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Birth:          ABT 1406 Methley, England
Death:          29 Mar 1461 Battle of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England
Cause of Death: killed in battle

Notes
ancestry.com
6th Baron of Welles, Governor of Ireland (1438 - 1442)
knighted 19 May 1426 with King Henry IV by the Duke of Bedford
1434: named privy councillor
1436 sent to relieve the siege of Calais
1451 again sent to Calais. in command until 1456
frequently at court, a friend and relative of the king
at second battle of St Albans 7 Feb 1461
he was stepfather of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_de_Welles,_6th_Baron_Welles
Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles, KG (c.1406 – 29 March 1461) was an English peer 
who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Joint Deputy of Calais. He was slain 
fighting on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Towton, and was attainted on 21 
December 1461. As a result of the attainder, his son, Richard Welles, 7th Baron 
Welles, did not succeed him in the barony of Welles until the attainder was reversed 
by Parliament in June 1467.
Family[edit]

Born about 1406, Lionel Welles was the son of Eudes Welles and Maud Greystoke. On 
his father's side, he was the grandson of John de Welles, 5th Baron Welles (d. 26 
August 1421), and Eleanor Mowbray, and on his mother's side, the grandson of Ralph 
de Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke and Katherine Clifford, daughter of Roger de 
Clifford, 5th Baron de Clifford. He had one brother, Sir William Welles, Lord Chancellor 
of Ireland.[1]

Career[edit]

Lionel Welles' father, Eudes Welles, died sometime before 26 July 1417, predeceasing 
his own father, the 5th Baron. At the death of the 5th Baron in 1421, Lionel Welles 
thus inherited the Welles barony and lands, but as he was underage, his wardship was 
granted to his future father-in-law, Robert Waterton (d.1425), a 'trusted retainer of 
John of Gaunt and the Lancastrian Kings'.[2][3]

He was knighted at the Parliament at Leicester by the infant Henry VI on 19 May 
1426, and had control of his lands on 5 December 1427. He accompanied Henry VI to 
France in 1430, was summoned to Parliament from 25 February 1432 to 30 July 1460 
by writs directed Leoni de Welles, and was a privy councillor before 12 November 
1434. In 1435 he was with Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in the expedition sent to 
relieve the siege of Calais. He was a member of Henry VI's household before February 
1438. From 12 February 1438 he resided in Ireland as Lord Lieutenant; according to 
Hicks, he 'failed to control the contending factions and resigned prematurely in 1442'. 
Together with Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, he served as Joint Deputy of Calais 
for his brother-in-law, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who was Lieutenant of 
Calais from 1451 to 1455, and apparently remained at Calais until 20 April 1456, when 
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, took over as Lieutenant. Despite these 
appointments, according to Hicks, Welles was 'essentially a Lincolnshire landowner'; 
he was a Justice of the Peace and served on other commissions in that county.[4][2]

He was installed, together with John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, as a Knight of 
the Garter on 14 May 1457, and in October of that year was sent with English 
reinforcements to Calais.[4]

He was taken prisoner by Yorkist forces at the Battle of Blore Heath on 23 September 
1459. In 1461 he was with the army of Queen Margaret, which advanced on London, 
and won the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461. He was slain a month 
later at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461. After his death he was attained by 
Act of Parliament on 21 December 1461, whereby all his honours were forfeited. He 
was buried with his first wife, Joan Waterton, in the parish church at Methley, 
Yorkshire.[5][2][6]

Marriages and issue[edit]

Welles married firstly Joan (in some accounts, Cecily) Waterton, daughter of Robert 
Waterton, esquire, of Methley, Yorkshire,[2] and his second wife, Cecily Fleming, 
daughter of Sir Robert Fleming, by whom he had one son and four daughters:[7]
Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles.[8]
Cecily Welles, who married Sir Robert Willoughby of Parham, Suffolk and was the 
mother of Christopher Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby.[9]
Margaret Welles (d. 13 July 1480), who married firstly Sir Thomas Dymoke (executed 
12 March 1470), and secondly Robert Radcliffe, esquire.[10][9]
Eleanor Welles, who married Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings (d. 13 February 
1455).[11]
Katherine Welles, who married firstly Sir Thomas de la Launde (executed 15 March 
1469), and secondly Robert Tempest (d. 23 April 1509), esquire.[9]

He married secondly, by licence dated 14 April 1447, he married Margaret Beauchamp, 
widow successively of Sir Oliver St John (d.1437) and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of 
Somerset (d. 27 May 1444), and daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe, 
Bedfordshire, by his second wife, Edith Stourton, daughter of Sir John Stourton, by 
whom he had one son:[7]
John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, who married Cecily of York, the daughter of Edward 
IV of England.[7]

By his second marriage Welles became the stepfather of Margaret Beaufort, mother of 
Henry VII.

Parents
DE WELLES Eudo (Ivo) (ABT 1380 - BEF 26 Aug 1421)
DE GREYSTOKE Maude (ABT 1375 - )

Siblings
DE WELLES Lionel (ABT 1406 - 29 Mar 1461)

Marriage To DE WATERTON Joan (Cecily) (ABT 1398 - AFT 18 Oct 1434)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE WATERTON Robert (ABT 1375 - 17 Jan 1425)
DE EVERINGHAM Joan (ABT 1362 - )

Children by DE WATERTON Joan (Cecily) ABT 1398 - AFT 18 Oct 1434
DE WELLES Alianor (Eleanor) (ABT 1428 - )

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