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Birth:          1434 of Kendall, Westmoreland, England
Death:          1483 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_FitzHugh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parr_(knight)
Sir William Parr, KG (1434–1483)[1] was an English courtier and soldier. He was the 
eldest son of Sir Thomas Parr (1405–1461) and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas 
Tunstall of Thurland, Lancashire.
Family[edit]

The Parr family originally came from Parr, Lancashire. Sir William's great-grandfather, 
Sir William de Parre (died 1405) married in 1383 Elizabeth de Ros, daughter of Sir 
John de Ros of Kendal and Katherine de Latimer, a daughter of Thomas, 1st Baron 
Latimer of Brayebrooke.[2] Elizabeth was the granddaughter and heiress of Sir Thomas 
de Ros, Baron of Kendal and had livery of her inheritance. Their marriage alliance with 
the Ros (or Roos) family enhanced the Parr family standing. On the accession of the 
Duke of Lancaster as Henry IV of England, Sir William senior stood so high in the 
estimation of the new monarch that he was deputed with the bishop of St. Asaph to 
announce the revolution to the court of Spain. Through his marriage William acquired, 
by right of his wife, a fourth part of the manor of Kirby in Kendal, Kendal Castle, and 
one-fourth part of the barony of Kendal, which continued in the family till after the 
death of his grandson, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, when the 
Marquess's widow surrendered it to Queen Elizabeth I.[3] It was known as 'The 
Marquis Fee.' This branch of the family originally resided at Kendal until the Castle fell 
into disrepair during his son, Thomas', life.

William Parr's paternal grandparents were Sir John Parr of Kendal (c.1383 – 1409) and 
Agnes Crophull, widow of Sir Walter Devereux. From her previous marriage she was 
mother to a younger Walter Devereux, paternal grandmother to Walter Devereux, Lord 
Chancellor of Ireland, and great-grandmother to Anne Devereux, Countess of 
Pembroke. Parr's maternal grandparents were Sir Thomas Tunstall of Thurland Castle 
and Isabel Harrington, a grandaunt of Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby. By his 
maternal grandfather, Parr was a cousin to Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall.[1] After the 
death of Dame Isabel, Sir Thomas remarried Joan Mowbray, a granddaughter of 
Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk.[4]

Sir Thomas Parr, the courtier's father, was sub-vice comes (i.e. deputy to the 
hereditary sheriff, Baron Clifford) for Westmorland from 1428 to 1437 and MP six times. 
He was assaulted in going to Parliament in 1446, the case being discussed in 
Parliament. He took an active part in the Wars of the Roses on the Yorkist side and 
was subsequently attainted in 1459 with the other leading Yorkists. The attainder was 
reversed in 1461, before his estates had been confiscated.

He died in 1464. Sir Thomas left three sons (including William, the subject of this 
article) and six daughters. Of his other two sons, his second son, Sir John Parr, also a 
Yorkist, was rewarded by being made sheriff of Westmorland for life in 1462; he 
married a daughter of Sir John Yonge, Lord Mayor of the City of London, and must 
have lived until after 1473, as in that year he was one of those exempted from the 
resumption act. His third son, Thomas, was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. His 
daughters all married members of prominent northern families.

Life[edit]

William was exempted from the Resumption Act of 1464. He was on the side of the 
Nevilles at Banbury in 1469, was sent by George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence 
and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick to Edward in March 1470, just before the 
Battle of Lose-coat Field, and was entrusted by Edward with his answer.

When Edward IV returned from exile in 1471 Parr, along with Sir James Harrington,[5] 
brought 600 men-at-arms to him at Doncaster.[6] He fought with Edward at Barnet, 
where his younger brother was killed fighting for the duke of Gloucester,[7] and was 
rewarded with the comptrollership of the household, which he held until 1475. He also 
received a major grant of estates, including the third part of the crown's share of the 
Kendal barony, and Burgh, Pendragon, and Appleby Castles.[8] He did not, however, 
receive the lordship of Kendal itself, and it would be Parr's son who would be the first 
of the family raised to the peerage, in 1538.[9] Sir William Parr swore to recognize 
Edward, Prince of Wales, as heir to the throne in 1472, and was exempted from the 
Resumption Act of 1473

Parr sat as knight of the shire for Westmoreland in 1467 and 1473, was High Sheriff of 
Cumberland for 1473 and invested Knight of the Garter in 1474. He was sent to the 
Kingdom of Scotland to arrange about the breaches of the truce probably in 1479. He 
was exempted from the act of apparel in 1482, was chief commissioner for exercising 
the office of constable of England in 1483, and took part in the funeral of Edward IV.

After the death of Edward IV, Parr was pressured by his mother-in-law, Lady FitzHugh, 
to accept and follow the rule of the Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
during the minority of the new boy King Edward V.[1] The FitzHughs were closely 
related to the royal family through Parr's wife, Elizabeth, whose mother was cousin to 
the Yorks and aunt to Anne, Duchess of Gloucester. When Richard decided to take 
the throne as King, Parr was not persuaded that Richard's determination for the throne 
was justified. Parr was loyal to the institution of the monarchy, but detested the idea 
of usurpation, however justified it was in political terms.[1] The murder of William, Lord 
Hastings on 13 June 1483 was the tipping point for Parr.[1] Hastings had been a close 
friend and adviser to the late King.[1] Hastings had also been brother-in-law to Parr's 
mother-in-law. When Richard became King, William Parr chose not attend the 
coronation despite being given a position in the coronation as canopy bearer.[1] Lady 
Parr and her mother, however, were present as two of the seven noble ladies 
appointed to serve the new Queen consort, Anne.[1]

After refusing to be part of the coronation of King Richard III and his queen consort 
on 6 July 1483, Lord Parr returned north where he died shortly after.[1]

Wives and children[edit]

Sir William married, first, Joan Trusbut (died 1473), widow of Thomas Colt of Roydon, 
Essex; her issue by Parr, if any, did not survive. After Joan's death, William was 
appointed the wardship of her son John Colt, Esq. His daughter, Jane, would become 
the first wife of Sir Thomas More.

Secondly, Elizabeth FitzHugh, daughter of Henry, 5th Baron FitzHugh and Lady Alice 
Neville, who survived him and remarried Sir Nicholas Vaux. By her, Parr had two 
daughters and three sons:[10]
Anne Parr (c.1476-4 November 1513), who married Sir Thomas Cheney of 
Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire.
Elizabeth Parr (b. 1499), married Nicholas Woodhull (Baron of Wodhull).
Sir Thomas Parr (d. 11 November 1517), Lord of the manor of Kendal and Master of 
the wards and comptroller to King Henry VIII.
Sir William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton (d. 10 September 1546)
Alice Parr (died young)
John Parr, Esq. (before 1483-8 September 1508)

The eldest son, Sir Thomas Parr, was knighted and was sheriff of Northamptonshire in 
1509; he was master of the wards and comptroller to Henry VIII. He was rich, owing to 
his succeeding, in 1512, to half the estates of his cousin, Lord FitzHugh, and also to 
his marriage with Maud Green, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Green of 
Boughton and Greens Norton in Northamptonshire. He died on 11 November 1517, 
and was buried in St. Ann, Blackfriars, London in an elaborate tomb which has since 
been destroyed. His widow died on 1 December 1531, and was buried beside him. Of 
their children, Catherine Parr, queen of Henry VIII, and William Parr (afterwards 
Marquess of Northampton), are separately noticed; while a daughter, Anne, married 
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.

The second son of Sir William Parr was William, who was knighted on 25 December 
1513, was sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1518 and 1522, and after his niece's 
Catherine Parr's promotion became her chamberlain. On 23 December 1543 he was 
created Baron Parr of Horton, Northamptonshire. He died on 10 September 1547, and 
was buried at Horton (for his tomb, see Bridges, Northamptonshire, i. 370). By Mary, 
daughter of Sir William Salisbury, he left four daughters.

A third son of Sir William Parr, named John, married Constance, daughter of Sir Henry 
Vere of Addington, Surrey. They had no issue.

Parents
PARR Thomas (1397 - Nov 1461)
TUNSTALL Alice (ABT 1415 - )

Siblings
PARR William (1434 - 1483)

Marriage To FITZ HUGH Elizabeth (ABT 1455 - BEF 10 Jul 1507)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
FITZ HUGH Henry (ABT 1424 - 8 Jun 1472)
NEVILLE Alice (ABT 1430 - AFT 22 Nov 1503)

Children by FITZ HUGH Elizabeth ABT 1455 - BEF 10 Jul 1507
PARR William (ABT 1483 - 10 Sep 1547)

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