Elizabeth was a daughter of William Bonville, KG, and his first wife, Margaret Grey, daughter of Reynold Grey, 3rd lord Grey of Ruthin and Margaret de Roos.[1][2] The date of her birth is unknown, but necessarily sometime after 12 December 1414 (date of her parents marriage contract) and before 1427 (when her father remarried).[1] She had one brother, William,[1] and two sisters, Philippa[3][4] and Margaret.[1] Her mother died, most likely late in 1426 or early the following year, when Elizabeth was still a minor and her father married (second) before 9 October 1427 Elizabeth Courtenay, widow of John, 4th lord Harington.[1]
Elizabeth grew up in an influential political family--her father having represented Somerset in Parliament in 1421,[5] served as sheriff of Devonshire in 1423,[6] represented Devonshire in Parliament during three separate terms between 1422-1427,[5] and served as steward of the Duchy of Cornwall (1437-41, 1452-61), seneschal of Aquitaine (1442-45, 1449-50, 1453), governor of Exeter Castle (1453-61), and trier of petitions in Parliament (1455).[1][5]
Her family's political affiliations, however, eventually had grave repercussions both financially and socially for the family. Elizabeth's brother William, along with his eldest son and heir, fought for York in the War of the Roses. They were both killed 31 December 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield.[7] Her father (who had himself fought with the Yorkists in an earlier battle at Northampton) was beheaded a few weeks later on 18 February 1460/1 by order of Queen Margaret, after the Second Battle of St. Albans.[1]
Marriage and Children
Elizabeth married William Tailboys, de jure Lord Kyme, and her maritagium included property at Somerton and Yeovilton.[1][8][9] There were at least two children from this marriage:
Elizabeth's husband rebelled against King Edward IV, and fought as a Lancastrian at the Second Battle of St. Albans, 19 February 1460/1, where he was knighted.[16][17] He was also present at the Battle of Towton 29 March 1461.[16] Sir William Tailboys was attainted by act of Parliament 4 Nov 1461.[16][18][19] He fought with the Lancastrians at Hedgley Moor in March 1464, and two months later participated in the Battle of Hexham.[16] He managed to escape that battlefield after the Lancastrians suffered a defeat, but was captured less than two weeks later in a coal pit near Newcastle-upon-Tyne and beheaded on 26 May 1464.[10][16][20] His estates were forfeited,[10][16] they were later restored to his son Robert but this was not until 1478.[10]
Elizabeth's father, brother, and nephew died in the War of the Roses upholding the Yorkist cause, and her husband was slain in the same war upholding the Lancastrians.
Death
Elizabeth outlived her husband by more than 26 years, dying 14 Feb 1490/1.[16][21]
Sources
↑ 1.01.11.21.31.41.51.61.7 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City, Utah: by the author (2013), vol. 1, pp. 434-436. BONVILLE 11. William Bonville.
↑ Maddison, A.R. Lincolnshire Pedigrees. (H.S.P. 52) London: by the Society (1904), vol. 3, p.946.
↑ Pole, Sir William. Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon. London: J. Nichols (1791), p. 387.
↑ St George, Henry. Visitation of the County of Cornwall in the year 1620. London: Harleian Society (1874), p. 84.
↑ 5.05.15.2 History of Parliament online edition: member biographies, Sir William Bonvilleof Chewton-Mendip, Som. and Shute, Devon.
↑List of Sheriffs for England and Wales. Public Record Office Lists and Indexes (1898), vol. 9, p. 35.
↑ Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake CIty: the author (2011), vol. 1, p. 257 BONVILLE 11.William Bonville.
↑ Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake CIty: the author (2011), vol. 4, pp. 163-164 TAILBOYS 10. William Tailboys.
↑ A P Baggs, R J E Bush and Margaret Tomlinson, 'Parishes: Somerton', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 3, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1974), pp. 129-153, British History Online, accessed 13 February 2024
↑ 10.010.110.210.3 Trollope, Edward. Sleaford and the Wapentakes of Flaxwell and Aswardburn. Sleaford: William Fawcett (1872), pp. 252-254.
↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), vol 5, pp. 113-114 TAILBOYS 16. Robert Tailboys.
↑ 12.012.1 Wedgwood, Josiah C. History of Parliament 1. London: H.M. Stationery Office (1936), pp. 834-835
↑ Watney, Vernon James. The Wallop Family and Their Ancestry. Oxford: John Johnson (1928), p. 753
↑ Maskelyne and H. C. Maxwell Lyte. "Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII, Entries 1001-1050," in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Series 2, Volume 1, Henry VII, (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1898), 430-451. British History Online, accessed October 9, 2023, #1045; #1053, 1054.
↑ National Archives Discovery Center. Inquisitions Post Mortem C 142/10/72, Robert Tailboys, Knight: Lincolnshire. 10 Henry VII.
↑ 16.016.116.216.316.416.516.6 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), vol 5, p. 113 TAILBOYS 15. Robert Tailboys.
↑ Shaw, William Arthur. The Knights of England. London: Sherratt and Hughes (1906), vol. 2, p. 13.
↑ Surtees, Robert. 'Parish of Hurworth', in The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, London: Stockton and Darlington Wards (1823), vol. 3, p. 254 British History Online [1].
↑ National Archives Discovery Centre. #C 140/15/49: Tailboys, William, kt, attainted, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland. 4 Edw IV.
↑ Hodgson, Rev. John. History of Northumberland. Newcastle: by the author (1827), pt 2,, vol. 1, p. 6.
↑ National Archives Discovery Centre. Inquistitions Post Mortem: #C 142/7/34, Elizabeth Taylboys (Tailboys): Somerset. 6 Henry VII.
Baggs, A.P., S.M. Keeling and C.A.F. Meekings. Parishes: Croydon cum Clopton,"in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: ed. A.P.M. Wright. London: Victoria County History (1982), British History Online, accessed October 6, 2023, vol. 8, pp. 30-42.
Marshall, George W. Genealogist. London: Golding and Lawrence (1878), vol. 2, pp. 19-24; pp. 44-52.
Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake CIty: the author (2011), vol. 1, p. 257 BONVILLE 10.ii. Elizabeth Bonville.
Strachey, John (ed). Rotuli Parliamentorum. London: (1777), vol. 5, pp. 476-483.
Acknowledgements
Magna Carta Project
This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Jen Hutton on 21 October 2023.
See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".
I will soon be updating this profile on behalf of the Magna Carta Project. If anyone knows of additional sources which should be included, please message me or post here. Thanks,
Jen (update completed 21 Oct 2023)
edited by Jen (Stevens) Hutton