Sir William Plumpton (1404 – 15 October 1480) was a 15th-century English aristocrat, landowner and administrator. He is also known for his surviving letters, the ''
Plumpton Correspondence''.
Biography
He was the grandson of Sir William Plumpton executed in 1405 for treason by
Henry IV and the son of Sir Robert Plumpton of Plumpton Hall (in
Plompton), Yorkshire. On the death of his father in 1421 he became the ward of
Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland.
He served in the
war against France around 1427–1430 and was then knighted. On his return to England he was appointed by Northumberland as
seneschal
The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...
of
Knaresborough Castle and steward of Northumberland's Spofforth estates.
Plumpton's own estates included Plumpton Hall, Yorkshire, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire and
Hassop Hall, Derbyshire. He represented
Nottinghamshire in the Parliament of 1436–1436. He served as
High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1447 and
High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1453.
During the
War of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...
he fought on the Lancastrian side at the
Battle of Towton in 1461, where his son William and his benefactor
Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland were slain. Plumpton was captured but later was pardoned by
Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
and regained his offices in 1471.
Family
He had two wives. Plumpton first married Elizabeth Stapleton of Carlton, Yorkshire in 1430, by whom he had seven daughters, all of whom married, and two sons, Robert and William. His second wife was Joan Winteringham, whom he later claimed had married in 1451 following the death of Elizabeth; by her he had one son, Robert, who was regarded as heir, as the older Robert had died in 1450 and William had been killed at Towton.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumpton, Sir William
1404 births
1480 deaths
English knights
People of the Wars of the Roses
Recipients of English royal pardons
High Sheriffs of Yorkshire
High Sheriffs of Derbyshire
English landowners
English MPs 1437
People from the Borough of Harrogate