John (de) Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, KG (c. 1450 – 9 February 1498) was an English Lancastrian nobleman who was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

. John was born about 1450 to Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles and Margaret Beauchamp. He was a maternal half-brother of

Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin of Kings Henry ...

, and thus an uncle of the half-blood of Henry VII. John died and was buried in February 1498 in Westminster, England.

War of the Roses

John's father, Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles, was slain 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 ...

in 1461, and his elder half-brother,

Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles (c.1428–1470), was an English nobleman and soldier. From a House of Lancaster, Lancastrian family, he came to be on good terms with the Yorkist King Edward IV of England, Edward IV, but was later executed after ...

, inherited the Welles barony. Richard Welles and his son and heir, Robert Welles, 8th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, were both beheaded in March 1470 for involvement in an uprising against

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 ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. After the death of Robert Welles, the Welles barony was inherited, in her own right, by his only sister, Joan Welles. However shortly after Joan Welles' death in about 1474/5, both her father, Richard Welles, and her brother, Robert Welles, were attainted by Act of Parliament, five years after their executions. As a result of the attainders, John Welles was not able to enjoy the title to the Welles barony until the attainders were reversed by Parliament under Henry VII. A pardon in 1478 did not prevent Welles from participating in

Buckingham's rebellion Buckingham's rebellion was a failed but significant uprising, or collection of uprisings, of October 1483 in England and parts of Wales against Richard III of England. To the extent that these local risings had a central coordination, the plo ...

. He escaped to his nephew, the future Henry VII, in Brittany after its collapse. Henry knighted him on 7 August 1485 and he was created Viscount sometime between 15 July and 25 November 1486CPR 1485-1494, p. 491 and given substantial grants.

Marriage

Some time in December 1487 John married Princess Cecily of York, the daughter of

and

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile; c. 1437Karen Lindsey, ''Divorced, Beheaded, Survived'', p. xviii, Perseus Books, 1995. – 8 June 1492), known as Dame Elizabeth Grey during her first marriage, was Queen of Engla ...

, making him a member of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. Princess Cecily of York was born on 20 March 1469 in Westminster, England and died on 24 August 1507 either on the Isle of Wight or at Hatfield. The apparent aim of Henry VII was to reward his uncle for loyalty and keep Cecily from marrying a more ambitious man. John and Cecily had two children, Elizabeth Welles (c. 1489–1498) and Anne Welles (c. 1491 – c. 1499). He died 9 February 1498 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Anne died soon after. His will is as follows:

References

* Chrimes,S.B., ''Henry VII'', p. 36 {{DEFAULTSORT:Welles, John Welles, 1st Viscount 1450s births 1499 deaths Knights of the Garter Viscounts in the Peerage of England 15th-century English people People of the Tudor period Younger sons of barons Burials at Westminster Abbey Barons Welles

War of the Roses

Marriage

See also

References