Edward Grimston or Grymeston (died 1478) was the son of Robert Grimston, who lived in Grimston, East Riding of Yorkshire, and a daughter of Sir Anthony Spilman of Suffolk. Edward was a diplomat in the service of

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and English claims to the French throne, disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V of England, Henry V, he succeeded ...

and was the ambassador of England at the court of

Philip the Good Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...

, the Duke of Burgundy. In 1446, when he travelled to Calais and Brussels, he was painted by

Petrus Christus Petrus Christus (; 1410/1420 – c. 1475/1476) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges from 1444, where, along with Hans Memling, he became the leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck. He was influenced by van Eyck and R ...

, an

Early Netherlandish painter Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flour ...

active in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He was active at the courts of Burgundy and France throughout the latter half of the 1440s. He ended his public career in 1451. His first wife died sometime before 1456 when he remarried Mary Drury, a woman from

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, daughter of Sir William Drury and through her mother a great-granddaughter of

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403) was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter of a knight from County of Hainaut, Ha ...

. They had five sons and three daughters. At some time he lived in

Eye, Suffolk Eye () is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk, about south of Diss, Norfolk, Diss, north of Ipswich and south-west of Norwich. The population in the 2011 census of 2,154 ...

. After Mary Drury had died in 1469, Grimston married a third time with Philippa, the widow of Lord Roos. He died in 1478 and is buried in the church of

Thorndon, Suffolk Thorndon is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. , ...

next to his second wife Mary. His portrait has remained in the hands of his descendants the Earls of Verulam, currently John Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam, but is on long-term loan to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

Notes

Ambassadors of England 1478 deaths Year of birth missing {{England-bio-stub