Lionel DE WELLES

1406 - 1461  (55 years)

• Name	Lionel DE WELLES  [1]
  Birth	25 Mar 1406	Welles, Lincolnshire, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Military Service	23 Sep 1459	Blore Heath, Staffordshire, England   [1]
  	Military Service
  TitleOfNobility	[1]
  	TitleOfNobility
  Name	John Beaufort  [1]
  Name	Lionel Baron of Hellowe Welles  [1]
  Occupation	[1]
  	1st Duke of Somerset; K.G.; Duke of Somerset and 3rd Earl of Kendal (28 Aug 1443)
  Occupation	[1]
  	Baron Welles
  Occupation	[1]
  	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
  _FSFTID	LYF7-XB8
  _FSLINK	https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LYF7-XB8
  _UID	36D6251DD5464A0B94EB82FA4630F25B7C90
  Death	29 Mar 1461	Towton, Selby District, North Yorkshire, England   [1]
  Burial	29 Mar 1461	St. Oswald Churchyard Methley, Metropolitan Borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England   [1]
  Person ID	I594784660	Carney Wehofer July 2025
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2025

  
  

  Father	Eudo DE WELLES,   b. 1387, Welles, Lincolnshire, England d. Bef Oct 1414, Lincolnshire, England (Age 27 years)
  Mother	Maud MATILDA GREYSTOKE,   b. 1387, Ravensworth, Yorkshire, England d. 1416, Lincolnshire, England (Age 29 years)
  Marriage	7 Aug 1405	Lincolnshire, England
  Family ID	F536733985	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Lady Joan WATERTON,   b. 1407, Methley, West Yorkshire, England d. Aft 18 Oct 1434, Methley, Yorkshire, England (Age 27 years)
  Marriage	15 Aug 1427	Methley, Yorkshire, England
  Children	1. Margareth OF WALES,   b. 1412   d. 1480 (Age 68 years)   2. Eleanor WELLES,   b. Abt 1425, Welles, Lincolnshire, England d. 13 Feb 1455, Yorkshire, England (Age ~ 30 years)   3. Richard WELLES, 7th Baron Welles,   b. 1428, Belleau with Claythorpe and Aby and Greenfield, Lincolnshire, England d. 12 Mar 1470, Queens Cross, Stamford, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England (Age 42 years)   4. Cecily DE WELLES,   b. 1429, Welles, Lincolnshire, England d. 1480, Parham, Horsham, West Sussex, England (Age 51 years)   5. Lady Margaret WELLES,   b. 1434, Well, Lincolnshire, England d. 13 Jul 1480, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England (Age 46 years)   6. Catherine WELLES,   b. 1442, Welle, Lincolnshire, , England d. 8 Nov 1505, Welle, Lincolnshire, England (Age 63 years)
  Family ID	F536733972	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Margaret BEAUCHAMP, Duchess of Somerset,   b. 1410, Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, England d. 8 Aug 1482, Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England (Age 72 years)
  Marriage	14 Apr 1447
  Children	1. Sir John DE WELLES,   b. 1450, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire Unitary Authority, Lincolnshire, England d. 9 Feb 1499, London, City of London, Greater London, England (Age 49 years)
  Family ID	F536733986	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2024

  
  

  Family 3	Unknown MISTRESS   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F536733987	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2024

  
  

• Notes

  Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles, KG (c. 1406 – 29 March 1461) was an English peer who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Joint Deputy of Calais. He was slain fighting on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Towton, and was attainted on 21 December 1461. As a result of the attainder, his son, Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles, did not succeed him in the barony of Welles until the attainder was reversed by Parliament in June 1467. Family Born about 1406, Lionel Welles was the son of Eudes Welles and Maud Greystoke. On his father's side, he was the grandson of John de Welles, 5th Baron Welles (d. 26 August 1421), and Eleanor Mowbray, and on his mother's side, the grandson of Ralph de Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke and Katherine Clifford, daughter of Roger de Clifford, 5th Baron de Clifford. He had one brother, Sir William Welles, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. ... He was taken prisoner by Yorkist forces at the Battle of Blore Heath on 23 September 1459. In 1461 he was with the army of Queen Margaret, which advanced on London, and won the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461. He was slain a month later at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461, though rumours of his survival ran about.[6] After his death he was attained by Act of Parliament on 21 December 1461, whereby all his honours were forfeited. He was buried with his first wife, Joan Waterton, in the Waterton Chapel in St Oswald's parish church at Methley, Yorkshire,[7][2][8] where they have a fine table-tomb monument with recumbent effigies.[9] Welles is shown in full armour with a lion at his feet. Marriages and issue Welles married firstly Jane (in some accounts, Cecily) Waterton, daughter of Robert Waterton, esquire, of Waterton, Lincs. and Methley, Yorkshire,[2] and his wife, Cecily Fleming, daughter of Sir Robert Fleming of Woodhall (brother of Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln), by whom he had one son and four daughters:[10] - Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles.[11] - Cecily Welles, who married Sir Robert Willoughby of Parham, Suffolk and was the mother of Christopher Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby.[12] - Margaret Welles (d. 13 July 1480), who married first, Sir Thomas Dymoke (executed 12 March 1470), and secondly Robert Radcliffe, esquire.[13][12] - Eleanor Welles (died before 1504), who married first, Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings (d. 13 February 1455);[14] secondly Sir James Laurence (died 1490);[15] and third, Hugh Hastings.[16] - Katherine Welles, who married first, Sir Thomas de la Launde (executed 19 March 1470), and secondly Robert Tempest (d. 23 April 1509), esquire.[12] Secondly, by licence dated 14 April 1447, he married Margaret Beauchamp, widow successively of Sir Oliver St John (d.1437) and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (d. 27 May 1444), and daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, by his second wife, Edith Stourton, daughter of Sir John Stourton, by whom he had one son:[10] - John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, who married Cecily of York, the daughter of Edward IV of England.[10] By his second marriage Welles became the stepfather of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Welles,_6th_Baron_Welles ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 60 Welles, Lionel de by William Arthur Jobson Archbold WELLES, LIONEL, LEO, or LYON de, sixth Baron Welles (1405?– 1461), soldier, born about 1405, was son of Eudo de Welles by Maud, daughter of Ralph, lord Greystock. From Adam de Welles, first baron Welles [q. v.], descended John de Welles, fifth baron, summoned to parliament as baron from 20 Jan. 1376 to 26 Feb. 1421, and distinguished in the French and Scottish wars. He died in 1421, leaving by his second wife, Margaret (or Eleanor), daughter of John, lord Mowbray, the son Eudo above-mentioned, who predeceased him. Eudo's younger son, William, occasionally acted as deputy to his brother when lord lieutenant of Ireland, of which he was in 1465 lord chancellor (O'Flanagan, Lord Chancellors of Ireland). Lionel, the eldest son, succeeded his grandfather in 1421, was knighted with Henry VI at Leicester by the Duke of Bedford on 19 May 1426, and went with the young king to France in 1430. He was summoned to parliament as sixth Baron Welles from 25 Feb. 1432 to 30 July 1460. In 1434 he became a privy councillor. He was sent to relieve Calais in 1436, when the town was feebly besieged by the Burgundians. He served as lord lieutenant of Ireland from about 1438, and was afterwards specially exempted from acts of resumption, because of the sums owed him by the crown in respect of his expenditure. He was a friend— indeed a connection— of the king, and constantly at court. In 1450 he was appointed a trier of petitions for Gascony and the parts beyond the seas. In 1454 he was stated to be beyond the sea by the king's commandment. He was probably then at Calais, where he had been sent in 1451, with Lord Rivers; he remained in command as lieutenant of the Duke of Somerset until 20 April 1456, when Warwick secured possession. He was elected K.G. before 13 May 1457. As a Lancastrian he took the oath of allegiance at Coventry in 1459. He joined Margaret of Anjou on her march south, was at the second battle of St. Albans on 7 Feb. 1460– 1, and was killed at Towton on 29 March, and attainted in the parliament which followed. He was buried in Waterton church, Methley, Yorkshire. He married, first, about 1426, Joan (or Cecilia), only daughter of Sir Robert Waterton of Waterton and Methley, and had issue a son, Richard (see below), and four daughters; and, secondly, between 27 May 1444 and 31 Aug. 1447, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe; she was widow of Sir Oliver St. John and of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset, by whom she had had a daughter, the Lady Margaret Beaufort [q. v.]; by her Welles had a son John (see below). Richard Welles, seventh Baron Welles (1431– 1470), son of Lionel, sixth baron, by his first wife, married Joane, daughter of Robert, lord Willoughby de Eresby, and was summoned in her right as Lord Willoughby from 26 May 1455 to 28 Feb. 1466. His first wife died before 1460, and he married secondly Margaret, daughter of Sir James Strangways and widow of John Ingleby, who took the veil in 1475. He was a Lancastrian and present at the second battle of St. Albans (7 Feb. 1460– 1), but soon managed to make his peace with Edward, who pardoned him at Gloucester, in the first year of his reign; and so he soon got his family property again, and in 1468 his honours. Doubtless his family connection with the Nevilles helped him. His son Robert, however, took part in Warwick's plots, and in March 1470 attacked the house of Sir Thomas Borough, a knight of the king's body, spoiled it, and drove its owner away. Edward now summoned Lord Welles (the father) and his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Dymock, to London. At first Welles refused to go on the plea of illness; but afterwards went, took sanctuary at Westminster, and then rashly quitted it on promise of pardon. Edward made Welles write to his son telling him to give up Warwick's cause, and then took him down to Lincolnshire. Angry at the obstinacy of the son, he beheaded Lord Welles and Dymock at Huntingdon. His son then risked a battle near Stamford, but was defeated, taken, and executed on 19 March 1470. His confession is printed in 'Excerpta Historica' (pp. 382, &c.). Both father and son were attainted in the parliament of 1475, but the attainders were reversed in the first parliament of Henry VII. Richard Welles left a daughter Joane, who married, first, Richard Piggot of London, and, secondly, before 1470, Sir Richard Hastings. Hastings, in consequence, was afterwards summoned to parliament as Baron Welles, 15 Nov. 1482; he died in 1503, and his widow in 1505, both without issue, and the barony of Welles fell into abeyance between the descendants of Lionel Welles's four daughters. Sir Robert Welles had married Elizabeth, daughter of John Bourchier, lord Berners. She died a year after his execution, and was buried by his side in Doncaster church. Her will is printed in 'Testamenta Vetusta.' John Welles, first Viscount Welles (d. 1499), son of Lionel, sixth baron, by his second wife, was a Lancastrian, but he is mentioned as a watcher at Edward IV's funeral. He was at the coronation of Richard III, but opposed him at once, and after the insurrection of Buckingham fled to Brittany. He took part in the Bosworth campaign, and was created Viscount Welles by summons to parliament on 1 Sept. 1487. Doubtless as a safe man of the second rank he was allowed to marry, before December 1487, Cecily, daughter of Edward IV, who had been promised to the king of Scotland. He was elected K.G. before 29 Sept. 1488, and died on 9 Feb. 1498– 9; he was buried in Westminster Abbey. By his wife Cecily he had two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, both of whom died young; the viscounty of Welles thus became extinct. [Excerpta Historica, pp. 282, &c.; Rot. Parl. v. 182, &c., vi. 144, 246, &c.; Wars of English in France (Rolls Ser.), ii. 776, 778; Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edw. IV, pp. 113, &c.; Cooper's Life of the Lady Margaret, p. 6; Paston Letters, ed. Gairdner, i. 96, &c., ii. 3, &c.; Beaucourt's Hist. de Charles VII, vi. 47; Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 334; Camden Miscellany, vol. i.; Warkworth's Chron. (Camd. Soc.), pp. 8, 52, 59; Polydore Vergil (Camd. Soc. transl.), pp. 126, 127; Testamenta Vetusta, p. 310; Ramsay's Lancaster and York, i. 415, ii. 185, &c.; G. E. C[okayne]'s Peerage; Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerage.]

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 17 Dec 2024), entry for Lionel de Welles, person ID LYF7-XB8. (Reliability: 3).