William Norris

KENNETH HILLIER

And this is law, Iwill maintain, Unto my dying day, Sir, That whatsoever King shall reign, I’ll be the Vicar of Bray, Sir! (1734) ANACHRONISTIC THOUGH it may be, the sentiment of the verse is useful as an apt introduction to the career of another son of Bray—William Norris (1433— 1507). Both William and his father, John, show in their respective careers a remarkable resilience and determination to remain rooted in their own ever- growing sphere of influence. John gained ‘ five pardons during his acquisi- tive lifetime,’1 but William is of interest, not only for the resolute pursuit of his own ends, but as a measure of the opposition Richard III was forced to deal with in the autumn of 1483. Norris was a leader of the Newbury sector of the Buckingham Revolt, and lived to reap his reward 2 years later under Henry Tudor. The family of Norris is a collateral line of those of Speke, co. Lancs., and are heard of in the mid-thirteenth century when, in 1267, Richard de Norreys, ‘ coco Reginae ’ (cook to Eleanor, queen of Henry III), had a grant of Ockholt in the parish of Bray.2 W. Money, in his history of Hampstead-Norris, maintains that the name ‘ 1e Norreys ’ was merely designa- tive of a national origin, and implies the Norreinsche or Norensis. Apparently, in 1222, the sum of 5 marks was paid to Yvo 1e Noreis and his four comrades, messengers of the King of Norway, for their expenses on their return to their own country.3 Various Norrises are mentioned in the Court Rolls of Bray and Cookham during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Although sometimes the various genealogies, gleaned and pieced together from Tudor and Stuart Visitations to counties, wills and inquisitions post mortem, are conflicting, all agree that William’s father was Sir John Norris, of Ockwells, Bray and Yattendon, Berkshire. Sir John’s father was either William Norris, according to the Victoria County History for Berkshire, and his grandfather a Roger Norris (d. 1422); or, if one accepts Wedood (some- times a hazardous thing to do), the latter was the father.“ Sir John consoli- dated his 'position during the Lancastrian government. Yeoman of the chamber by 1429, usher of the chamberand king’s serjeant by 1438, he became squire of the body in 1441 with"50 marks a year. Holding other offices such as Forester of Purbeck (1436), bailiff of Leicester (1439) and escheator of Anglesey (1437—9), he also accumulated lands and oflices in the Berkshire area. During the 1430s and 14405 he served as sheriff of Wilts., Berks., Somerset, Oxon. and Dorset, and as J .P. in Berkshire from 1437 till his death.5 ‘ Grants, custodies, 17 NORRIS OF OCKWELLS

Sir I-ienry Norris=i. Alice Erneis, dau. of Roger, Earl of Chester of Speke and 2. Cecilia, s; dau. of Hamon Massey Ockwells '

l 2

William Norris John Norris=Millioent Ravenscroft of Speke of Ockwells

Thomas Norris Roger Norris= ? d.s.p. of Ockwells d. 1422

William Norris=l. Christian, dau. of William Strech of Ockwells 2. Anne Delamere

1 1 ‘ - 2

Sir John Norris=l. Alice, dau. and h. William Norris Roger Norris of Ockwells of Richard Merbrook of Wingfield of Cookham and Yattendon 2. Alinore 1405—1467 3. Margaret 1 1 ' 1 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' I l Sm WILLIAM=L Jane, dau. of Anne=John Lattice John John William Nomus John de Vere Harcourt 1440—? 1433—1507 2. Isobel, widow of John Neville 3. Anne, dau. of John Home

l ' g 1 2 3 l ‘ l Sir Edward Norris=Frideswide, sister and 4 others 6 children 5 children co-h. of Francis Love]. perquisites flowed 1n upon him ’; ‘ he looked after himself well. ’9 Clerk of the great wardrobe till 1446, he became treasurer of the chamber and keeper of the jewels to Queen Margaret.

', ‘ In 1447 John Norres‘ Armig.’ was made steward of the manors of Bray u and Cookham for life, whilst m 1448 he gained a ‘convenient’ general pardon for any suit the King might bring against him! ‘ It must have been then that he moved to, or established his son at Yattendon, for 1n January 1448 he had a licence to enclose 600 acres there." Thus, by the late 14505 Norris had achieved much by way of personal fortune and influence. However, he was one of the'court denounced by both Céde and the Parliament of 1450, and was mentioned in a popular song as ‘the Coundite ’ who, with others, ‘ hath made our Eagle (Henry VI) blind.’a Pardoned in 1452, 1455, 1458 and 1459, Norris was evidently taking few risks. He also managed to weather the turmoil of 1460—1, as he retained his ofliCe and prosperity, with yet another pardon in 1462, under Edward IV. When he died in 1467 he had increased and consolidated the family holdings in Berk- shire. He also ensured that five thousand masses ‘ with as many placebos, diriges. .used m mortuaries be done and sung for my soul' m as hasty time as it may goodly be done’, and not only were ‘all the belles of the church of Bray. .be rong as well by nyght' as by day' for twenty-four hours after his burial, but‘ ye grettest belle of the saide belles be rong ev’ y day from my decesse’ for some time after.9 Norris, a great patron of Yattendon church too, was as careful 1n death as in life. I have dwelt on William’s father to show the definite Lancastrian back- ground of the family, and the adept way John managed his political afl‘airs. William was ‘ perhaps even more resilient.’10 He was son and heir by John’s first wife, Alice, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Merbury (or Merbrook) of iYattendo‘ri. Sir John had married three times, and had had at least five other children, including two Johns and a second William! Thus, it is doubly diflicult to keep track of them all.11 The elder William was born in 1433 and is first seen in a document of March, 1449, concerning’the lordships of Cookham and Bray.12 In the 1450s he is mentioned in Fine, Close and Patent Rolls 6n commissions and as witness to land deals. However, he first gains some sort of prominence when he. was returned as knight of the shire for Berks. in November 1459, sitting in the famous ‘ packed ’ Coventry Parliament, which' attainted the ‘ Yorkist faction.’13 William was knighted by Henry VI just . before the battle of Northampton on 10th June, 1460,14but nothing 1s known of the part he played 1n the hectic period which included the battles of Wake- field, Mortimer’ s Cross, second St Alban’ s and Towton. His father, as we have seen, was pardoned by the new king m 1462, and William obviously inherited the former’ spragmatism, as he was the recipient of a grant for life in August, 1461, ‘ of the office of steward of the lordships and manor of Cokeham and Bray. ’15 Edward’s urgent policy of conciliation towards former enemies was politically equally realistic. William was with Edward ‘in hys jorny to Scottlong at the fest of Seynt Andrew in the month of Decembyr ’ in 1462, and was evidently in the royal favour, if not total trust, by 1465.“ In that year, not only was his wife Lady Jane made one of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting with £20 a year, but he himself was recruited as a knight of the body. Morgan shows that the king had had to compete in 19 patronage with others—William gained the stewardship of Bray and Cookham, but failed to get a promised wardship as the Treasurer had already given it to an Exchequer colleague." Edward’s gift was presumably part of a search for loyalty amongst the instability of faction—he had been made king by a faction; he hoped to widen his base of support. Gentlemen of Norris’ standing were a respected and powerful sector in the community of every shire, and their decisions were often vital for the crown’s and nobility’s exercise of power. During the rest of the 14605 William served on commissions of the peace, and was sheriff for Oxon. and Berks. in 1468—9.18 Yet his allegiance to Edward may have been in some doubt in 1470—1, as on 8th April, 1471, he received a verbal pardon from Henry VI. However, he was one of the leaders who joined Edward when the latter marched from Ravenspur—‘ he came towards Nottingham, and there came to him Sir William A Stanley, with 300 men, and Sir William Norris, and divers other men.’“’ William probably fought at both Barnet and Tewkesbury. He served on commissions in Berks. and Oxon. till August, 1483, and in July, 1474, was granted for life ‘ the office of keeper of the manor and park of the King called “ Foly John ” in Windsor forest.”-° At the end of 1474 and early 1475 preparations were advanced to ensure an adequate supply of men for Edward’s projected invasion of France. William’s name is not on the Tellers’ Roll for the first quarter of 1475; but in the second quarter his retinue was 12 men-at-arms and 100 archers.21 In 1476 his second wife, Isabel, died, and in 1478 he was granted custody of her lands during the minority of her son and his stepson, George Neville. Norris had married well—his first wife, Jane, was a daughter of John de Vere, earl of Oxford; whilst Isabel was the widow of John Neville, marquis of Montagu. Considerable holdings in Devon, Somerset, Hants., Herts. and Gloucester now came under his care. In 1478 he took part in the commission to enquire into the late Duke of Clarence’s estates, and in May 1479, ‘ during the minority of Edward son and heir of Isabel late the wife of George, late Duke of Clarence,’ became custodian of the manor of ‘ Langeley and all issues of the manor and office of lieutenant and master forester or keeper of the forest of Whechewode,’ etc.22 Norris was high in the king’s favour. When Edward died, William’s younger brother, John, as one of the squires of the body, helped to convey the corpse into Westminster Abbey.” Yet by the autumn ' both men were in rebellion. In previous articlesz‘1 I have examined possible motives certain rebels may have had in joining the October revolt. One can, of course, only hazard guesses as to the character and motives of these people, because the official records, although voluminous, yield little information of help in these matters yet the sanctity of inheritance was as strong as any contemporary feeling and fears of ‘livelihood ' can be seen in all the men so far studied.25 Norris was one of many who probably viewed Gloucester's increasing dominance with concern. In March, 1480, Richard had been granted the custody of the body and marriage of Montagu’s son (Norris’ stepson).26 Norris had custody of the boy’s lands—he may well have hoped for this lucrative wardship. Evidence in a letter written by Walter Elmes to Sir William Stonor in April, 1481, also suggests a connection with the latter, John Harcourt and Norris in a context that implies ‘ my lord of Gloucester ’ was scarcely one of their ‘ frendys.’27 Norris may well have been linked with Sir William Hastings, 20 _ 999599 9PP? being one of those who had joined Edward at Nottingham and Leicester in 1471, ‘in substance they were such as were towards the Lord Hastings.’28 If such a link existed, Hastings’ sudden departure from the world in 1483 would not have endeared Gloucester to Norris. Whatever the cause, although serving on the commission of the peace in June 1483, ‘ Sir William Noreys ’ was, after the marquis of Dorset, leader of the list of men who had ‘assembled the people by the comfort of the great rebel the late duke of Bukyngham ’ and for whom rewards for their capture and pardon for all who withdrew from them were offered. A reward of 500 marks and £40 in land was offered for Norris, a leader in the Newbury gathering.29 Norris is not mentioned in Polydore Vergil’s list as having joined Tudor in Brittany and, whilst Jacob states he ‘ was arrested in Devonshjre but escaped,’ Barnard maintains he was not caught.” He was attainted in the 1484 Parliament ‘late of Yakendon in the Countie of Berk Knyght,’="1 and in August and September of that year parcels of his land were granted to Richard III’s supporters. After Bosworth, Norris once again was in high favour: only a month later, on 23rd September, he regained the custody of Langley, etc., and all grants to him were exempted from Henry’s Act of Resumption of 1485.32 He commanded part of Henry’s army at Stoke in 1487 and was among the knights at Elizabeth of York’s coronation that year.33 In December 1488, he was asked to help raise archers in Berks. and Oxon. for the Breton expedition, and was a leader against Perkin Warbeck when the latter landed in Cornwall in September 1497.34 He was still knight of the body and lieutenant of Windsor in 1506, and became, like his father, steward to the chancellor of Oxford University in 1505.35 He is found on various commissions of oyer and terminer, gaol deliverys and the peace right up to his death, on 4th January, 1507. His son by his first marriage, Sir Edward Norris, was his heir.” Norris is a good example of the political careerist. He epitomises the group Morgan talks of as being (in the words of Edward’s ceremonial valedic- tion) ‘ men without a master and out of their oflices,’ in April 1483.37 Their last group function was as escort to the king’s funeral bier. They were unavoidably caught up in the succession trouble, and once Hastings fell the report ‘ all the lord Chamberleyne mene be come my lordys of Bokeynghame mene ’ could well have been true.“ Gloucester was leader of a mainly local, northern grouping—Norris and his close associates may well not have seen any ‘livelihood ’ in a Richard III scheme of things.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Cenmry, Oxford (1969), p.600. _ C. Kerry, The History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Bray, London (1861), p.113. W. Money, Collections Toward a History of the Parish of Hampstead-Narris (1885), p.11. Victoria County History, Berkshire, Vol. 3, London (1923), p.103. J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament 1439—1509, Vol. 1, H.M.S.O. (1936), p.637. This information is taken from J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament, pp.637—8. J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament, p.638. E. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century, p.600. J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament, p.638. T. Wright, Political Poems and Songs, Vol. 2, H.M.S.O. (1861), p.222. Will of John Norreys, Esq., quoted in C. Kerry, History of Bray, pp.116—120. E. Jacob, The Fifleemh Century, p.600. 21 11. Of the 2,600 M.P.s Wedgwood studied by far the most popular Christian name was John (760), with Thomas (429) and William (414) some way behind, but well ahead of the next, Richard (227). J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament (introduction, xvii). 12. Calendar of Fine Rolls 1445—1452, H.M.S.O. (1939), p.110. 13. F. P. Barnard, Edward I V”: French Expedition of 1475, Oxford (1925), p.102. 14. E. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century, p.601. J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament, p.640. 15. Calendar of Patent Rolls 1461-1467, H.M.S.O. (1897), p.77. l6. J. Gairdner (Ed.), Three fifteenth Century Chronicles, Camden Society (1880—1), p.157. 17. D. A. L. Morgan, The King’s Affinity 'in the Polity of Yorkist , Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 51h series, Vol. 23 (1973), p.8. 18. C.P.R. 1461-67, p.559. Calendar of Fine Rolls 1461—147], H.M.S.O. (1949), p.222. 19. C.P.R. 1467-1477 (1900), p.241. Warkworth’s Chronicle (The Chronicles of the White ' Rose of York, Ed. J. C. Giles,London (1843), p.122). 20. C.P.R. 1467—1477,p.488. 21. F. P. Barnard, French Expedition of 1475, p.102. 22. C.P.R. 1476-1485, H.M.S.0. (1901), p.63, p.157. 23. 1. Gairdner (Ed.), Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and 'Henry VII, Vol. 1, l-I.M.S.0. (1861), Funeral of Edward IV, p.5. 24. 77m Ricardian, Vol. 3, No. 49 (June 1975), pp.5—9; Vol. 3, No. 50 (September 1975), pp.15—20; Vol. 4, No. 52 (Match 1976), pp.l6—21; Vol. 4, No. 54 (September 1976), pp.8—13. 25. J. R. Lander, Marriage and Politics in the Fifteenth Century: The Nevilles and the Wydevilles, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, Vol. 36, No. 94 (November 1963), p.119. - 26. C.P.R. 1476—1485, p.192. 27. C. L. Kingsford (Ed.), Stanar Letters and Papers 1290-1483, Camden Society (1919), No. 288. . 28. History of the Arrival of King Edward IV (The Chronicles of the White Rose of York, Ed. J. C. Giles, p.47). 29. C.P.R. 1476-1485. p.371. F. P. Ba’rnatd, French Expedition of 1475, p.103. 30. E. F. Jacob, The fifteenth Century, p.601. F. P. Barnard (ibid.), p.103. 31. Rotuli Parliamentarian, Vol. 6, H.M.S.O. (1783), p.245b. 32. W. Campbell (Ed.), Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry V11, Vol. I,“ H.M.S.0. (1873), p.43. 33. C. Kerry, History of Bray, p.114. F. P. Barnard, French Expedition of 1475, p.103. 34. C.P.R. 1485—1494 (1914), p.281. Polydore Vergil, Anglicae Historiae, Camden Society (Royal Historical Society, 1950), p.106. 35. J. Wedgwood, History of Parliament, p.640. E. F. Jacob, The Fifleenth Century, p.601. 36. Sir Edward’s wife was Frideswide, sister and co-heircss of Francis, Lord Lovel. 37. D. Morgan, The King’s Affinity, pp.23-4. 38. C. Kingsford (Ed.), Stanar Letters, No. 331.

22