and secondly Elizabeth Chichele. No known children.[3]
Edward Bourchier (d. 30 December 1460). Killed in the Battle of Wakefield.[3]
Thomas Bourchier (d. 1492). Married Isabella Barre. No known children.[3]
Florence Bourchier (d. 1525).[3]
Fulk Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
Hugh Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
Isabella Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
Laura Bourchier (1440- ) married John Courtenay (killed at Tewkesbury, 1471)

On his death she did not remarry and died more than a year later.

The title of Count of Eu appears to have gone into abeyance on the death of Henry, and reverted to the French - Eu was a fiefdom in the Normandy region fo France.
see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counts_of_Eu

Henry married Isabel Plantagenet, of Cambridge, Countess of Essex before 25 Apr 1426. Isabel (daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer) was born in 1409; died on 2 Oct 1484; was buried in Little Easton Church, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Bourchier (1407-1470) jure uxoris 9th Baron FitzWarin, was an English nobleman. He was summoned to Parliament in 1448[1] as Baron FitzWarin in right of his wife Thomasine Hankford.

Origins
He was the 2nd son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (c.1374-1420) by his wife Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford, the daughter of the Plantagenet prince, Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (13th and youngest child of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault) by his wife Eleanor de Bohun elder daughter and coheiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341-1373), Earl of Essex and Northampton. He had the following siblings:
Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404 – 4 April 1483), eldest brother
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners (1415 – 16 May 1474), younger brother
Thomas Bourchier, (ca. 1404 – 30 March 1486), Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal, youngest brother
Eleanor Bourchier, (ca. 1417 – November, 1474), wife of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, sister

Marriages & progeny
William Bourchier married twice:

Firstly to Thomasine Hankford, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses, by his 1st marriage, of Sir Richard II Hankford (c.1397-1431) of Annery in Devon, grandson of Sir William Hankford (died 1422), KB, Lord Chief Justice of England. Thomasine's mother (Sir Richard's 1st wife) was Elizabeth FitzWarin, 8th Baroness FitzWarin (c. 1404 – c. 1427), sister and heiress of Fulk FitzWarin, 7th Baron FitzWarin (1406–1420), feudal baron of Bampton, in Devon. Upon the death of Elizabeth FitzWarin in 1427 the barony of FitzWarin went into abeyance between her daughters Thomasine Hankford and Elizabeth Hankford (died 1433). On the death of Elizabeth Hankford in 1433, the barony of FitzWarin was inherited by her sister Thomasine Hankford, the wife of William Bourchier, who was summoned to Parliament as Lord FitzWarin in her right. Thomasine Hankford's father married secondly to Anne Montacute, daughter of John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (1350-1400) (or according to the Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640), to Anne Nevill, daughter of Lord Nevill). By his 2nd wife Sir Richard II Hankford left a daughter Anne Hankford (c. 1431 – 1485), who married Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (c.1426-1515). Anne Hankford and her husband inherited Annery, whilst Thomasine Hankford and her husband William Bourchier inherited Bampton. William Bourchier had by Thomasine Hankford progeny including:

Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin (d.1480), son and heir. He requested in his will to be buried at Bampton. He married Elizabeth Dynham, one of the four sisters and co-heiresses of John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433-1501), KG, of Nutwell, Devon. Elizabeth remarried to Sir John Sapcotes and a stained glass heraldic escutcheon survives in Bampton church showing the arms of Sapcotes impaling Dinham. Fulk's son and heir was John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath and 11th Baron FitzWarin (1470–1539), created in 1536 Earl of Bath. The Bourchiers later moved their seat from Bampton westwards to Tawstock in North Devon.

Blanche Bourchier (d.4 January 1483),[10] who married firstly Philip Beaumont (1432-1473), of Shirwell, Devon, MP in 1467 and Sheriff of Devon in 1469. The marriage was without progeny. Her stone effigy survives in Shirwell Church. Blanche survived her first husband and re-married secondly to Bartholomew St Ledger "of Kent", probably a relative or descendant of Sir John St Ledger (c.1404-1442) of Ulcombe, Kent, Sheriff of Kent in 1430, one of whose sons was Sir James St Ledger (c.1441-post 1509) of Annery in the parish of Monkleigh, North Devon, who married Anne Butler, daughter of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, and was therefore an uncle to Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. Another son was Sir Thomas St Leger (c.1440-1483), the second husband of Anne of York (1439-1476), daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, thus an elder sister of Kings Edward IV (1461-1483) and Richard III (1483-1485). Sir Thomas St Ledger's grand-daughter Eleanor manners was the 2nd wife of John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath and 12th Baron FitzWarin (d.1560), of Tawstock.

Secondly William Bourchier married Catherine de Affeton (d.1467), daughter and heiress of John de Affeton of Affeton, Devon, and widow of Hugh Stucley of Affeton, Sheriff of Devon in 1448.

Death & burial
Both William Bourchier and his wife Thomasine Hankford were buried in Bampton Church. Dugdale quoted the will of his son Fulk Bourchier who bequeathed his body to be buried in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin at Bampton, near the grave of his mother, Lady Thomasine, and he willed that marble stones with inscriptions should be placed on his own grave and that of his father, Lord William, and his mother, Lady Thomasine.


1st of the BATH line ?

Family/Spouse: Thomazine Hankeford. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Catherine de Affeton. Catherine died in 1467. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Thomas was a younger son of William Bourchier, Earl of Eu (d. 1420), and through his mother, Anne, a daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, was a descendant of King Edward III of England. One of his brothers was Henry, Earl of Essex (d. 1483), and his grand-nephew was John, Lord Berners, the translator of Froissart. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham was a half-brother.

Educated at the University of Oxford, he then entering the church and obtained rapid promotion. After holding some minor appointments he became Bishop of Worcester in 1434. In the same year he was chancellor of the University of Oxford, and in 1443 he was appointed Bishop of Ely; then in Apr 1454 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming Lord Chancellor of England in the following Mar.

Bourchier's short term of office as chancellor coincided with the start of the Wars of the Roses, and at first he was not a strong partisan, although he lost his position as chancellor when Richard, Duke of York, was deprived of power in Oct 1456. Afterwards, in 1458, he helped to reconcile the contending parties, but when the war was renewed in 1459 he appears as a decided Yorkist; he crowned Edward IV in Jun 1461, and four years later he performed a similar service for the queen, Elizabeth Woodville.

In 1457 Bourchier took the chief part in the trial of Reginald Peacock, Bishop of Chichester, for heresy; in 1467 he was created a Cardinal; and in 1475 he was one of the four arbitrators appointed to arrange the details of the treaty of Picquigny between England and France. After the death of Edward IV in 1483 Bourchier persuaded the Queen to allow her younger son, Richard, Duke of York, to share his brother's residence in the Tower of London; and although he had sworn to be faithful to Edward V before his father's death, he crowned Richard III in Jul 1483. He was, however, in no way implicated in the murder of the young princes, and he was probably a participant in the conspiracies against Richard.

The third English King crowned by Bourchier was Henry VII, whom he also married to Elizabeth of York in Jan 1486.


The Archbishop died on 30 Mar 1486 at his residence, Knole House, near Sevenoaks, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.

Notes:

1st of the BERNERS line
Knight of the Garter. Fought for Henry VI at the first battle of St. Albans. Afterwards changed sides.

"Sir John Bourchier, 1st Lord Berners was born circa 1415. He was the son of Sir William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu and Anne of Woodstock, Countess of Buckingham. He married Marjorie Berners, daughter of Sir Richard Berners and Philippe Dalyngridge, after 1441. He died on 16 May 1474. He was also reported to have died on 21 May 1474. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey, Surrey, England. His will was probated on 21 June 1474.

He was invested as a Knight on 19 May 1426 at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, by the Duke of Bedford. He was created 1st Lord Berners [England by writ] on 26 May 1455. He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) before 23 April 1459. He held the office of Constable of Windsor Castle between 17 December 1461 and 1474. His last will was dated 21 March 1473/74." http://www.thepeerage.com/p1754.htm


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Berners:
The title was created in 1455 for Sir John Bourchier, youngest son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, and younger brother of Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex and William Bourcher, Baron FitzWarine (from whom the Earls of Bath descended). He was the husband of Margery Berners, daughter of Sir Richard Berners. The barony was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. Lord Berners was succeeded by his grandson, the second Baron. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1516 and 1527.

He died without male heirs and was succeeded by his daughter Jane Knyvett, the de jure third holder. However, she never assumed the title. Jane was the wife of Edmund Knyvett. Their grandson, the de jure fourth Baron, obtained a certificate of his right to the title but died before obtaining the King's confirmation. His great-great-grandson Thomas Knyvett, the de jure seventh Baron, sat as a Member of Parliament for Dunwich and Eyre. On his death in 1693 the peerage technically fell into abeyance between his two sisters, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Glenham, and Katherine, wife firstly of John Harris and secondly of Richard Bokenham

Family/Spouse: Margorie Berners, Baroness Berners. Margorie (daughter of Sir Richard Berners, Lord Berners and Philippa de Dalyngridge) was born on 30 Nov 1408 in West Horsley, Surrey, England; died on 18 Dec 1475 in Little Eaton, Essex, England; was buried in Chertsey Abbey, Chertsey, Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Anne Bourchier

Eleanor married John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk about 1435. John was born in 1415; died on 6 Nov 1461. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan Stanhope, Baroness Cromwell. Joan (daughter of Sir Richard Stanhope, Knight and Maud de Cromwell) was born in 1434 in Rampton, Nottinghamshire, England; died on 10 Nov 1490. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

On 14 April 1471, William fought at the Battle of Barnet on the side of the Yorkists who won a decisive victory.

William married Anne /Woodville Viscountess Bourchier, Countess of Kent before 15 Aug 1467. Anne (daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta, of Luxembourg) was born about 1438 in Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, England; died on 30 Jul 1489; was buried in Warden, Bedfordshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

no issue

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Scales. Elizabeth was born about 1436; died on 2 Sep 1473. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Isabel de la Barre, Countess of Devon. Isabel was born in 1453 in Knebworth, Hertfordshire; died in 1489. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sir John Bourchier (c. 1438 – 1495) was a 15th-century English knight and nobleman. He was steward of the Honour of Richmond.[1] Bourchier fought in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 on the side of King Richard III.[1]

Bourchier was the fourth son of Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex and his wife Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex.[1]

Before 2 May 1462, Bourchier married to the heiress Lady Elizabeth Grey, widow of Sir Edward Grey, jure uxoris 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby (d. 18 December 1457).[1] Lady Elizabeth was the granddaughter and heiress of William Ferrers, 5th Baron Ferrers of Groby in her own right.[1] When Lady Ferrers remarried to Bourchier, he received the title of Baron Ferrers of Groby (jure uxoris).[1] They had no issue.[1]

After the death of Lady Ferrers, Bourchier remarried to Elizabeth Chichele before 6 July 1490.[1]

Bourchier left a will dated 4 June 1495 in which he requested his burial in Bilegh Abbey, Essex, next to the tomb of his parents.[1]

According to some sources Bourchier died in Spain.
~~~
Source[1] Douglas Richardson. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. pg 161–164.

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Ferrers. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Chichele. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Killed in the Battle of Wakefield

Family/Spouse: John Courtenay. John died in 1471 in Tewkesbury. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Baroness Fitzwaryn Elizabeth Dynham. Elizabeth was born in 1449; died on 19 Oct 1516. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sir Henry Neville, Knight. Henry died on 26 Jul 1469. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _UID: F6E9F64C29D7D711BA22AAFF03D374360ED7

Notes:

Killed in the Battle of Barnet.

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Tylney, Countess of Surrey. Elizabeth (daughter of Sir Frederick Tylney, of Ashwellthorpe and Elizabeth Cheney) was born in 1446; died on 4 Apr 1497. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lord Robert Welles. Robert died in 1469. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anne Andrews. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Agnes Charlton. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _UID: EAE9F64C29D7D711BA22AAFF03D374360217

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Talbot. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sir John Devereux, 2nd Baron Ferrers of Chartley. John was born in 1464; died on 5 Mar 1500. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Member of the privy council of Henry VII. In 1492 he was present at the siege of Boulogne. At the knighthood of Henry, Duke of York (Henry VIII), the Earl took a prominent part in the ceremonies, and was one of the challengers at the jousts held in honour of the event. In 1497 he commanded a detachment against the rebels at Blackheath. He accompanied the King and Queen when they crossed to Calais in 1500, to hold an interview with the Duke of Burgundy. The next year he was one of those appointed to meet Catalina de Aragon.

On the accession of Henry VIII he was made captain of the new bodyguard. During the early years of the king's reign he took a prominent part in the revels in which Henry delighted. Constant references may be found in the State Papers to the earl's share in these entertainments. For example, in 1510 he and others, the King among the number, dressed themselves as Robin Hood's men in a revel given for the Queen's delectation. He was also constantly employed in state ceremonies, such as meeting papal envoys, as in 1514, when the Pope sent Henry a cap and sword; in 1515, when he met the prothonotary who brought over the cardinal's hat for Wolsey; and in 1524, when Dr. Hanyball came over with the golden rose for the King. These and such like engagements necessarily put him to great expense. He received some grants from Henry, and appears both as a pensioner and a debtor of the crown. On one occasion his tailor seems to have had some difficulty in getting his bill settled. He served at the seiges of Terouenne and Tournay as 'leiutenant-general of the spears' (Herbert) in 1513, and the next year was made chief captain of the king's forces. When the king's sister Margaret, widow of James IV and wife of the Earl of Angus, sought refuge in England, the Earl of Essex, in company with the King, Suffolk, and Sir George Carew, held the lists in the jousts given in her honour. In 1520 he attended the King at the celebrated meeting held at Guisnes. He sat as one of the judges of the Duke of Buckingham, and received the Manor of Bedminster as his share of the Duke's estates.

In 1525, when engaged in raising money for the crown from the men of Essex, he wrote to Wolsey, pointing out the danger of an insurrection, and by the king's command took a company to the borders of Essex and Suffolk to overawe the malcontents. On a division being made of the council in 1526 for purposes of business, his name was placed with those who were to treat of matters of law. He joined in the letter sent by a number of English nobles to Clement VII in 1530, warning him that unless he hastened the king's divorce, his supremacy would be endangered. Bore the Sword of State at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

Henry Bourchier died in 1539 when his neck was broken after being thrown from a horse. As he had no male issue by Mary, his wife, his Earldom of Essex and Viscounty of Bourchier became extinct. His Barony descended to his daughter Anne, who married William Parr, afterwards Earl of Essex.

see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bourchier,_2nd_Earl_of_Essex

Henry married Mary Say on 12 Mar 1497. Mary (daughter of Sir William Say and Elizabeth Fray) was born in 1485 in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire; died on 5 Jun 1535. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Mary Blount about 1536. Mary was born in 1498; died in 1555. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Cecily Daubeney in 1496 in Baunton, Devon, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Florence Bonville, Countess of Bath. Florence (daughter of Sir John Bonville, of Halnaker and Catherine Wingfield) was born in 1472; died in Oct 1524. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Countess of Bath Elizabeth Wentworth. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 4th Baron Audley of Heleigh James Touchet. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Henry Beaumont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Richard Page. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sir Edward Stanhope. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Nicholas Pigot. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born around 1468 in Beningbrough, Yorkshire, England or 1467 in Tharfield, hertfordshire, son of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and Elizabeth Tilney. He had royal descent through his great grandmother on his father's side, Anne of Woodstock, Countess of Buckingham, the granddaughter of King Edward III. Humphrey Bourchier was heir to the title Baron Berners but died before his father, being killed during the Wars of the Roses at the Battle of Barnet. John succeeded to the title as second Baron Berners. His mother remarried at Sir Humphrey´s death; her second husband was Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. This connection made him uncle to Anne Boleyn as well as a member of the wider circle of kin and dependents around the Howard family. John Bourchier was brother of Margaret, lady Bryan, governess of the three children of Henry VIII.

Little is known of his career till after the accession of Henry VII. In 1492 he entered into a contract 'to serue the King in his warres beyond see on hole yeere with two speres' (Rymer, Foedera, xii. 479). In 1497 he helped to repress the Cornish rebellion in behalf of Perkin Warbeck. It is fairly certain that he and Henry VIII were acquainted as youths, and the latter showed Berners much favour in the opening years of his reign. In 1513 he travelled in the King's retinue to Calais, and was present at the capture of Terouenne. Later in the same year he was marshal of his step father, the Earl of Surrey's army in Scotland. When the Princess Mary married Louis XII (9 Oct 1514), Berners was sent with her to France as her chamberlain. But he did not remain abroad. On 18 May 1514 he had been granted the reversion to the office of chancellor of the exchequer, and on 28 May 1516 Berners was sent with John Kite, Archbishop of Armagh, on a special mission to Spain to form an alliance between Henry VIII and Carlos V of Spain. The letters of the envoys represent Berners as suffering from severe gout. He sent the King accounts of the bull-baiting and other sports that took place at the Spanish Court. The negotiations dragged on from Apr to Dec, and the irregularity with which money was sent to the envoys from home caused them much embarrassment (cf. Berners to Wolsey, 26 Jul 1518, in Brewer's Letters &c. of Henry VIII).

Early in 1519 Berners was again in England, and he, with his wife, attended Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in the next year. The privy council thanked him (2 Jul 1520) for the account of the ceremonial which he forwarded to them. Throughout this period Berners, when in England, regularly attended parliament, and was in all the commissions of the peace issued for Hertfordshire and Surrey. But his pecuniary resources were failing him. He had entered upon several harasssing lawsuits touching property in Staffordshire, Wiltshire, and elsewhere. As early as 1511 he had borrowed 350 pounds of the King, and the load was frequently repeated. In Dec 1520 he left England to become deputy of Calais, during pleasure, with 100 pounds yearly as salary and 104 pounds as "spyall money".

His letters to Wolsey and other officers of state prove him to have been busily engaged in succeeding years in strengthening the fortifications of Calais and in watching the armies of France and the Low Countries in the neighborhood. In 1522 he received Carlos V. In 1528 he obtained grants of manors in Surrey, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Oxfordshire. In 1529 and 1531 he sent Henry VIII gifts of hawks (Privy Purse Expenses, pp. 54, 231). But his pecuniary troubles were increasing, and his debts to the crown remained unpaid. Early in 1532-3, while Berners was very ill. Henry VIII directed his agents in Calais to watch over the deputy's personal effects in the interests of his creditors. On 16 Mar 1532-3 Berners died, and he was buried in the parish church of Calais by his special direction. All his goods were placed under arrest and an inventory taken, which is still at the Record Office, and proves Berners to have lived in no little state. Eighty books and four pictures are mentioned among his household furniture. By his will (3 Mar 1532-3) he left his chief property in Calais to Francis Hastings, his executor, who became Earl of Huntingdon in 1544 (Chronicle of Calais, Camd. Soc. p. 164).

Berners married Catherine, daughter of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, by whom he had a daughter, Joan or Jane, the wife of Edmund Knyvett of Ashwellthorp in Norfolk, who succeeded to her father's estates in England. Small legacies were also left to his illegitimate sons, Humphrey, James, and George. The Barony of Berners was long in abeyance. Lord Berners daughter and heiress died in 1561, and her grandson, Sir Thomas Knyvett, petitioned the crown to grant him the barony, but died 9 Feb 1616-7 before his claim was ratified. In 1720 Elizabeth, a great-granddaughter of Sir Thomas, was confirmed in the barony and bore the title of Baroness Berners, but she died without issue in 1743, and the barony fell again into abeyance.

from http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BOURCHIER1.htm#Robert De BOURCHIER1

~~~~~~~~~

from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/62492/John-Bourchier-2nd-Baron-Berners
John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, (born c. 1467, Tharfield, Hertfordshire, Eng.—died March 16, 1532/33, Calais?, France), English writer and statesman, best known for his simple, fresh, and energetic translation (vol. 1, 1523; vol. 2, 1525) from the French of Jean Froissart’s Chroniques.

Berners’ active political and military career started early when at the age of 15 he was defeated in a premature attempt to make Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond (later Henry VII), king. He helped to suppress the 1497 Cornish rebellion in favour of Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne, and served the crown in campaigns in France and Scotland. He was involved in English diplomacy concerning Henry VIII’s alliances with France and Spain and was present at the Field of Cloth of Gold, at which Henry and Francis I of France met to pledge their friendship. His appointment in 1520 as deputy of Calais helped him to a stable income, ending the royal loans he had been constantly receiving. He held the post, except from 1526 to 1531, until his death.

Berners’ translation of the French romance The Boke Huon de Bordeuxe, which introduces Oberon, king of the fairies, into English literature, is almost as successful as his translation of Froissart. Near the end of his life, he translated into English prose two of the newly fashionable courtesy books: The Castell of Love, by Diego de San Pedro, and The Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius, by Antonio de Guevara. The latter was by far the most popular of his works.

{ this is the first and only mention I have found of Tharfield outside the Eastern Cape - Paul TT}

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from http://www.bartleby.com/209/42.html : -
John Bourchier, or Bouchier, afterwards Lord Berners, was descended from a family of great distinction, which could claim kinship with the Plantagenets, and which had already furnished a long list of men high in Church and State. The Bourchiers had at first been supporters of the Lancastrian House: but had afterwards joined the Yorkist party, on whose behalf our author’s grandfather, Lord Berners (whom he succeeded), fought at St. Albans, while his father, Humphrey Bourchier, fell at Barnet fighting on the same side. John Bourchier was born about 1467, and succeeded to the title in 1474. Even as a child he seems to have lived at the Court, and was knighted in 1477; but, according to the growing custom of the day which no longer countenanced the complete separation of arms from letters, he was sent to Oxford, where, according to Anthony Wood, he belonged to Balliol College. After his stay at the University he travelled abroad, returning to England when the Earl of Richmond became Henry VII., with the Bourchier family amongst his chief supporters. It was a member of that family, Cardinal Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, who placed the crown on Henry’s head. In the following years Lord Berners distinguished himself in military service, and he continued as high in favour with Henry VIII. as with his father. He served under Lord Surrey in Scotland, and was employed on embassies of high importance. About 1520 he seems to have been appointed Governor of Calais, and there he spent his last years, employed at Henry’s command, upon the translation of Froissart’s Chronicles from the French. He died in 1532.

BY birth, by education, by association and employment; as the head of a great family, from his youth a courtier; as the companion in arms as well as in letters of his kinsman, Surrey; as conversant not only with the learning of Oxford, but with the active life of the counsellor and the soldier; as acquainted not only with the languages but with the rulers of all the leading European states—Lord Berners was one on whose head all that was choicest in the England of his day seemed to unite, so as to make him in truth one of the most typical figures in an age when the chivalry of the past was linked, as it were, with the intellectual activity of the future. His work has precisely the qualities which such a training and such opportunities were likely to give: and it is perhaps not too much to say that there is no one who, without producing a work of original genius or research, has laid English literature under such a heavy debt of obligation, as Lord Berners by his translation of Froissart. From the abundance of French and Spanish romances he translated a few specimens: and he also made a translation from a French version of the Spaniard Guevara’s work entitled the Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius, or El Relox de Principles. As Guevara’s work was not published until 1529, and as no French version is known to have appeared in Berners’ time, some doubt may be felt as to the genesis of the book. But these works have long been forgotten: his chief achievement, and that by which his name must live, is his reproduction of the French Chronicle in a translation, which, by the rarest of literary gifts, has all the energy and verve of an original work.
Berners’ work is an advance no less upon the laboured ponderousness of works which produced, in an English dress, the old chroniclers, than upon the more ornate, but fantastic and shadowy translations of the romances. He had the good fortune in following a royal order (which is enough of itself to prove a rare literary sagacity in Henry VIII.), to find an author between whom and himself—though separated by a century of time—there was a close sympathy of thought and interest. This was the first condition of success; but that success was made still more sure by the union of a romantic fancy with experience of active life, and of the pomp and pageantry that surround the great. Nor was Berners simply the laureate of chivalry. Faithful as he is to his original, we can yet trace his own feeling through his choice of words, and he is able to give us an impression of earnest sympathy with every phase of the amazingly varied scene through which the Chronicle leads us.
We have seen how even in Fabyan’s Concordance of Histories, with all its roughness and coldness, the interest grows, and the force of the narrative increases as he comes nearer to the events of his own days, and more especially when he tells of that Government of London, in which he had himself borne a part. But in Berners we have got many strides further away from the monkish chronicler, to whom it never even remotely occurred that any words that fell from his pen should recall scenes of real life—of a life, heard in his cloister only as a confused and distant babble of noise. It is the very opposite of the mood of the monkish chronicler which gives to Berners’ translation those qualities that make it a model of style, simple, direct, and unaffected, and yet with a force and intensity of feeling which the most elaborate affectations of more laboured ingenuity would seek in vain to reproduce.
The translation undoubtedly marks the highest point to which English narrative prose had as yet reached. It attains its effect by no straining after a purity of Saxon diction, which some are pleased to consider the distinctive mark of excellence. Like all the early masters of English prose, Berners was bold in his appropriation of foreign words. Occasionally he reminds us even of the perfect English of the book of Common Prayer in his harmonious variations between words of Teutonic and of Romance origin. But his style was far too flexible and mobile to be confined to the narrow range, within which are to be found the meagre currents that go to feed the beginnings of our language, and to which the pedantry of the Teutonic purist would confine the ideal of English prose.
Lord Berners is a master of English style, then, partly because he found in his author one with whose subjects and whose methods he was in complete sympathy: partly because by the teaching of the university, the training of the Court, and the discipline of experience, he had learned to realise what he described, and thus to impart to it a force which no laboured art could improve: and partly because his intimate acquaintance with the Romance languages opened to him a wide range of words which he made no scruple of appropriating at his need. We are perhaps apt to persuade ourselves, in reading these early authors, that the harmonious charm of their style comes in great measure from their almost childish simplicity. The persuasion is more flattering to ourselves than true. Artistic skill like that of Berners is rarely unconscious: that it conceals itself does not rob it of the character of art. And the particular instance of Berners suggests a contrast that is not soothing to our self-respect. Froissart has been twice translated into English; by Berners, and again in the early days of this century by Mr. Johnes, a Welsh squire and member of Parliament, of literary tastes and most creditable industry. The work of Mr. Johnes obtained much favour from our grandfathers; but a comparison with that of Berners shews us at least to what a bathos English prose can fall. Let us take a few sentences at random, from Berners and from Johnes.
First this from Lord Berners—
“Wherefore he came on a night and declared all this to the queen, and advised her of the peril that she was in. Then the queen was greatly abashed, and required him, all weeping, of his good counsel. Then he said, Madame, I counsel you that ye depart and go in to the Empire, where as there be many great lords who may right well aid you, and specially the Earl William of Hainault, and Sir John of Hainault, his brother. These two are great lords and wise men, true, dread, and redoubted of their enemies.”

Then the parallel passage in Mr. Johnes:—
“He therefore came in the middle of the night to inform the queen of the peril she was in. She was thunderstruck at the information, to which he added, “I recommend you to set out for the Empire, where there are many noble lords who may greatly assist you, particularly William, Earl of Hainault, and his brother, who are both great lords, and wise and loyal men, and much dreaded by their enemies.”

Let us next compare a few sentences (taken from one of the extracts which follow) with their counterparts in Johnes. This is from the scene at Bruce’s death-bed, as given by Lord Berners.
“Then he called to him the gentle knight, Sir James Douglas, and said before all the lords, Sir James, my dear friend, ye know well that I have had much ado in my days to uphold and sustain the right of this realm: and when I had most ado, I made a solemn vow, the which as yet I have not accomplished, whereof I am right sorry: the which was, if I might achieve and make an end of all my wars, so that I might once have brought this realm in rest and peace, then I promised in my mind to have gone and warred on Christ’s enemies, adversaries to our holy Christian faith…. Then all the lords that heard these words wept for pity. And when this knight, Sir James Douglas, might speak for weeping, he said, Ah, gentle and noble King, an hundred times I thank your grace of the great honour that ye do to me, sith of so noble and great treasure ye give me in charge: and, sir, I shall do with a glad heart all that ye have commanded me, to the best of my true power: howbeit, I am not worthy nor sufficient to achieve such a noble enterprise. Then the King said, Ah, gentle knight, I thank you, so ye will promise to do it. Sir, said the knight, I shall do it undoubtedly, by the faith that I owe to God, and to the order of knighthood.”

Here is Mr. Johnes’s version of the same lines:—
“He after that called to him the gallant lord James Douglas, and said to him in presence of the others: “My dear friend, lord James Douglas, you know that I have had much to do, and have suffered many troubles during the time I have lived, to support the rights of my crown: at the time that I was most occupied I made a vow, the non-accomplishment of which gives me much uneasiness—I vowed that if I could finish my wars in such a manner that I might have quiet to govern peaceably, I would go and make war against the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the adversaries of the Christian faith…. All those present began bewailing bitterly, and when the lord James could speak, he said, “Gallant and noble King, I return you a hundred thousand thanks for the high honour you do me, and for the valuable and dear treasure with which you entrust me, and I will willingly do all that you command me with the utmost loyalty in my power: never doubt it, however I may feel myself unworthy of such a high distinction. The King replied, “Gallant knight, I thank you—you promise it me then?” “Certainly, Sir, most willingly,” answered the knight. He then gave his promise upon his knighthood.

If we wish to measure the decadence of English prose in the course of three centuries, no description can help half so much as the comparison of these few paragraphs, sentence by sentence and word by word. The same lesson might be drawn from any page taken at random of the old and the new translation. Yet in 1812 the editor of Berners actually offers an apology for reproducing “the venerable production,” now that “the elegant modern translation by Mr. Johnes has made the contents generally familiar!” Perhaps we have recovered somewhat from the style of Johnes,—it is so much gained that we know that it is not elegant, but execrably bad,—but the grace of Lord Berners is something that we can never by any possibility recover. An affected archaicism will not bring us one hair’s-breadth nearer to it. 11
The translation was printed by Pynson in 1523 and 1525. The best modern edition is that published in London in 1812, with a memoir of Lord Berners, and an index."

end of from http://www.bartleby.com/209/42.html :
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see also : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bourchier,_2nd_Baron_Berners
and
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Berners,_John_Bourchier

John married Lady Katherine Howard, Baroness Berners before 13 May 1490. Katherine (daughter of Lord John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk and Margaret Chedworth) was born about 1471 in Tendring, Essex, England; died on 12 Mar 1536 in Tendring Hall, Stoke-By-Nayland, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Becon. Elizabeth was born in 1474; died in 1510. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Margaret was born around 1468 in Beningbrough, Yorkshire, England, dau. of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and Elizabeth Tilney. Margaret Bryan could boast royal Plantagenet bloodlines for herself through her great grandmother on her father's side, Anne of Woodstock, Countess of Buckingham, who was herself the granddaughter of King Edward III. Humphrey Bourchier was heir to the title Baron Berners but died before his father, killed at the Battle of Barnet while fighting for the Yorkists. Margaret's brother John succeeded to the title as second Baron Berners. Her mother remarried at Sir Humphrey´s death; her second husband was Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Margaret was brought up with her half brothers and half sisters, including Elizabeth Howard (Anne Boleyn’s mother). This connection made Margaret an aunt to Anne Boleyn as well as a member of the wider circle of kin and dependents around the Howard family.

Humphrey Bourchier and Elizabeth Tilney had one further daughter who survived to adulthood. Margaret's younger sister was Anne Bourchier, who married Thomas Fiennes, 8th Lord Dacre, in 1492. Their son, also Thomas, was the 9th Lord Dacre who was executed for murder in 1541.

Margaret Bourchier was married three times. Her first husband, with whom there may only have been a marriage agreement (a ‘pre-contract’), was Sir John Sands (or Sandys). The marriage agreement was signed when Margaret was 10 or 11 years old on 11 Nov 1478.

Margaret married Sir Thomas Bryan about 1487. As Lady Bryan, she was present at Catalina of Aragon's wedding to Prince Henry in 1509, and was a lady in waiting to Catalina from 1509 to 1516, while her husband was vice chamberlain of the Queen’s household. She apparently brought their daughters Margaret and Elizabeth Bryan, and her son Francis with her to court. She also had charge of the upbringing of Lettice Penyston.

Known as Lady Bryan initially because of her husband's knighthood, she claimed to have been made Baroness Bryan suo jure on 18 Feb 1516, upon the birth of Princess Mary, when she was appointed as Mary's Lady Governess in charge of the nursery at Ditton Park, Buckinghamshire and at Hanworth. She remained with the Princess for five years and when she left was given an annuity of £50 for life. She may also have been Lady Governess to Henry's illigitimate but acknowledged son Henry Fitzroy. If she had responsibility also for Henry Fitzoy that would have made her tenure as Mary's Lady Governess fairly short.

Sir Thomas Bryan died sometime before 1517, and Margaret married her final husband, David Zouche. In Jul 1519, there is a record in the archives of Henry VIII's court that notes the payment of an annuity of £50 to "MARGARET BRYAN, widow of Sir Thomas Bryan, and now wife of David Soche". The annuity paid "for services to the King and queen Katharine" included "one tun of Gascon wine yearly, out of the wine received for the King's use". David Zouche may have died in 1526 or in 1536.

In 1533 she was called back to care for Elizabeth Tudor at Hatfield. From Aug 1536, there is a widely quoted letter from her to Thomas Cromwell, in which she complains of the economic difficulties of the household of lady Elizabeth since the change in her status (from legitimate to illegitimate) following the annulment of the King's marriage to her mother Anne Boleyn, and Anne's execution in May.

"Now, as my lady Elizabeth is put from that degree she was in, and what degree she is at now I know not but by hearsay, I know not how to order her or myself, or her women or grooms. I beg you to be good lord to her and hers, and that she may have raiment, for she has neither gown nor kirtle nor petticoat, nor linen for smocks, nor kerchiefs, sleeves, rails, bodystychets, handkerchiefs, mufflers, nor "begens."

She also reports that: "My lady has great pain with her teeth, which come very slowly". Elizabeth was to have serious difficulties with her teeth on and off for much of her life.

She was Lady Governess to Elizabeth for four years. Margaret Bryan passed over responsibility for Elizabeth to Catherine Champernowne in Oct 1537 following the birth of Prince Edward, who became her new charge. Later, she was put in charge of a combined household at Havering-atte-Bower. A second letter to Cromwell, dated 11 Mar 1539, describes the Prince.

"My lord Prince is in good health and merry. Would to God the King and your Lordship had seen him last night. The minstrels played, and his Grace danced and played so wantonly that he could not stand still ..."

A late mention of Margaret Bryan in the archives is a note referring to the payment of a £20 annuity to "Lady Margaret Bryane, the King's servant" in 1545.

She died in Leyton, now a suburb of London but at the time a village in Essex. The only children Lady Margaret had were in her marriage with Sir Thomas Bryan. Two of their surviving children were: Elizabeth Bryan, who became the wife of Sir Nicholas Carew, and Sir Francis Bryan, who became Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

Margaret married John Sands on 11 Nov 1478 in Beningborough, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Sir Thomas Bryan, Knight about 1487 in Beningborough, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: David Zouche. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sometime after her marriage, John Skelton, Poet Laureate of England commemorated Anne, her mother, and her two half-sisters, Elizabeth and Muriel in his poem Garlande of Laurrell, which is about an event that had occurred when he was a guest in the Howard residence of Sheriff Hutton Castle. Anne's mother, along with her three daughters and gentlewomen of her household, had placed a garland of laurel, worked in silks, gold, and pearls, upon Skelton's head as a sign of homage to the poet. The stanza which is addressed to Anne reads: "To my Lady Anne Dakers of the sowth". Her name also appears in several of Skelton's other poems.

Anne married Thomas Fiennes, 2nd Baron Dacre of the South in 1492 in Berners, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• _UID: E7E9F64C29D7D711BA22AAFF03D37436FFE7

Notes:

Died:
without issue

Buried:
Subsequently removed to the Abbey of the Minoresses in the City of London

Anne married Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York on (15 Jan 1477/1478) in St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster. Richard (son of King Edward York, King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville) was born on 17 Aug 1473 in Shrewsbury. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]