THE ROYAL FAMILIES OF ENGLAND
John Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster, and his Descendants
JOHN PLANTAGENET, surnamed of Gaunt, from the place of his birth, fourth son of King Edward III., was born in 1340. In 1342 he was created EARL OF RICHMOND, and advanced to the DUKEDOM OF LANCASTER, by his father, King Edward III., in the 36th year of his reign. After the decease of his first wife, Blanch, the great heiress of Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster, he espoused Constance, elder daughter and co-heiress of Peter, King of Castile, and in her right assumed the title of King of Castile and Leon; in which regal dignity, as well as in those of Duke of Lancaster, Earl of Richmond, Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester, he had summons to parliament: he was likewise Duke of Aquitaine, and a Knight of the Garter. On the decease of Edward III., this prince was joined in the administration of affairs during the minority of his nephew, Richard II. He subsequently attempted the conquest of Spain, at the head of a fine army; and landing at the Groyne, advanced to Compostella, where he was met by John, King of Portugal, between whom and his eldest daughter, the Lady Philippa, a marriage was concluded. Thence he marched into Castile, and there ratified a treaty of peace, by which he abandoned his claim to the throne of Castile and Leon, in consideration of a large sum of money, and the marriage of Henry, Prince of Asturias, with his only daughter, by his second wife, the Lady Katherine Plantagenet. In the latter part of his life he dwelt in retirement, having incurred the displeasure of King Richard, by a motion which he had made in parliament, that his son Henry of Bolingbroke, should be declared heir to the crown. He d. at Ely House, Holborn, in 1399.
JOHN of Gaunt espoused, first, as already stated, Lady Blanche Plantagenet, the eventual heiress of the Duke of Lancaster, and had by her,
HENRY, surnamed of Bolingbroke, who, having m. Mary, daughter and coheir of Humphrey de Bohun, last Earl of Hereford, was created Earl of Hereford, 29th Sept. 1397.
Philippa, m. to John, King of Portugal: from this marriage descend, quartering the royal arms of England, Mary Isabella, Queen of Spain, Ferdinand, King of Naples, Pedro, Emperor of the Brazils, Henry de Bourbon, Duke of Bordeaux, Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony, the Emperor of Austria, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, &c.;
Elizabeth, m.. 1st, to John Holand, Earl of Huntingdon, and 2ndly, to Sir John Cornwall This lady by her first husband had issue;
JOHN HOLAND, Duke of Exeter, K.G. who m. 1st, Anne, widow of Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, and dau. of Edmund, Earl of Stafford, and had by her, a son,
HENRY, 2nd Duke of Exeter, who m. Lady Anne Plantagenet, sister of KING EDWARD IV., and d. in 1473.
John Holand, Duke of Exeter, m. 2ndly, Lady Anne Montacute, dau. of John Earl of Salisbury, and had by her a dau.,
ANNE, eventually heiress, who m. 1st, John Lord Nevill, (son and heir of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland,) who fell at Towtonfield, s.p.; and 2ndly, Sir John Nevill, Kt., by whom she had a son,
RALPH NEVILL, 3rd Earl of Westmoreland, who m. Margaret, dau. of Sir Roger Booth, of Barton, and had an only son.
RALPH, LORD NEVILL, who m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir William Sandys, and d.v.p.. leaving a son and successor,
RALPH, 4th Earl of Westmoreland, whose grandson,
CHARLES, 6th Earl of Westmoreland, m. Anne, dau. of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and had issue, two daus. his co-heirs, viz.
1. MARGARET, m. to Nicholas Pudsey, Esq.
2. ANNE, m. to David Ingleby, Esq. *
He m. 2ndlly, Constance, elder dau. and co-heir of Peter of Castile, and by her had an only dau.,
KATHERINE, m. to Henry, Prince of Asturias, afterwards Henry, the third King of Castile and Leon.
The duke m. thirdly, Catherine, daughter of Sir Payn Roelt, Guienne King at Arms, and widow of Sir Otho de Swynford, Knt., by whom, before marriage, he had issue,
JOHN DE BEAUFORT, Earls of Somerset, and Marquess of Dorset, who m. Margaret, dau. of Thomas Roland, Earl of Kent, and had a son John, Duke of Somerset, whose only dau. and heir, Margaret, m. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and was mother of King HENRY VII.
* The chief descendants entitled to quarter the royal arms of Lady Anne Nevill, wife of David Ingleby, Esq., are:
i. MARY, widow of Sir THOMAS MASSEY STANLEY, Bart., and dau. and heir of Sir Carnaby Haggerstone, Bart.
ii. SIR EDWARD HAGGERSTONE, Bart. of Haggerstone.
iii. WILLIAM CONSTABLE MAXWELL, Esq. of Everingham.
iv. WILLIAM MIDDLETON, Esq., of Middleton Lodge and Stockeld, co. York.
v. THOMAS CONSTABLE, Esq. of the Manor House, Otley, co. York.
HENRY DE BEAUFORT, Cardinal of St. Eusebius, and Bishop of Winchester.
THOMAS DE BEAU FORT, Earl of Dorset, and Duke of Exeter, d. s.p.
JOAN DE BEAUFORT, m. first, to Robert, Lord Ferrers, of Wemme, and secondly, to Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland.
These children were legitimated by act of parliament, for all purposes, save succession to the throne, in the 20th of Richard II., and derived their surname from the castle of Beaufort, the place of their birth. JOHN of Gaunt was s. by his eldest son,
HENRY PLANTAGENET, surnamed of Bolingbroke, Earl of Hereford, who, upon the deposition of Richard II., was called to the throne as King HENRY IV., when his great inheritance, with the Dukedom of Lancaster, and the Earldoms of Hereford, Derby, Lincoln, and Leicester, merged in the crown.