Coat of Arms of Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy, KG

Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy, KG (1 August 1474) was an English politician.

Early life and family

Walter Blount was born about 1416, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Blount (1378–1456) and Margery Gresley and grandson of Sir Walter Blount.

Career

He was made Steward of the High Peak in Derbyshire and became a bitter rival of the local Vernon and Longford families, replacing the Vernons in parliament as the near-permanent

Knight of the Shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

(1447, Feb. 1449, 1450–51, 1453–54, 1455–56, 1460–61) for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. He succeeded his father, Sir Thomas Blount, as

Treasurer of Calais The town of Calais, France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. During this historical period the task of the treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais, was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison. ...

in 1460, becoming governor a year later as a reward for service rendered to King Edward IV at the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

. Edward conferred on him in 1467 rich estates in Devon forfeited by the Earl of Devon; and in 1465 Blount was made lord high treasurer and created

Baron Mountjoy The titles of Baron Mountjoy and Viscount Mountjoy have been created several times for members of various families, including the Blounts and their descendants and the Stewarts of Ramelton and their descendants. The first creation was for Walter ...

. This creation is noteworthy as one of the earliest examples of a baronial title not being of a territorial character, nor the title of a dignity already existing. Blount's great-grandfather had married Isolda, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas de Mountjoy, and the title was probably chosen to commemorate this alliance. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1472. On his death on 1 August 1474 in

Greyfriars, London In London, the Greyfriars was a Conventual Franciscan friary that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-West of the City of London by Newgate in the parish of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious ho ...

, his grandson

Edward Blount, 2nd Baron Mountjoy Edward Blount, 2nd Baron Mountjoy (1464 – 12 October 1475) was an English peer. Edward Blount was born in 1464 in London, the second son of Sir William Blount (c. 1442–1471) and Margaret de Echyngham. He inherited his title on the death o ...

inherited his title. His eldest son (and Edward's father) Sir William Blount had been killed at the

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. On Sunday 14 April ...

in 1471.

Marriages and children

Mountjoy married firstly Helena Byron, the daughter of Sir John Byron of Clayton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. *William Blount, eldest son and heir, who died in 1471 of wounds received at the

. *

John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy (c. 1450 – 12 October 1485) was an English peer and soldier. Life John Blount was born circa 1450 in Rock, Worcestershire, the second son of Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy, by his first wife, Helena Byron, th ...

, second son. * James Blount, third son. *Edward Blount. *Anne Blount. *Elizabeth Blount. By November 1467 Mountjoy married secondly Anne (née Neville), widow of

Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 6th Earl of Stafford, 7th Baron Stafford, (December 1402 – 10 July 1460) of Stafford Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and a military commander in the Hundred Years' War and the ...

(d. 1460), and daughter of

Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Earl Marshal (c. 136421 October 1425), was an English nobleman of the House of Neville. Origins Ralph Neville was born about 1364, the son of John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville by his wife Maud Percy (d. ...

Early life and family

Career

Marriages and children

Notes

References

Further reading