Willoughby

The Barony of Willoughby de Eresby and Grimsthorpe Castle

The story begins in 1313 when the Barony Willoughby de Eresby was created. The family owned estates in North Lincolnshire on the Lindsey coast and in Suffolk. The ownership of Grimsthorpe was in the hands of the Countess of Oxford until she died in 1537.

In 1516, William the 10th Lord Willoughby de Eresby married Maria de Salinas, a cousin of Katherine of Aragon, who had just married Henry VIII. Because of his marriage to a relative of the Queen, Henry granted him "the reversion of the Manors of Grimsthorpe, Southorpe and Edenham, Lincolnshire and also of Grimsthorpe Park. Since then, sixteen more generations have been Lords of those manors to the present day.

In 1519, William and Mary's daughter Katherine was born and as the Barony is one of the few English peerages which can descend through the female line she inherited the estates in 1526 when her father died. In view of her age, however, the property was held in wardship by the King.

Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk and a brother-in-law to the King, hoped to arrange the marriage of his son the Earl of Lincoln to Katherine so bought the wardship from Henry for £2,266 13s 4d (£2266.67) in 1528. Katherine consequently passed from her mother's care into the care of Brandon's wife Mary, sister of the King. Mary died in 1533 and Brandon married Katherine.

In 1580, Katherine died and the Barony passed to Peregrine, becoming the 12th Lord Willoughby de Eresby, who had married Lady Mary de Vere, daughter of the Earl of Oxford, in 1578. Resulting from the marriage, the family became entitled to the hereditary title of Lord Great Chamberlain.

Peregrine was a soldier and he spent much time and money serving the Queen abroad. He served in France, Denmark and the Netherlands where he was appointed Commander-in-Chief. He became noted for his success in various defensive roles, the most notable being the defence of Bergen op Zoom, from where the Duke of Parma had intended to launch an invasion of England. This battle victory became the subject of a soldiers' song the "Ballad of the Brave Lord Willoughby".

While he was away, Grimsthorpe again fell into a state of disrepair and Peregrine pleaded for a home posting to sort out his affairs: in 1598 he was granted the Governorship of Berwick, and died in 1601. Peregrine's son, Robert, who had been born in 1582, inherited the Barony, becoming 13th Lord Willoughby de Eresby. His godparents were Queen Elizabeth and the Earls of Essex and Leicester. He spent much time travelling abroad initially for pleasure and eventually in the service of the Queen and then James I.

On one journey, in the company of his brother and John Smith, the founder of Virginia (see elsewhere), he was badly wounded in a fight but survived. Between 1605 and 1612 he remained at Grimsthorpe where he entertained the King and Queen on one occasion. In 1605, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Montague of Boughton: in 1606, the first of thirteen children was born. He began a military career in 1612 and remained a soldier for thirty years until his death in the Battle of Edgehill fighting against Cromwell's New Army.

During his career, he distinguished himself in a war in the Netherlands resulting in his being awarded the Earldom of Lindsay. He subsequently became Commander of the Fleet and of the Army. He eventually died on 23rd October, 1642 at Warwick Castle and although losing two sons on the same day in the battle, his heir survived.

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