John Gray of Groby
Sir John Gray of Groby (* around 1432 - † February 17, 1461 in St Albans ) was an English nobleman. He was the first husband of the future Queen Elizabeth Woodville .
John Gray was the eldest son and heir to Sir Edward Gray and his second wife, Elizabeth Ferrers, 6th Baroness Ferrers of Groby . His father was a younger son of Reginald Gray, 3rd Baron Gray de Ruthin , and his mother was the daughter and heiress of William Astley. After the death of her grandfather William Ferrers, 5th Baron Ferrers of Groby in 1445 she inherited Groby in Leicestershire , to which Edward Gray from December 1446 as the husband of Baroness Ferrers of Groby the Parliament belonged. After his father's death in December 1457, he inherited his possessions, but not the title of Baron Ferrers of Groby , as his mother was still alive. After the death of his father, his mother was second married to John Bourchier ; she only died in January 1483.
When the Wars of the Roses broke out in England in the late 1450s , Gray supported King Henry VI. and the Lancaster house . In December 1459 he was responsible for drawing up the Lancastrian contingent in Leicestershire , and in April 1460 he was appointed leader of a contingent against the supporters of Richard of York . He died in the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 and was buried in St Albans Cathedral.
In 1452 John Gray married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Baron Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxemburg . He and his wife had two sons:
- Thomas Gray, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1451–1501)
- Sir Richard Gray (around 1456–1483)
After his death there was a dispute between his widow and Grey's mother over the Wittum of Elizabeth and the inheritance rights of his sons. Elizabeth allied herself with William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings , a close friend of King Edward IV of the House of York . This became aware of Elizabeth and married her in 1464.
literature
- Charles Lethbridge Kingsford: Gray, John (1432-1461) , in: Dictionary of National Biography . Volume XXIII . Macmillan, Smith, Elder & Co., London and New York 1890, p. 193
- Rosemary Horrox: Gray, Sir John (c.1432-1461). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
Web links
- Sir John Gray on thepeerage.com , accessed July 26, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: Gray of Ruthin, Baron (E, 1325 - abeyant 1963). Retrieved April 1, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gray of Groby, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gray, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English nobleman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1432 |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 17, 1461 |
| Place of death | St Albans |