Bonville, William (1393 - 1460/1)

Born / Died

Birth Date: 1393-08-30
Death Date: 1461-02-19 (executed after the battle of St Albans)

Marriages/Other Unions

  1. Type: marriage
    Union began: 1414
    Union ended: n.d.
    Note: William Bonville (d. 1460) is possibly the child of Lord Bonville's second wife Elizabeth Courtenay
  2. Type: marriage
    Union began: 1427-10-9
    Union ended: n.d.

Offspring

From Grey, Margaret ( - )

  1. Male offspring: Bonville, William (d. 1460)

Primary Title

Knight

Titles

  • Knight
    Assumed Before 1417
    Vacated 1460/1-02-19
  • 1st Baron Bonville (of Chewton)
    Assumed 1448/9-03-10
    Vacated 1460/1-02-19
  • Knight of the Garter
    Assumed 1460/1-02-08
    Vacated 1460/1-02-19

Details of Offices

Began Ended Notes
Commissioner of Array, Dorset 1418 1419
MP, Devon 1422 n.d.
Sheriff, Devon 1422/3-2-14 1423-11-13
MP, Devon 1427 n.d.
JP, Devon 1431 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Devon 1432 n.d.
Commissioner of Array, Devon 1433 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Devon 1434 n.d.
Commissioner of Array, Devon 1435 1436
Commissioner of Gaol Delivery, Somerset 1435 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Somerset 1435 n.d.
JP, Devon 1435 n.d.
JP, Somerset 1435 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1435/6 n.d.
Steward, Duchy of Cornwall 1437-11-8 1460/1-01-19 Appointed Royal Steward of Cornwall for life. Thomas de Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon, was appointed Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall on 7 May 1441, creating a dispute that ended with Bonville's reappointment as Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall on 8 March 1451/2
JP, Cornwall 1438 1439
JP, Devon 1438 n.d.
JP, Somerset 1438/9 1442
Commissioner of Musters, Devon 1439 n.d.
JP, Devon 1440 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1441 1443
Senechal, France 1442/3-1-7 1443/4
JP, Devon 1443 1444
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Devon 1444 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1444/5 n.d.
JP, Somerset 1446/7 1449
JP, Devon 1447 1448
Commissioner of Musters, Devon 1451 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1451 n.d.
JP, Somerset 1451 n.d.
JP, Devon 1451 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Somerset 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Gloucestershire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Cornwall 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Worcestershire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Staffordshire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Herefordshire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Devon 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Bristol 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Warwickshire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Shropshire 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Dorset 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Wales 1452 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Wiltshire 1452 n.d.
Constable, Devon 1453-4-7 1460/1-01-19 For life
JP, Somerset 1453 1454
JP, Devon 1453 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1453 n.d.
Keeper, Devon 1453-4-7 1460/1-01-19 For life. River Exe spans Devon & Somerset
Senechal, Devon 1453-9 n.d.
Commissioner of Array, Cornwall 1454 n.d.
Commissioner of Array, Devon 1454 n.d.
Commissioner of Musters, Cornwall 1454 n.d.
Commissioner of Musters, Devon 1454 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1454/5 n.d.
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Cornwall 1455 1456
JP, Devon 1455 1460
JP, Somerset 1457 n.d.
Commissioner of Array, Devon 1458 1459
Commissioner of Array, Cornwall 1458 n.d.
JP, Cornwall 1458 1460
JP, Somerset 1459 n.d.
Commissioner of Musters, Cornwall 1459/60 n.d.
Commissioner of Musters, Somerset 1459/60 n.d.
Commissioner of Musters, Devon 1459/60 n.d.

General Lands Note

Succeeded grandfather 14 Feb. 1407/8; lands held during minority by Edward, 2nd Duke of York; entered on lands 1414; succeeded mother 14 April 1414

Details of Properties

Residence

  • Shute, Devon
    Patrimony (via grandfather)
    Acquired: 1407/8-02-14
    Divested: 1460/1-02-19

Lands

  • Cornwall
  • Devon: Dartmoor Forest, Lydford Borough, Castle & Manor, South Teign Manor
    Acquired: 1552-09-07
    Divested: 1460/1-02-19
    For life
  • Dorset
  • Somerset: Chewton Mendip, Stapleton
    Acquired: 1414
    Divested: 1460/1-02-19
    Patrimony (via mother)

Events Naming Patron

Event Date Location Troupe
Performance 1432-1432 Exeter (Unknown), Exeter , Exeter (city-county) in Devon Sir William Bonville's Minstrel/s

Patronized Troupes

Troupe Name Patron Troupe Type # of events
Sir William Bonville's Minstrel/s Bonville, William (1393 - 1461) Entertainers/Minstrels 1

Owned Venues

Venue Name County Venue Type
Shute House Devon Private Residence

Bibliographic Sources

Bridie, M.F. The Story of Shute: The Bonvilles and the Poles. Axminster: Shute School, 1955.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry V [1413–22]. 2 vols. London: HMSO, 1910–11.
Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VI [1422–61]. 6 vols. London: HMSO, 1901–11.
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. 1887–98 (8 vols); 1910–59 (13 vols). 6 vols. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1982.
Elwes, Dudley George Cary. A History of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex. London: Longmans & Co., 1876.
Greenfield, B. W. Bonvyle Family [1]. Notes and Queries 5th Series, vii, 169 (24 March 1877): 231–2.
Greenfield, B. W. Bonvyle Family [2]. Notes and Queries 5th series, vii (20 Jan. 1877): 430–1.
List of Sheriffs for England and Wales from the Earliest Times to AD 1831. Public Record Office Lists and Indexes 9. London: HMSO, 1898.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 01/05/2005 (http://www.oxforddnb.com)
Wedgwood, Josiah C., and Anne D. Holt. The History of Parliament: Biographies of the Members of the Commons House 1439–1509. London: HMSO, 1936.