James Butler KG (1420 - 1461)

Born 24 Nov 1420 in Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Beaufort) Spencer — married about Apr 1458 (to 1461) in Woodsford, Dorset, England [uncertain]

Died 1 May 1461 at age 40 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England

Biography

James Butler was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

James Butler, K.G., 5th Earl of Ormond,^[1] was the eldest son and the 1st of 3 consecutive brothers to serve as Earls of Ormond.

James was heir of James le Boteler, 4th Earl of Ormond, by Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, K.G., 1st Lord Bergavenny. He was born before 1422 (aged 30 when his father died in 1452).^[1]

Brief review of the 5th Earl of Ormond's life:^[2]

• This nobleman succeeded in 1451 to his father's title, estates, and political connexions. In 1449 he was created Earl of Wiltshire. In 1450 he was one of the commissioners for the custody of Calais. In 1453 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for 10 years. He seems to have been very distinguished for his activity and the confidence of the king. He was joined with the Earl of Salisbury and other noblemen to guard the seas, receiving the tonnage and poundage to defray their expense. In 1455 he was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England. He was present at the Battle of St Albans, and when the Yorkists gained the day, escaped by divesting himself of his armour; but King Henry recovering his authority, he was reinstated in office. He was in 1456 made keeper of the royal forest of Pederton, in Somersetshire; and of Cranbourn chace, in Wilts and Dorset. He fitted out 5 ships against the Earl of Warwick. At the Battle of Wakefield, in December 1460, when the Duke of York was slain, this Earl of Ormonde commanded one wing of the royal army. In the next year, however, he was taken in a bloody battle fought at Towton, in Yorkshire, and, with many others of the English nobility, beheaded by order of Edward IV.

Excerpts from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:^[3]

• James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond and Earl of Wiltshire (1420-1461), was the eldest son of James Butler, the 4th Earl, and was born on 24 Nov. 1420.

• He was knighted when very young by Henry VI, and he attended Richard, Duke of York, regent of France, in his expedition into that kingdom. On account of his zealous support of the Lancastrian interest, he was on 8 July 1449, during the lifetime of his father, created a peer of England by the title of Earl of Wiltshire. In the following year he was constituted a commissioner, to whom the town and castle of Calais, with other French fortresses, were committed for 5 years.

• In 1451 he was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in the absence of the Duke of York, and on the death of his father he was in 1453 appointed viceroy for 10 years. In the same year, along with the Earl of Salisbury and other great lords, he undertook the guarding of the seas for 3 years.

• On 13 March 1455 he was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England, and shortly afterwards fought for the King at the battle of St. Albans, when, the Yorkists prevailing, he fled, casting his armour into a ditch. He was superseded as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by the Duke of York, but in [year 37 of the reign of] Henry VI was restored to the post of Lord Treasurer, and next year made a Knight of the Garter.^[4]

• Soon afterwards he fitted out a fleet of 5 ships at Genoa, with which he sailed to the Netherlands against the Earl of Warwick, but returned before the battle of Wakefield on 31 Dec. 1460, in which he commanded a wing of the army which enclosed and slew the Duke of York.

• On 2 Feb. 1461, along with the Earl of Pembroke, he suffered a disastrous defeat from Edward, Earl of March, at Mortimer's Cross, and on 29 March was taken prisoner at the Battle of Towton, Yorkshire. He is said to have been beheaded at Newcastle on 1 May following.

• In the first parliament of Edward IV he was attainted, along with his brothers John and Thomas, and his estates forfeited and resumed. As he left no issue, the earldom of Wiltshire lapsed with him, but he was succeeded in the earldom of Ormonde by his brother, Sir John de Ormonde.

James married twice:

1. before 4 July 1438, Avice Stafford (c1430-1457), daughter and heiress of Richard Stafford, Knt., by Maud, daughter and heiress of Robert Lovel, Esq. (no issue)^[1]
2. in 1457/58, Eleanor Beaufort, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, K.G., Duke of Somerset, by Eleanor, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, K.G., K.B., 13th Earl of Warwick (no issue)^[1] married April 1458^[5]

Children: none^[1]

James, a Lancastrian, died following the Battle of Towton, where he was taken prisoner. He was beheaded 1 May 1461 at Newcastle.^[1]

Eleanor, his widow, married (2) Robert Spencer, Knt. about 1465.^[1]

James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond

James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond^[6][5]

b. c.1422^[7] or 24 Nov 1420 Ireland^[8]

d. aft Battle of Towton 01 May 1461^[7] at Cockermouth^[5][9]He died on 1 May 1461, beheaded at Newcastle by the Yorkists after the Lancastrian army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Towton.

Family

p. James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond and Joan de Beauchamp (d. 3 or 5 Aug 1430)^[7]

m. abt APR 1458 Eleanor Beaufort^[5] Possibly Woodsford, Dorsetshire^[10]

Occupation

Wars of the Roses: Lancastrian

1453: Lieutenant of Ireland^[5]

councillor to Lancastrian Prince of Wales^[5]

He was created Earl of Wiltshire, in the Peerage of England, by Henry VI of England on 8 July 1449, for his fidelity to the Lancastrian interest. In 1451 he became Lord Deputy of Ireland; the next year he succeeded his father in earldom of Ormond and was additionally appointed Lord Lieutenant for ten years. In 1454, he was constituted Lord High Treasurer of England and made a Knight of the Garter 1459^[11]

Information needing clarification

Councillor to the Lancastrian Prince of Wales - noted as needing a source in Wikipedia^[5] and not listed amongst his titles/posts by Richardson, although he is listed as "in the retinue of Richard, Duke of York" in 1441.^[1][12]

Location conflict - Battle of Towton (29 March 1461) was in North Yorkshire.^[13] Richardson says James was taken prisoner at the battle and executed 1 May 1461 at Newcastle.^[1] The Wikipedia article on Eleanor Beaufort says "After Towton, he was a proscribed as a traitor and was captured in the same year at Cockermouth and executed there in 1461.[citation needed]"^[5] A month later could be considered "in the same year" but the phrasing from the Wikipedia article implies that he was not taken prisoner at Towton, and Newcastle and Cockermouth are a fair distance apart (based on Wikipedia articles on Newcastle and Cockermouth). ^[14]

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says "seems to have avoided direct participation in its (Lancastrian army's) defeat at Towton on 29 March. Soon after, however, he was captured by the Yorkists and taken to Newcastle, where he was executed on 1 May". ^[15]

The Complete Peerage, vol. 10, p. 128, states "At the decisive battle of Towton, 29 Mar. 1461, the Earl of Ormond was among the fugitives, and was captured at Cockermouth by Richard Salkeld, sent to the King at Newcastle, and beheaded."^[16]citing Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1467-77, p. 25, Paston Letters, vol. 2, p. 7 and Gregory Chronicle, p. 217.

The Calendar of Patent Rolls, is a grant 23 July 1467 "to Richard Salkeld, esquire, and the heir male of his body, for his good service in capturing James, late earl of Wiltshire, traitor and rebel, and seizing the city and castle of Carlisle and afterwards defending them against the rebels, both Scots and English, of the lordships and manors of Caldebeck, Uldale and Wigton ..."^[17]

Gregory's Chronicle, or the Chronicle of London, states on pages 217-18 "And the Erle of Wylte schyre was take and brought unto Newe Castell to the Kynge. And there hys hedde was smete of, and send unto London to be sette uppon London Brygge"^[18]

It's the Paston Letters that confirm he was taken at Cockermouth. In a postscript to a letter from Thomas Playters to Master John Paston dated 18 April 1461 "At Cokermouthe was the Erle of Wylchire taken" p. 269 and in an undated letter but probably early May 1461 does it confirm that "Erle of Wylchir is hed is sette on London Brigge"^[19]

Cockermouth is south west of Carlisle, and if it is Newcastle upon Tyne, then that is across from Carlisle. It's just a long way to London.

The Carey papers held at Berkeley Castle Muniments, state that James forfeited Pitchford and Norton, by Condover (Salop). in 1461.^[20]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), page 381, BUTLER #9.i.
2. ↑ James Wills, Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen, From the Earliest Times to the Present Period, Dublin: MacGregor, Polson & Co. (1840), p.403:
   • https://archive.org/details/livesofillustrio01willuoft/page/406/mode/2up
3. ↑ Oxford DNB, Vol.8, p.51 (1886):
   • https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati08stepuoft/page/50/mode/1up
4. ↑ He was the 177th person invested as Knight of the Garter, in the year 1459:
   • https://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7}

   Wikipedia: Eleanor Beaufort

6. ↑

   Truitt Family Tree again.ged on 13 August 2010. Ancestry Family Trees: Ancestry Profile

   ]
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2}
   

   Wikipedia: James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond

8. ↑

   WFT Vol. 4 Tree # 2684 dtd 23 Apr 1995. PittsPenn_2010-09-21.ged on 22 Sep 2010.

9. ↑
   

   executed as a traitor

10. ↑

    WFT Vol. 1 Tree #3226 dtd June 2, 1995. PittsPenn_2010-09-21.ged on 22 Sep 2010.

11. ↑ https://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm
12. ↑ Richard of York was Prince of Wales in 1441 (Wikipedia: Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York).
13. ↑ Battle of Towton, UK Battlefield Trust
14. ↑ Newcastle to Cockermouth, how far?
15. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.): Butler, James, first earl of Wiltshire and fifth earl of Ormond 1420-1461
16. ↑ Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage: Or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, 2nd ed., vol. 10, edited by H.A, Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White & Lord Howard de Walden, London: St Catherine Press, 1945. p. 128. Digital image, FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/57180-redirection : accessed 18 February 2019.
17. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office: Edward IV. Henry VI. A.D. 1467-1477., London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1900., p. 25-26. Digital image, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/calendarpatentr05blacgoog/page/n37 : accessed 18 February 2019.
18. ↑ The historical collections of a citizen of London in the fifteenth century: containing ... III. William Gregory's Chronicle of London, edited by James Gairdner, Westminster: The Camden Society, 1876. pp. 217-218. Digital image, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec00gairrich/page/216 : accessed 18 February 2019.
19. ↑ The Paston Letters A.D. 1422-1509, vol. 3, edited by James Gairdner, London: Chatto & Windus, 1904. Digital image, Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/pastonletters03gairuoft : accessed 18 February 2019.
20. ↑ Title: THE CAREY ESTATE. Reference: BCM/H. Held by: Berkeley Castle Muniments. The National Archives, discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

See also:

• Sutton Poyntz Village website
• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol II, pp 50-51; Vol IV, pp 654, 682
• Wikipedia: James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.): Butler, James, first earl of Wiltshire and fifth earl of Ormond 1420-1461
• Dictionary of Irish Biography profile for James, 5th Earl of Ormond, author David Beresford (2009):
  • https://www.dib.ie/index.php/biography/butler-james-a1254
• The Calendar of Ormond Deeds are 6 volumes of legal and land transactions in counties Kilkenny and Tipperary in the period 1172-1603. The records were kept for centuries in Kilkenny Castle until their transcription by historian Edmund Curtis in the 1930s. Volume 3 roughly corresponds to James Butler's lifetime. Search here for "Ormond Deeds" to see all 6 volumes in PDF format:
  • https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/product-category/imc-digital-editions/
• James Butler, Rootsweb entry from the database for Celtic Royal Genealogy, the Turner-Thomas site