Whether or not William Lisle was the father of Thomas of Bromsgrove Lilly, is not something I can prove, but I will lay my case out here. I previously shared this information somewhere, and other people are posting it word for word and give me no credit for it. I found it on this page for instance: http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/William_De_Lisle_(1485-1528) But it is my work.
William Lisle was born about 1485 in Felton, Northumberland, England as the second child of Humphrey Lisle and Margaret Bowes. He had three siblings, namely: Thomas, Dau, and Percival. He died on 26 Jan 1527/28 in , , , England. When he was 30, He married Maud Mary Fenwick,daughter of John Fenwick and Mary Grey, about 1515.
His LDS baptism was on 27 Jan 1968. He received his endowment on 02 Feb 1968. He was sealed to his parents on 04 Mar 1992.
William Lisle and Maud Mary Fenwick had the following children:
1. Robert Lisle was born about 1527 in Felton, Northumberland. England. He died on 25 Apr 1554. He married Anne Hervey about 1546.
2.Jane Lisle was born in 1522 in Alnwick, Northumberland, , England.
3.John Lisle was born in Felton, Northumberland, England. He died in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England.
4.Lancelot Lisle was born in 1524 in Felton, Northumberland, England. He died on 28 Apr 1558.
5.Humphery Lisle was born between 1516–1518. He died on 20 Feb 1544/45.
6.Margery Lisle was born in 1524.
7.Lucy Lisle was born on 12 Sep 1516 in Felton, Northumberland, , England. She married Lancelot Hesselrigg before 1540. She married Anthony Hervey in 1542.
William Lisle and Agnes had the following children:
1. Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly was born in 1515 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England. He married Elizabeth Owen in 1530 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England.
[Lilly2.FTW] [LillyGreyBowe.ftw] !MARRIAGE:World Family Tree Vol. 3, Ed. 1, World Family Tree Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Brøderbund Software, Inc., Release date: February 6, 1996
Genealogy of the descendants of the Prichards, formerly lords of Llanover
By Thomas Gregory SmartPublished 1868Original from Oxford UniversityDigitized Jun 22, 2006
With referece to William Lisle's wife: she was said to have been the sister of Ralph Fenwick. There was a Sir Ralph Fenwick who was also and outlaw in Northumberland at the same time as the Lisles were.
Felton is a small village in north Northumberland in North East England. Felton is situated about 10 miles south of the town of Alnwick, and 9 miles north of Morpeth. The nearest city is Newcastle upon Tyne (24 miles away) and the Scottish border is about an hour away.
Felton has two bridges crossing the River Coquet. One is very old (approx 500 years), and the other was built in 1926. The older bridge is closed to traffic, and is often used for village events.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alnwick
Alnwick (pronunciation (help·info); IPA /'æn?k/) is a small market town in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. It serves as the administrative centre for the Alnwick district, and had a population of 7,100 at the time of the 2001 census.
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According to Country Life, October 2002, the "historic county town of Northumberland and seat of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick is the most picturesque market town in Northumberland, and the best place to live in Britain". The town is situated 32 miles (51 km) south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, and 5 miles (8 km) inland from the North Sea at Alnmouth.
The town dates back to approximately AD 600, and over the centuries has thrived as an agricultural centre; as the location of Alnwick Castle and home of what were in mediaeval times the most powerful northern barons, the Earls of Northumberland; as a staging post on the Great North Road between Edinburgh and London, and latterly as a modern rural centre cum dormitory town. The fabric of the town centre has changed relatively little and still retains much of its original character; however there has been appreciable growth in size over the last ten years, with a number of housing estates covering what had been pasture, and new factory and trading estate developments along the roads to the south of the town.
The town of Alnwick, nestling behind Alnwick Castle
The town of Alnwick, nestling behind Alnwick Castle
Bondgate Tower
Bondgate Tower
The town's greatest building is Alnwick Castle, the home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland, and site of the Alnwick Garden; it dominates the west of the town, above the River Aln. The Castle is the hub of a number of commercial, educational and tourism operations. From 1945 to 1975, it was the location of a teacher training college for young women and "mature students" (persons of more than 21 years in age). Currently, it houses American students studying in Europe; is the base of Northumberland Estates, the Duke's commercial enteprise; and is in its own right a tourist attraction. The castle is open from April to September, and the Gardens all year around. It is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Benjamin Disraeli describes Alnwick as 'Montacute' in his novel Tancred.
The centre of town is the marketplace, with its market cross, and the relatively modern Northumberland Hall, used as a meeting place. Surrounding the marketplace are the main shopping streets, Narrowgate, Fenkle Street, and Bondgate Within. The last of these is a wide, spacious road fronted by attractive commercial buildings. In mediaeval times, Alnwick was a walled town (although fluctuating economic situations in the Middle Ages meant the walls were never completed), and one remain-Hotspur Tower, a mediaeval gate-is extant, dividing Bondgate Within from Bondgate Without, and restricting vehicles to a single lane used alternately in each direction. Pottergate Tower, at the other side of the town, also stands on the site of an ancient gate, but the tower itself was rebuilt in the 18th century. Its ornate spire was destroyed in a storm in 1812. Outside the line of the walls, the old railway station building is relatively ostentatious for such a small town, arising out of its frequent use by royal travellers visiting the Duke and Alnwick Castle. It is now a large secondhand bookshop.
The town has a thriving playhouse, a multi-purpose arts centre, which stages a hectic programme of theatre, dance, music, cinema, and visual arts exhibitions, and supports a weekly local newspaper-the Northumberland Gazette.
In 2003, the Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre was opened on the southern outskirts of the enlarged town (replacing the old sports centre located by the Lindisfarne Middle School and the now-demolished Youth Centre). More widely, the Alnwick district boasts a wealth of sporting and leisure facilities, including football, cricket, rugby, rambling, rock climbing, water sports, cycling and horse riding. Golfers can find thirteen golf courses within 30 minutes drive of the town.
The castle is popular with film-makers: Harry Potter; Blackadder and Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves are some of the films shot here.
The history of Alnwick is the history of the castle and its lords, from the days of Gilbert Tyson, variously known as Tison, Tisson, and De Tesson, one of the Conqueror's standardbearers, upon whom this northern estate was bestowed, until the present time. After being held by the family of De Vesci (of which the modern rendering is Vasey-a name found all over south-east Northumberland) for over two hundred years, it passed into the hands of the house of Percy in 1309.
At various points in the town are memorials of the constant wars between Percys and Scots in which so many Percys spent the greater part of their lives. A cross near Broomhouse Hill across the river from the castle marks the spot where Malcolm III of Scotland was killed in 1093, during the first Battle of Alnwick. At the side of the broad shady road called Rotten Row, leading from the West Lodge to Bailiffgate, a tablet of stone marks the spot where William the Lion of Scotland was captured in 1174, during the second Battle of Alnwick by a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill; and there are many others of similar interest.
Hulne Priory, outside the town walls and within Hulne Park, the Duke's walled estate, was a monastery founded in the 13th century by the Carmelites; it is said that the site was chosen for some slight resemblance to Mount Carmel where the order originated. Substantial ruins remain.
In the winter of 1424, much of the town was burnt by a Scottish raiding party.
A History of Northumberland, in Three Parts
By John Hodgson, John Hodgson-Hinde, James Raine, Robert Rutson James, John Collingwood Bruce
This book has many references to the Lisles of Northumberland and confirms the lineage I have in my tree down at least as far as William.
Joan, wife of John de Lisle, gave a power of attorney to her venerable father Wm. de Swinburne, to take possession of certain lands of sir Robert de Lisle, in Lincolnshire, in 1398
pg. 133
TROUGHEN--The Lisles had property here for a long time. About the year 1273, Julian, the widow of Michael Bayfelt, granted to "my lord Robert de Lisle." his heirs and assigns, all the lands and houses which she had in Goseford and Trowen by the gift of her father, Otwer deLisle; and in 1290, John de Herle sued John de Lisle, of Woodburn, for a messuage, thirteen acres of land, and three acres of meadow, in Trehquen--(III. i. 177.)
pg. 136 Sir Humphrey Lisle, knight, in 1440, gave to Wiliam Reed, of Troughwen, the hamlet called Bromhope, in Reddesdale, in exchange for lands in Buteland and Redesmouth.
pg. 168
The Calverly MS. says, that John de Lisle de Woodburn was the heir to Sir Robert de Lisle, of Woodburn, who gave him all his possessions in Northumberland and Redesdale; and that "by the inquest after his death, 1350, it appears that he by the name of John
de Lisle of Wodeburn" (Cal. i. p. m. ii. 164) "died seized of the manor of Salcliff and Lylefield," 40 acres of land in Flixburgh," and all the lands joining juxta Santon with the demains bordering upon Sheffield on the east of his manor of Coningsby in Lincolnshire."--(Calverly MS. at Wallington.)
pg. 171
EAST WOODBURN--At the mouth of Lisles-burn, the Rede turns suddenly against a sandstone cliff to the west, and has a part of the village of East Woodburn crowning the crag on its southern margin. Till the new bridge was made by this village; and the traveller at all times had and easy and a safe passage this way up the east side of the river, and persons and droves of cattle coming from its west side, or out of Tindale and the southern parts of Scotland, crossed the Rede at the Old Bridge. But East Woodburn is most remarkable for having been the property and place of residence of the old and distinguished family of De Lisle, the site of whose house still goes by the name of Hall-yards, and has its antient importance still recorded in extensive masses ofprostate ruins, and in the remains of a fish-pond, which have a strong embankment on tewo sides, and a terrace ending in a circular plot of ground in the middle. Its situatio, on a rock, fringed with trees, is strong and delightful, overlooking downwards, as it does, the lovely haughs,
"Where Rede upon his margins sees
"Sweet Woodburn's cottages and trees,"--(Rokeby.)
and commanding to the north a bold range of rocky banks, out of the windings of which the river seems to have its rise. When and how the Lisles became possessed of property here we have not been able to discover. Walter de Bolbeck confirmed to William de Lisle his father's grant of Matfen, Fenwick, Thornton, Angerton, Hedwin, and Burnton. Otwi de Lisle had possessions (probably the places last mentioned) in the Barony of Bolbec; besides lands holden of the barons of Whalton, which by the Testa de Nevill, appear to have been their manor of South Gosforth: and exchanged Blackheddon for Over-leam, in this parish, and for East Newton, in the parish of Bywell St. Andrew, with Bernard de Baliol, sometime in the reign of Henry the Second. Otwel, who died in 1250, held Bearl and Hawkwell ofthe Bolbeck barony; but does not seem to have had any interest in Angerton and Hedwin; and his son Robert de Insula de Woodburn, in 1293, claimed various privileges under the statute de quo warfanto, at the assizes at Newcastle, in 1294, and had from his kinsman, Robert de Lisle, of Chipchase, liberty for himself and his tenants in Woodburn, to take marle at their pleasure from the moor of Ray; and his nephew and successor, John de Lisle, of Woodburn, who, among the offices, was a warden of the ports and shores of Northumberland in 1335, died possessed of Woodburn, which, with the old family property in Felton and other places in the county, belonged to his lineal descendant Humphrey de Lisle, who died June 30, 1516. After this time, we do not find the family of Lisle again occuring as owners here; for Thomas Lilse is returned as having only Felton, Elihaugh, South Gosforth, Coxlodge, Cathugh, and lands in Weldon, in 1568; when the crown and John Hall had lands in Woodburne; and from that period to this the property in both villages of this name has passed through so many hands that any further illustration of its history would be difficult to accomplish and too minute to be interesting.
pg. 174 has a pedigree of Lisle of Woodburne
Robert de Lisle of Gosforth
+dau of Richard Camville
Otwell de Insula
+Isabella dau of Peter Fawconberg and Elena
Robert de Lisle, lord of Woodburn, had brother Nicholas de Lisle married dau of lord Rosse and had son Sir John de Lisle, of Woodburn, knt who inherited from his uncle Robert. John married dau and heiress of Gilbert Umfreville, lord of Prudhoe
A History of Northumberland, in Three Parts
By John Hodgson, John Hodgson-Hinde, James Raine, Robert Rutson James, John Collingwood
Shows a tree with William's parents being Humphrey and Margaret.
In a bill of information to Cardinal Wolsey, " for the repressing of
maintainers of murder within the county of Northumberland," with
marginal notes showing what has become of each offender, or what is
to be done with him, are one or two entries that illustrate later events.
Number seven in the list is Humphrey Lisle of Felton and Gosforth,
who is indicted with Jowsey, for the cruel murder of Sir Richard
Lighten, canon of Brinkburn, " because he occupied their own tithe
corns of the town of Acton ; and because his brethren are religious
men they may not follow the pele." The marginal note states that
the malefactors are "in the shire of Northumberland, kept in secret
places." In the next paragraph it is explained that Sir William
occupied the tithe corns that year and the year before, against the will
of the canons, without paying any rent, and when he heard that
Lighten was occupying them "he sent his son and servant to turn
them out ; on which they killed him with their swords." Number
nine reads : - " Good it were that Thomas Strey, clerk of the assize,
was called upon to present unto your grace all such indictments as
was found of wilful escapes at the assizes, holden at Newcastle afore
Mr. Brudenell and others, in annis x. and xi." To this the marginal
note is " of the names of them a privy seal to be made, and sent for
to make answer."
Despite this trouble with the churchmen and authorities, it appears that Humphrey's son William still served in the capacity of Captain at Wark Castle, in the border wars with Scotland. In the same book, the following account is found of a fierce battle he took part in in the fall of 1523:
Border lawlessness was followed this year by actual hostilities
between the two nations for the first time in ten years. The earl
of Surrey, the marquis of Dorset, and lord Dacre, wardens of the
marches, were at their posts, and Dorset, who governed the east and
middle marches, had two lieutenants to assist him, Sir William Bulmer
and Sir William Eure. Mutual incursions followed, and on the 3rd of
November the Scots, with French allies, besieged Wark, but were
repulsed. Wolsey wrote, on 4th December, the following account of
the position of affairs to dean (afterwards bishop) Sampson : - "
The duke of Albany, after all his preparations, boasts and brags
about invasion, long dwelling and lingering upon the borders, bruiting
that he would come unto Berwick, Carlisle, Norham, or some
other strong place, which all were sufficiently furnished for his
resistance, came at last before a poor castle, not yet fully built and
finished, called Wark, wherein were only 100 soldiers, with a captain
named Sir William Lisle, unto which place he bent, and two whole
days shot at his great ordnance right fiercely, being right well manfully
and valiantly defended ; the third day, early in the morning, he set
over the river unto this English side, where the base court of the castle
was, 3000 Frenchmen and 1500 Scots, to give the assault on this
side while the battery endured on the other ; who (being the base
court over large to be with all the rest defended by 100 persons)
in process entered the same, giving the assault to the inner ward
so eagerly, that, partly by sufferance of the captain and soldiers, they
also entered the same, being slain with fighting at handstrokes as fast
as they came in, in such wise that, after the captain of the French
footmen, with twenty of his company there slain, the rest were driven
out of the inner ward, and by the captain and Englishmen so
freshly pursued, that they, with above 1500 footmen, French and
Scots, then being in the base court, were totally driven and expelled
out of the same, and with loss of above nine score of them, compelled
to flee again over the water, where not a few were drowned for haste."
Thus rid of the assault, Lisle sent word to the earl of Surrey, then
in or near Berwick, who marched for Wark ; and Albany, hearing of
his movements, raised the siege and returned to Scotland ; there
lodging at an abbey called Eccles. Then, hearing that Surrey intended
to pursue him, he sounded a retreat, ' in despite of all the
Scottish borderers, who exhorted him to tarry, and to revenge the
displeasures done unto them,' and he ' shamefully and cowardly fled
and ran away.' "
But at some point between 1523 and 1527, he became an outlaw.
The great local events of this year centre round the proceedings
of Sir William Lisle. Magnus, writing to Wolsey in the summer,
describes his own arrival at York at the March assizes, where he sat
with the king's justices and lord Richmond's counsel, and where he
found Sir William Lisle and Humphrey his son, who were indicted by
Sir William Ellerker, sheriff of Northumberland, and Roger Heron.
Ellerker's complaint was that he, as sheriff, awarded a replevy against
Sir William Lisle for an unlawful distress, and sent his servants at the
request of the party aggrieved, to execute the same ; and that with
a hundred persons the prisoner came to the landship where he dwelt [
Widdrington], and carried away "40 hede of noote." He followed
him, and demanded why he had done so; and he said "he did the
same because that Sir William Ellerker's servants had made masters
in his lordship ; saying also, he was as free in the same as was the
king, and that neither the king, nor any other his officers, if he
might be a party to them, should meddle with him or his said lordship."
Roger Heron, also, had charges to make against Lisle : - " Whereas,
variance, strife, and debate is between him and the said Sir William
Lisle, as they were communing together, the said Sir William said to
the said Roger, 'What! means thou to strive with me? Wilt thou
win anything at my hands? I have ruffled with the warden, and
also with the cardinal, and trust to pluck him by the nose." Magnus
adds, that the " vicar of Felton, being a canon of Brinkbourne, curate
to the said Sir William Lisle, a kinsman of his, and another his servant,
being alleged to have been witnesses in this matter, were sent
for to York, and being sworn, were examined ; but they would not
confess any such words spoken against your said grace." Sir William
and his son were committed by the court to Pontefract Castle ; and
having so stated, Magnus went on to inform Wolsey that from York
he went to the assizes at Newcastle, where " there hath not been so
great an assize before, and so good appearance of gentlemen, all men
using themselves most lowly to obey to the king's laws and his high
commandments, insomuch that no man was in fear to complain, nor
to give evidence against the thieves and malefactors ; whereof there
was put to execution sixteen persons, many of them of the great
surnames and headmen both of Tynedale and Riddesdale. Two of the
Fenwicks, divers others of the Shaftoes, Pottes, Halls, and Hedleys,
did suffer. Such a thing hath not been seen at one assize in these parts
before." He submitted to the cardinal a scheme by which they might
be kept more cheaply in order. The " pledges " were costly ; and
the plan was that there should be chosen of the most principal
surnames in Tynedale, thirty-six - three twelves - " to be laid at three
sundry times of the year." He would apply the wages of six or
seven soldiers of Berwick, every of them at 6/. 135. 4d., for giving
competent meat and drink to the said twelve persons, after the rate of
i8d. by the week ; which twelve persons, as is supposed, should, for
the defence of the said town of Berwick and the country, do as much
or more good by adventuring of their bodies, as would the said six or
seven soldiers. He informs Wolsey that there is a "towardness"
for good rule to be kept in Northumberland ; and for the better
inducing of the same, he and other of lord Richmond's council have
appointed to be again in Newcastle for keeping of the quarter sessions
before Martinmas.
The spring assizes in Newcastle were barely over, when Sir William
Lisle, who had given bond and obtained his release from Pontefract,
came north, and offending again, was sent to gaol in Newcastle with
his son, to answer the charges brought against him. On the 8th of
July cardinal Wolsey writes to the king: - "I have been advertised
from my chancellor of Durham of an heinous attempt done by Sir
John [William] Lisle and his son, who, committed to ward at
Newcastle by my lord of Richmond's council, as well for murder and
felony as for divers other grievous offences, hath not only broken the
prison wherein they were themselves, but also other prisons there,
wherein was divers outlaws kept, some for felony, some for murder
and treason. They be fled and escaped into Scotland ; and with
them, at their issuing out of Newcastle, joined twenty other outlaws.
By the reason of this attempt, the said Sir John [William] Lisle hath
not only forfeited his bond, but his sureties, which were bond that he
should be true prisoner, hath forfeited the sum of five hundred pounds."
Wolsey suggests that Sir William Parr shall have Lisle's land, or a
good part thereof. "With the 5oo/. rest your highness may do your
most gracious pleasure." July &t&. - The king's secretary, Knight,
writes to Wolsey that Henry had acted on his advice to send
letters to James V. for the apprehension of Sir William Lisle,
Humphrey his son, and others that by Sir William's means had
broken the prison in Newcastle. August loth. - The earl of Angus
writes to Henry, assuring him of his diligence. The king of Scots,
his master, has summoned his wardens, and taxed them severely with
receiving trangressors against his uncle's laws. Angus has not been
able to ascertain the haunts of these rebels, but will nothing spare,
cost, travail, nor danger of body, to take their persons, and deliver
them to king Henry's officers. August \2th. - Lisle, his son, and
William Shafto, proclaimed as rebels who have broken the king's prison
at Newcastle, liberated traitors, escaped to Scotland, and, in company
with other outlaws, have burned the town of Holmeshaugh in
Northumberland. Rewards are offered for their apprehension -
namely, one hundred marks for Sir William, 4O/. for Humphrey, anc
2O/. for Shafto. A few days later Magnus writes to the king that
Lisle has been proclaimed throughout Northumberland for breaking
prison at Newcastle, and releasing rebels, stealing forty horses [it was
head of noot, or neat cattle before] at Widdrington, and burning a
town belonging to Sir William Ellerker. Lisle, he adds, had
become bound, after his committal to Pontefract, to be of good
abearing, and not commit any treason, felony, robbery, riot, extortion,
or forcible entry, but had forthwith gone and done what he was
pledged not to do ; and hence the indictment in Northumberland,
where he and his son were at large, and where, as Magnus reports,
there was great dearth of corn and much poverty, and outbreaks were
therefore the more probable. The duke of Richmond was now
lieutenant-general of the forces north of Trent, and lord warden of the
Scottish border ; and on the 7th of September his council (of which
Magnus was director), addressed a letter to king Henry, under the
impression that Lisle was resident in the debatable ground [which
Sir William Eure contradicted on the I2th] with the broken men of
both the borders, misruling and disordering the countries next
adjoining thereunto. Five weeks later the council despatched to
Wolsey a circumstantial account of the affair ; adding that all efforts
to apprehend Lisle and his accomplices had been in vain, and that
others in both countries robbed and spoiled " under the pretence and
colours of the said Sir William and his other outlaws." The council
had, therefore, instructed Sir William Eure to remove from Harbottle,
and advised that he should lie at Felton, or thereabouts, being a
lordship of Lisle's, where he and his son often were, and had their
chief succour and relief ; and as horse-meat and other victuals were
scarce and dear in those parts, his retainers and soldiers, to the
number of three score, to have fourpence by the day during the
space of two months. Certain houses within the woods of Felton to
be "burnt, destroyed, and pulled down, and the corn, hay, and
victuals there either to be carried thence and employed to the relief
of the said Sir William Eure and his company, or else to be burnt
and destroyed ; whereby the said Sir William Lisle, nor none of his,
shall have any aid, relief, or succour in that quarter, where hath been
their chief refuge." Divers women and other simple persons, " their
espials and messengers," were to be seized and sent to the gaol of
Newcastle. Newton, " another place " of Lisle's, also, " nigh unto the
borders of your bishopric of Durham," to have good watch and
espial, lest, debarred from Felton, he should resort thither, " like as
he hath done of late." Moreover, the council signified to his grace
some distrust of Eure. " As far as we can in anywise conceive, albeit
the said Sir William Eure is sheriff of the county of Northumberland,
vice-warden and lieutenant of the middle marches, and keeper of
Tyndale and Riddisdale, yet we do not see that he can or may serve
the king's highness so substantially as he ought to do in that country,
considering the great hurts and heinous attempts committed more
often upon the middle marches than in any other places, and that
the inhabitants of that country do neither arise, assemble, nor stir with
him for the defence of the same." Wolsey has subsequently a letter
from Eure, dated Harbottle, 27th October: - "Of late I did certify your
grace of the demeanour of the country, and how oft I have demanded
justice and redress of the Scots for such offences and attempts as
are committed and done by the surnames of the Armstrongs, Nixons,
and Crosiers, with whom Sir William Lisle, and all other his
adherents, are reset, and daily ride together, and commit burnings,
murders, and hardships within the realm of England ; and as yet I
can get no remedy thereof, but answers of delays, to the utter undoing
of the middle marches of England, and the king's true subjects
dwelling within the same." His opinion, with which he prays the
cardinal not to be miscontented, is, " that either there must be well
horsed men abiding and remaining upon the frontiers of England
foreanenst Liddesdale, as at Haltwhistle, Hexham, Swinburn,
Gonnerton, and Chipchase, or else the surnames of Armstrongs and
others, with the outlaws above written, hath well-nigh utterly
destroyed the head of Northumberland and the water of Tyne,
and, or Christmas, in mine opinion, without hasty remedy it shall
be clearly destroyed. For I do by myself at Harbottle, which is
the middle part and uttermost frontier of the middle marches;
and the greatest hurt that the Scots and outlaws in times past
was to come in there and do harm in England. And by cause
of my lying there, they come down the water of Tyne, which is
sixteen miles from me ; and so, pleaseth your grace, I am not of
power to keep both the places. Where though, without hasty
remedy, seeing there is no punishment in Scotland for Liddesdale,
the country will be utterly destroyed." Eure promises, however, to
do his uttermost to withstand the marauders. Angus, chancellor of
Scotland, sends greetings to king Henry in November, and touching "
Sir William Lisle, son, and complices, rebels to your majesty," has
made proclamation for the taking or slaying of them, " and shall never
be at rest, nor quiet in mind, nothing sparing pain, travail, nor expense,
unto the time your solicitude be satisfied in the premises." [J. C.]
On the twenty-seventh of the same month the duke of Richmond's
council report to Wolsey that they have kept a warden court and
sessions of peace at Newcastle, and have been there ten days. One
Collingwood has been executed, a notable offender in march treason,
who was brought in by Robert Collingwood, chief of his name.
Many persons were indicted for robbery, whose arraignment was
adjourned till the coming of the justices of assize to Durham, in Lent,
for they have not been accustomed to go to Newcastle except once
a-year at Lammas. Hope by mid-Lent to have a good number of
offenders brought before them for an example. The gentlemen of
Northumberland behaved well in giving their verdicts and evidence.
No mention is made of Sir William Lisle and his accomplices ; but
their doom was rapidly approaching, and while the following year
was yet young, the old keep of the castle of Newcastle presented
their ghastly quarters to " the view and sight of the people."
Sir William Lisle's lawless adventures in the previous year came
to a sad ending. On the I2th of January the earl of Northumberland
writes to the king that, hearing of an intended raid by certain
outlaws at Felton, he sent Roger Lassels thither at midnight, who
apprehended Alex. Crawhawe, the chief counsellor of William and
Humphrey Lisle ; John Pringle, to whose house the Lisles and their
spies resorted ; Matthew Stokehall, of Tindale, one of the pledges
that broke from the duke of Richmond's council at Pomfret ; John
Armstrong, who brought the Armstrongs to Newcastle when they
broke the gaol there, and eleven others. Held a warden court at
Alnwick, on Wednesday, 8th January, and beheaded nine for march
treason and hanged five for felony. On the twenty-eighth the earl
is able to report to Wolsey the surrender of William Lisle and his
son, with most of their adherents. Thomas Errington, his own [the
earl's] servant, and Edward Horsley, the cardinal's servant, with their
tenants, made a fray on the twenty-first, on William Charlton, otherwise
William of Shotlington, the head rebel of all the outlaws,
Harry Noble, Archibald Dodd, and Roger Armstrong, who had
been on a raid into the bishopric, and brought away the priest of
Muggleswick as their prisoner. " And finally the said William
Charlton of Shotlington was slain, and one James Noble slain
too, and one Roger Armstrong and one Archibald Dodd too ;
other their complices were taken, the residue escaped. I caused the
said William Charlton, because he had committed divers and sundry
horrible and cruel crimes and offences within your grace's dominions
of Durham and Hexham - as burning of towns, murders, robberies,
spoils, taking of persons, and other such like detestable and unlawful
attempts - for the which causes I caused his body to be hanged up in
chains, upon a pair of gallows, nigh unto your grace's said town of
Hexham, and in likewise the body of James Noble is hanged up
at Haydon Bridge, within my lordship of Langley. And at a warden
court holden at my castle of Alnwick on Monday, the 2/th day of
the said month of January, Roger Armstrong and Archibald Dodd
were attainted of sundry march treasons ; and for terrible example of
semblable offenders, I have caused their bodies to be in like case
hanged up in chains - the one of them nigh the town of Newcastle,
and the other at Alnwick. And upon the said conflict and overthrow
of the said thieves spread abroad in the country, and also the noise
and speech of the country, that if the earl of Angus would not deliver
unto me the king's rebellious prisoners, aided and assisted in Scotland,
that I would invade Nedesdale [Liddesdale ?], where they were
kept, and destroy and burn all the houses and holds there ; the which
among the outlaws, as well of Scotland as of England, by the
dread of the same, as it is supposed, was the occasion that upon
Sunday, the 26th day of the present month of January, came William
Lisle, Humphrey Lisle, William Shaftowe, and other their adherents,
in all the number of eighteen persons, without any composition, covenant,
or comfort of me or of any other to my knowledge, in my way
coming from the high mass at the parish church of Alnwick, in their
linen clothes, and halters about their necks, kneeling upon their knees,
in very humble and lowly manner submitted themselves to the king's
highness's mercy and your grace, knowledging their offences, and
requiring of his highness mercy and pardon ; and if not, they were
ready to bide his execution of his most dread laws."
Within a few days after this remarkable surrender, Brian Tuke
writes to Wolsey on behalf of the youth Humphrey Lisle: - "One of
the surrendered prisoners is an unoffending lad, not past twelve
or thirteen, son of Sir William, simply out with his father, " peradven-
ture fearing lest he should lack bread at home." " Whether it be of
fatherly compassion, for I have children of mine own, and one much
of that age, vel nescio quo spiritu ductus, the remembrance of this
innocent hath caused me that in my bed this night I could not
forbear to water my plants, having in fresh remembrance what I
knew in king Henry the VIFs days, as considered and alleged
touching the difference between the king's laws and an instinct or
law that is in nature, when Sir James Tirel and Sir John Wyndham
were put to death, and their sons upon that consideration pardoned.
I thought convenient to advertise your grace what was showed me of
the younger son, most humbly beseeching the same to pardon me of
my boldness and simple pity." - Humphrey was spared, and probably
his younger brother. The rest were hanged and quartered, and their
remains publicly exhibited in Newcastle and elsewhere, as appears
by a letter from the earl of Northumberland to Wolsey, dated the
2nd April : - " For the more terrible and dreadful example of all the
inhabitants in these parts, William Lisle, Humphrey Lisle his son,
John Ogle, William Shaftowe, and Thomas Fenwick, gentlemen of
name, chief leaders and most heinous offenders of all the said rebels,
were, according to their demerits, attainted of high treason, and by me
had judgment given to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. The
execution whereof was accomplished upon them accordingly, only
reserving Humphrey Lisle, whom, according to the pleasure of the
king's highness and your grace, I have sent by this bearer, John
Norton, my servant, to be further ordered as shall stand with your
gracious pleasure, notwithstanding he had judgment among the
other. And the other young son of the said William Lisle I detain
here with me, to such time as I shall be advertised of the further mind
and pleasure of the king's highness and your grace's concerning the
said young Lisle. And the heads and quarters of them that were
so executed for high treason I have caused to be set up upon the '
dongeon ' of the castle of Newcastle, and in sundry other eminent
and open places, most apparent to the view and sight of the people, to
the high contentation of all the true inhabitants of these parts, and
extreme terror of all other semblable offenders. The residue of the
said rebels been also attainted for march treasons and put to execution . .
and have also . . . executed and put to death six thieves
of Tynedale, who of late time were reported the most notorious and
heinous offenders of that country. After which execution so done,
the 2nd day of this instant month of April, at this town of Newcastlc-
upon-Tyne, in presence of the most part of the gentlemen and
freeholders of Northumberland ; the Tynedale men in great numbers
submitted themselves, according to the king's most gracious pleasure,
in most humble wise, upon their bare knees, beseeching his highness
of grace and pardon for their offences past," etc. [J. C.]
Humphrey Lisle made a confession in June of the offences which
his father and himself, with their adherents, had committed, as
follows : -
1. About twelve months ago he and his father, with about forty
persons, Scots and English (of whom all the English have been
executed) attacked Newcastle, compelled the keepers of the castle to
surrender the keys, and delivered nine prisoners.
2. Shortly afterwards came to Widdrington, intending to have
taken or slain Sir William Ellerker, if he had issued out of the town,
and took away twenty horses from the fields.
3. With about 140 persons, chiefly Scots, spoiled and burned
Holmeshaigh.
4. Attacked Widdrington a second time, and took prisoner and
ransomed Michael Vynell.
5. In returning to Scotland took prisoners four of my lord of
Northumberland's company, three of whom they liberated without
ransom.
William Lisle was born about 1485 in Felton, Northumberland, England as the second child of Humphrey Lisle and Margaret Bowes. He had three siblings, namely: Thomas, Dau, and Percival. He died on 26 Jan 1527/28 in , , , England. When he was 30, He married Maud Mary Fenwick,daughter of John Fenwick and Mary Grey, about 1515.
His LDS baptism was on 27 Jan 1968. He received his endowment on 02 Feb 1968. He was sealed to his parents on 04 Mar 1992.
William Lisle and Maud Mary Fenwick had the following children:
1. Robert Lisle was born about 1527 in Felton, Northumberland. England. He died on 25 Apr 1554. He married Anne Hervey about 1546.
2.Jane Lisle was born in 1522 in Alnwick, Northumberland, , England.
3.John Lisle was born in Felton, Northumberland, England. He died in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England.
4.Lancelot Lisle was born in 1524 in Felton, Northumberland, England. He died on 28 Apr 1558.
5.Humphery Lisle was born between 1516–1518. He died on 20 Feb 1544/45.
6.Margery Lisle was born in 1524.
7.Lucy Lisle was born on 12 Sep 1516 in Felton, Northumberland, , England. She married Lancelot Hesselrigg before 1540. She married Anthony Hervey in 1542.
William Lisle and Agnes had the following children:
1. Thomas Bromsgrove Lilly was born in 1515 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England. He married Elizabeth Owen in 1530 in Bromsgrove, Worcester, England.
[Lilly2.FTW] [LillyGreyBowe.ftw] !MARRIAGE:World Family Tree Vol. 3, Ed. 1, World Family Tree Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Brøderbund Software, Inc., Release date: February 6, 1996
Genealogy of the descendants of the Prichards, formerly lords of Llanover
By Thomas Gregory SmartPublished 1868Original from Oxford UniversityDigitized Jun 22, 2006
With referece to William Lisle's wife: she was said to have been the sister of Ralph Fenwick. There was a Sir Ralph Fenwick who was also and outlaw in Northumberland at the same time as the Lisles were.
Felton is a small village in north Northumberland in North East England. Felton is situated about 10 miles south of the town of Alnwick, and 9 miles north of Morpeth. The nearest city is Newcastle upon Tyne (24 miles away) and the Scottish border is about an hour away.
Felton has two bridges crossing the River Coquet. One is very old (approx 500 years), and the other was built in 1926. The older bridge is closed to traffic, and is often used for village events.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alnwick
Alnwick (pronunciation (help·info); IPA /'æn?k/) is a small market town in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. It serves as the administrative centre for the Alnwick district, and had a population of 7,100 at the time of the 2001 census.
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According to Country Life, October 2002, the "historic county town of Northumberland and seat of the Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick is the most picturesque market town in Northumberland, and the best place to live in Britain". The town is situated 32 miles (51 km) south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, and 5 miles (8 km) inland from the North Sea at Alnmouth.
The town dates back to approximately AD 600, and over the centuries has thrived as an agricultural centre; as the location of Alnwick Castle and home of what were in mediaeval times the most powerful northern barons, the Earls of Northumberland; as a staging post on the Great North Road between Edinburgh and London, and latterly as a modern rural centre cum dormitory town. The fabric of the town centre has changed relatively little and still retains much of its original character; however there has been appreciable growth in size over the last ten years, with a number of housing estates covering what had been pasture, and new factory and trading estate developments along the roads to the south of the town.
The town of Alnwick, nestling behind Alnwick Castle
The town of Alnwick, nestling behind Alnwick Castle
Bondgate Tower
Bondgate Tower
The town's greatest building is Alnwick Castle, the home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland, and site of the Alnwick Garden; it dominates the west of the town, above the River Aln. The Castle is the hub of a number of commercial, educational and tourism operations. From 1945 to 1975, it was the location of a teacher training college for young women and "mature students" (persons of more than 21 years in age). Currently, it houses American students studying in Europe; is the base of Northumberland Estates, the Duke's commercial enteprise; and is in its own right a tourist attraction. The castle is open from April to September, and the Gardens all year around. It is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Benjamin Disraeli describes Alnwick as 'Montacute' in his novel Tancred.
The centre of town is the marketplace, with its market cross, and the relatively modern Northumberland Hall, used as a meeting place. Surrounding the marketplace are the main shopping streets, Narrowgate, Fenkle Street, and Bondgate Within. The last of these is a wide, spacious road fronted by attractive commercial buildings. In mediaeval times, Alnwick was a walled town (although fluctuating economic situations in the Middle Ages meant the walls were never completed), and one remain-Hotspur Tower, a mediaeval gate-is extant, dividing Bondgate Within from Bondgate Without, and restricting vehicles to a single lane used alternately in each direction. Pottergate Tower, at the other side of the town, also stands on the site of an ancient gate, but the tower itself was rebuilt in the 18th century. Its ornate spire was destroyed in a storm in 1812. Outside the line of the walls, the old railway station building is relatively ostentatious for such a small town, arising out of its frequent use by royal travellers visiting the Duke and Alnwick Castle. It is now a large secondhand bookshop.
The town has a thriving playhouse, a multi-purpose arts centre, which stages a hectic programme of theatre, dance, music, cinema, and visual arts exhibitions, and supports a weekly local newspaper-the Northumberland Gazette.
In 2003, the Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre was opened on the southern outskirts of the enlarged town (replacing the old sports centre located by the Lindisfarne Middle School and the now-demolished Youth Centre). More widely, the Alnwick district boasts a wealth of sporting and leisure facilities, including football, cricket, rugby, rambling, rock climbing, water sports, cycling and horse riding. Golfers can find thirteen golf courses within 30 minutes drive of the town.
The castle is popular with film-makers: Harry Potter; Blackadder and Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves are some of the films shot here.
The history of Alnwick is the history of the castle and its lords, from the days of Gilbert Tyson, variously known as Tison, Tisson, and De Tesson, one of the Conqueror's standardbearers, upon whom this northern estate was bestowed, until the present time. After being held by the family of De Vesci (of which the modern rendering is Vasey-a name found all over south-east Northumberland) for over two hundred years, it passed into the hands of the house of Percy in 1309.
At various points in the town are memorials of the constant wars between Percys and Scots in which so many Percys spent the greater part of their lives. A cross near Broomhouse Hill across the river from the castle marks the spot where Malcolm III of Scotland was killed in 1093, during the first Battle of Alnwick. At the side of the broad shady road called Rotten Row, leading from the West Lodge to Bailiffgate, a tablet of stone marks the spot where William the Lion of Scotland was captured in 1174, during the second Battle of Alnwick by a party of about four hundred mounted knights, led by Ranulf de Glanvill; and there are many others of similar interest.
Hulne Priory, outside the town walls and within Hulne Park, the Duke's walled estate, was a monastery founded in the 13th century by the Carmelites; it is said that the site was chosen for some slight resemblance to Mount Carmel where the order originated. Substantial ruins remain.
In the winter of 1424, much of the town was burnt by a Scottish raiding party.
A History of Northumberland, in Three Parts
By John Hodgson, John Hodgson-Hinde, James Raine, Robert Rutson James, John Collingwood Bruce
This book has many references to the Lisles of Northumberland and confirms the lineage I have in my tree down at least as far as William.
Joan, wife of John de Lisle, gave a power of attorney to her venerable father Wm. de Swinburne, to take possession of certain lands of sir Robert de Lisle, in Lincolnshire, in 1398
pg. 133
TROUGHEN--The Lisles had property here for a long time. About the year 1273, Julian, the widow of Michael Bayfelt, granted to "my lord Robert de Lisle." his heirs and assigns, all the lands and houses which she had in Goseford and Trowen by the gift of her father, Otwer deLisle; and in 1290, John de Herle sued John de Lisle, of Woodburn, for a messuage, thirteen acres of land, and three acres of meadow, in Trehquen--(III. i. 177.)
pg. 136 Sir Humphrey Lisle, knight, in 1440, gave to Wiliam Reed, of Troughwen, the hamlet called Bromhope, in Reddesdale, in exchange for lands in Buteland and Redesmouth.
pg. 168
The Calverly MS. says, that John de Lisle de Woodburn was the heir to Sir Robert de Lisle, of Woodburn, who gave him all his possessions in Northumberland and Redesdale; and that "by the inquest after his death, 1350, it appears that he by the name of John
de Lisle of Wodeburn" (Cal. i. p. m. ii. 164) "died seized of the manor of Salcliff and Lylefield," 40 acres of land in Flixburgh," and all the lands joining juxta Santon with the demains bordering upon Sheffield on the east of his manor of Coningsby in Lincolnshire."--(Calverly MS. at Wallington.)
pg. 171
EAST WOODBURN--At the mouth of Lisles-burn, the Rede turns suddenly against a sandstone cliff to the west, and has a part of the village of East Woodburn crowning the crag on its southern margin. Till the new bridge was made by this village; and the traveller at all times had and easy and a safe passage this way up the east side of the river, and persons and droves of cattle coming from its west side, or out of Tindale and the southern parts of Scotland, crossed the Rede at the Old Bridge. But East Woodburn is most remarkable for having been the property and place of residence of the old and distinguished family of De Lisle, the site of whose house still goes by the name of Hall-yards, and has its antient importance still recorded in extensive masses ofprostate ruins, and in the remains of a fish-pond, which have a strong embankment on tewo sides, and a terrace ending in a circular plot of ground in the middle. Its situatio, on a rock, fringed with trees, is strong and delightful, overlooking downwards, as it does, the lovely haughs,
"Where Rede upon his margins sees
"Sweet Woodburn's cottages and trees,"--(Rokeby.)
and commanding to the north a bold range of rocky banks, out of the windings of which the river seems to have its rise. When and how the Lisles became possessed of property here we have not been able to discover. Walter de Bolbeck confirmed to William de Lisle his father's grant of Matfen, Fenwick, Thornton, Angerton, Hedwin, and Burnton. Otwi de Lisle had possessions (probably the places last mentioned) in the Barony of Bolbec; besides lands holden of the barons of Whalton, which by the Testa de Nevill, appear to have been their manor of South Gosforth: and exchanged Blackheddon for Over-leam, in this parish, and for East Newton, in the parish of Bywell St. Andrew, with Bernard de Baliol, sometime in the reign of Henry the Second. Otwel, who died in 1250, held Bearl and Hawkwell ofthe Bolbeck barony; but does not seem to have had any interest in Angerton and Hedwin; and his son Robert de Insula de Woodburn, in 1293, claimed various privileges under the statute de quo warfanto, at the assizes at Newcastle, in 1294, and had from his kinsman, Robert de Lisle, of Chipchase, liberty for himself and his tenants in Woodburn, to take marle at their pleasure from the moor of Ray; and his nephew and successor, John de Lisle, of Woodburn, who, among the offices, was a warden of the ports and shores of Northumberland in 1335, died possessed of Woodburn, which, with the old family property in Felton and other places in the county, belonged to his lineal descendant Humphrey de Lisle, who died June 30, 1516. After this time, we do not find the family of Lisle again occuring as owners here; for Thomas Lilse is returned as having only Felton, Elihaugh, South Gosforth, Coxlodge, Cathugh, and lands in Weldon, in 1568; when the crown and John Hall had lands in Woodburne; and from that period to this the property in both villages of this name has passed through so many hands that any further illustration of its history would be difficult to accomplish and too minute to be interesting.
pg. 174 has a pedigree of Lisle of Woodburne
Robert de Lisle of Gosforth
+dau of Richard Camville
Otwell de Insula
+Isabella dau of Peter Fawconberg and Elena
Robert de Lisle, lord of Woodburn, had brother Nicholas de Lisle married dau of lord Rosse and had son Sir John de Lisle, of Woodburn, knt who inherited from his uncle Robert. John married dau and heiress of Gilbert Umfreville, lord of Prudhoe
A History of Northumberland, in Three Parts
By John Hodgson, John Hodgson-Hinde, James Raine, Robert Rutson James, John Collingwood
Shows a tree with William's parents being Humphrey and Margaret.
In a bill of information to Cardinal Wolsey, " for the repressing of
maintainers of murder within the county of Northumberland," with
marginal notes showing what has become of each offender, or what is
to be done with him, are one or two entries that illustrate later events.
Number seven in the list is Humphrey Lisle of Felton and Gosforth,
who is indicted with Jowsey, for the cruel murder of Sir Richard
Lighten, canon of Brinkburn, " because he occupied their own tithe
corns of the town of Acton ; and because his brethren are religious
men they may not follow the pele." The marginal note states that
the malefactors are "in the shire of Northumberland, kept in secret
places." In the next paragraph it is explained that Sir William
occupied the tithe corns that year and the year before, against the will
of the canons, without paying any rent, and when he heard that
Lighten was occupying them "he sent his son and servant to turn
them out ; on which they killed him with their swords." Number
nine reads : - " Good it were that Thomas Strey, clerk of the assize,
was called upon to present unto your grace all such indictments as
was found of wilful escapes at the assizes, holden at Newcastle afore
Mr. Brudenell and others, in annis x. and xi." To this the marginal
note is " of the names of them a privy seal to be made, and sent for
to make answer."
Despite this trouble with the churchmen and authorities, it appears that Humphrey's son William still served in the capacity of Captain at Wark Castle, in the border wars with Scotland. In the same book, the following account is found of a fierce battle he took part in in the fall of 1523:
Border lawlessness was followed this year by actual hostilities
between the two nations for the first time in ten years. The earl
of Surrey, the marquis of Dorset, and lord Dacre, wardens of the
marches, were at their posts, and Dorset, who governed the east and
middle marches, had two lieutenants to assist him, Sir William Bulmer
and Sir William Eure. Mutual incursions followed, and on the 3rd of
November the Scots, with French allies, besieged Wark, but were
repulsed. Wolsey wrote, on 4th December, the following account of
the position of affairs to dean (afterwards bishop) Sampson : - "
The duke of Albany, after all his preparations, boasts and brags
about invasion, long dwelling and lingering upon the borders, bruiting
that he would come unto Berwick, Carlisle, Norham, or some
other strong place, which all were sufficiently furnished for his
resistance, came at last before a poor castle, not yet fully built and
finished, called Wark, wherein were only 100 soldiers, with a captain
named Sir William Lisle, unto which place he bent, and two whole
days shot at his great ordnance right fiercely, being right well manfully
and valiantly defended ; the third day, early in the morning, he set
over the river unto this English side, where the base court of the castle
was, 3000 Frenchmen and 1500 Scots, to give the assault on this
side while the battery endured on the other ; who (being the base
court over large to be with all the rest defended by 100 persons)
in process entered the same, giving the assault to the inner ward
so eagerly, that, partly by sufferance of the captain and soldiers, they
also entered the same, being slain with fighting at handstrokes as fast
as they came in, in such wise that, after the captain of the French
footmen, with twenty of his company there slain, the rest were driven
out of the inner ward, and by the captain and Englishmen so
freshly pursued, that they, with above 1500 footmen, French and
Scots, then being in the base court, were totally driven and expelled
out of the same, and with loss of above nine score of them, compelled
to flee again over the water, where not a few were drowned for haste."
Thus rid of the assault, Lisle sent word to the earl of Surrey, then
in or near Berwick, who marched for Wark ; and Albany, hearing of
his movements, raised the siege and returned to Scotland ; there
lodging at an abbey called Eccles. Then, hearing that Surrey intended
to pursue him, he sounded a retreat, ' in despite of all the
Scottish borderers, who exhorted him to tarry, and to revenge the
displeasures done unto them,' and he ' shamefully and cowardly fled
and ran away.' "
But at some point between 1523 and 1527, he became an outlaw.
The great local events of this year centre round the proceedings
of Sir William Lisle. Magnus, writing to Wolsey in the summer,
describes his own arrival at York at the March assizes, where he sat
with the king's justices and lord Richmond's counsel, and where he
found Sir William Lisle and Humphrey his son, who were indicted by
Sir William Ellerker, sheriff of Northumberland, and Roger Heron.
Ellerker's complaint was that he, as sheriff, awarded a replevy against
Sir William Lisle for an unlawful distress, and sent his servants at the
request of the party aggrieved, to execute the same ; and that with
a hundred persons the prisoner came to the landship where he dwelt [
Widdrington], and carried away "40 hede of noote." He followed
him, and demanded why he had done so; and he said "he did the
same because that Sir William Ellerker's servants had made masters
in his lordship ; saying also, he was as free in the same as was the
king, and that neither the king, nor any other his officers, if he
might be a party to them, should meddle with him or his said lordship."
Roger Heron, also, had charges to make against Lisle : - " Whereas,
variance, strife, and debate is between him and the said Sir William
Lisle, as they were communing together, the said Sir William said to
the said Roger, 'What! means thou to strive with me? Wilt thou
win anything at my hands? I have ruffled with the warden, and
also with the cardinal, and trust to pluck him by the nose." Magnus
adds, that the " vicar of Felton, being a canon of Brinkbourne, curate
to the said Sir William Lisle, a kinsman of his, and another his servant,
being alleged to have been witnesses in this matter, were sent
for to York, and being sworn, were examined ; but they would not
confess any such words spoken against your said grace." Sir William
and his son were committed by the court to Pontefract Castle ; and
having so stated, Magnus went on to inform Wolsey that from York
he went to the assizes at Newcastle, where " there hath not been so
great an assize before, and so good appearance of gentlemen, all men
using themselves most lowly to obey to the king's laws and his high
commandments, insomuch that no man was in fear to complain, nor
to give evidence against the thieves and malefactors ; whereof there
was put to execution sixteen persons, many of them of the great
surnames and headmen both of Tynedale and Riddesdale. Two of the
Fenwicks, divers others of the Shaftoes, Pottes, Halls, and Hedleys,
did suffer. Such a thing hath not been seen at one assize in these parts
before." He submitted to the cardinal a scheme by which they might
be kept more cheaply in order. The " pledges " were costly ; and
the plan was that there should be chosen of the most principal
surnames in Tynedale, thirty-six - three twelves - " to be laid at three
sundry times of the year." He would apply the wages of six or
seven soldiers of Berwick, every of them at 6/. 135. 4d., for giving
competent meat and drink to the said twelve persons, after the rate of
i8d. by the week ; which twelve persons, as is supposed, should, for
the defence of the said town of Berwick and the country, do as much
or more good by adventuring of their bodies, as would the said six or
seven soldiers. He informs Wolsey that there is a "towardness"
for good rule to be kept in Northumberland ; and for the better
inducing of the same, he and other of lord Richmond's council have
appointed to be again in Newcastle for keeping of the quarter sessions
before Martinmas.
The spring assizes in Newcastle were barely over, when Sir William
Lisle, who had given bond and obtained his release from Pontefract,
came north, and offending again, was sent to gaol in Newcastle with
his son, to answer the charges brought against him. On the 8th of
July cardinal Wolsey writes to the king: - "I have been advertised
from my chancellor of Durham of an heinous attempt done by Sir
John [William] Lisle and his son, who, committed to ward at
Newcastle by my lord of Richmond's council, as well for murder and
felony as for divers other grievous offences, hath not only broken the
prison wherein they were themselves, but also other prisons there,
wherein was divers outlaws kept, some for felony, some for murder
and treason. They be fled and escaped into Scotland ; and with
them, at their issuing out of Newcastle, joined twenty other outlaws.
By the reason of this attempt, the said Sir John [William] Lisle hath
not only forfeited his bond, but his sureties, which were bond that he
should be true prisoner, hath forfeited the sum of five hundred pounds."
Wolsey suggests that Sir William Parr shall have Lisle's land, or a
good part thereof. "With the 5oo/. rest your highness may do your
most gracious pleasure." July &t&. - The king's secretary, Knight,
writes to Wolsey that Henry had acted on his advice to send
letters to James V. for the apprehension of Sir William Lisle,
Humphrey his son, and others that by Sir William's means had
broken the prison in Newcastle. August loth. - The earl of Angus
writes to Henry, assuring him of his diligence. The king of Scots,
his master, has summoned his wardens, and taxed them severely with
receiving trangressors against his uncle's laws. Angus has not been
able to ascertain the haunts of these rebels, but will nothing spare,
cost, travail, nor danger of body, to take their persons, and deliver
them to king Henry's officers. August \2th. - Lisle, his son, and
William Shafto, proclaimed as rebels who have broken the king's prison
at Newcastle, liberated traitors, escaped to Scotland, and, in company
with other outlaws, have burned the town of Holmeshaugh in
Northumberland. Rewards are offered for their apprehension -
namely, one hundred marks for Sir William, 4O/. for Humphrey, anc
2O/. for Shafto. A few days later Magnus writes to the king that
Lisle has been proclaimed throughout Northumberland for breaking
prison at Newcastle, and releasing rebels, stealing forty horses [it was
head of noot, or neat cattle before] at Widdrington, and burning a
town belonging to Sir William Ellerker. Lisle, he adds, had
become bound, after his committal to Pontefract, to be of good
abearing, and not commit any treason, felony, robbery, riot, extortion,
or forcible entry, but had forthwith gone and done what he was
pledged not to do ; and hence the indictment in Northumberland,
where he and his son were at large, and where, as Magnus reports,
there was great dearth of corn and much poverty, and outbreaks were
therefore the more probable. The duke of Richmond was now
lieutenant-general of the forces north of Trent, and lord warden of the
Scottish border ; and on the 7th of September his council (of which
Magnus was director), addressed a letter to king Henry, under the
impression that Lisle was resident in the debatable ground [which
Sir William Eure contradicted on the I2th] with the broken men of
both the borders, misruling and disordering the countries next
adjoining thereunto. Five weeks later the council despatched to
Wolsey a circumstantial account of the affair ; adding that all efforts
to apprehend Lisle and his accomplices had been in vain, and that
others in both countries robbed and spoiled " under the pretence and
colours of the said Sir William and his other outlaws." The council
had, therefore, instructed Sir William Eure to remove from Harbottle,
and advised that he should lie at Felton, or thereabouts, being a
lordship of Lisle's, where he and his son often were, and had their
chief succour and relief ; and as horse-meat and other victuals were
scarce and dear in those parts, his retainers and soldiers, to the
number of three score, to have fourpence by the day during the
space of two months. Certain houses within the woods of Felton to
be "burnt, destroyed, and pulled down, and the corn, hay, and
victuals there either to be carried thence and employed to the relief
of the said Sir William Eure and his company, or else to be burnt
and destroyed ; whereby the said Sir William Lisle, nor none of his,
shall have any aid, relief, or succour in that quarter, where hath been
their chief refuge." Divers women and other simple persons, " their
espials and messengers," were to be seized and sent to the gaol of
Newcastle. Newton, " another place " of Lisle's, also, " nigh unto the
borders of your bishopric of Durham," to have good watch and
espial, lest, debarred from Felton, he should resort thither, " like as
he hath done of late." Moreover, the council signified to his grace
some distrust of Eure. " As far as we can in anywise conceive, albeit
the said Sir William Eure is sheriff of the county of Northumberland,
vice-warden and lieutenant of the middle marches, and keeper of
Tyndale and Riddisdale, yet we do not see that he can or may serve
the king's highness so substantially as he ought to do in that country,
considering the great hurts and heinous attempts committed more
often upon the middle marches than in any other places, and that
the inhabitants of that country do neither arise, assemble, nor stir with
him for the defence of the same." Wolsey has subsequently a letter
from Eure, dated Harbottle, 27th October: - "Of late I did certify your
grace of the demeanour of the country, and how oft I have demanded
justice and redress of the Scots for such offences and attempts as
are committed and done by the surnames of the Armstrongs, Nixons,
and Crosiers, with whom Sir William Lisle, and all other his
adherents, are reset, and daily ride together, and commit burnings,
murders, and hardships within the realm of England ; and as yet I
can get no remedy thereof, but answers of delays, to the utter undoing
of the middle marches of England, and the king's true subjects
dwelling within the same." His opinion, with which he prays the
cardinal not to be miscontented, is, " that either there must be well
horsed men abiding and remaining upon the frontiers of England
foreanenst Liddesdale, as at Haltwhistle, Hexham, Swinburn,
Gonnerton, and Chipchase, or else the surnames of Armstrongs and
others, with the outlaws above written, hath well-nigh utterly
destroyed the head of Northumberland and the water of Tyne,
and, or Christmas, in mine opinion, without hasty remedy it shall
be clearly destroyed. For I do by myself at Harbottle, which is
the middle part and uttermost frontier of the middle marches;
and the greatest hurt that the Scots and outlaws in times past
was to come in there and do harm in England. And by cause
of my lying there, they come down the water of Tyne, which is
sixteen miles from me ; and so, pleaseth your grace, I am not of
power to keep both the places. Where though, without hasty
remedy, seeing there is no punishment in Scotland for Liddesdale,
the country will be utterly destroyed." Eure promises, however, to
do his uttermost to withstand the marauders. Angus, chancellor of
Scotland, sends greetings to king Henry in November, and touching "
Sir William Lisle, son, and complices, rebels to your majesty," has
made proclamation for the taking or slaying of them, " and shall never
be at rest, nor quiet in mind, nothing sparing pain, travail, nor expense,
unto the time your solicitude be satisfied in the premises." [J. C.]
On the twenty-seventh of the same month the duke of Richmond's
council report to Wolsey that they have kept a warden court and
sessions of peace at Newcastle, and have been there ten days. One
Collingwood has been executed, a notable offender in march treason,
who was brought in by Robert Collingwood, chief of his name.
Many persons were indicted for robbery, whose arraignment was
adjourned till the coming of the justices of assize to Durham, in Lent,
for they have not been accustomed to go to Newcastle except once
a-year at Lammas. Hope by mid-Lent to have a good number of
offenders brought before them for an example. The gentlemen of
Northumberland behaved well in giving their verdicts and evidence.
No mention is made of Sir William Lisle and his accomplices ; but
their doom was rapidly approaching, and while the following year
was yet young, the old keep of the castle of Newcastle presented
their ghastly quarters to " the view and sight of the people."
Sir William Lisle's lawless adventures in the previous year came
to a sad ending. On the I2th of January the earl of Northumberland
writes to the king that, hearing of an intended raid by certain
outlaws at Felton, he sent Roger Lassels thither at midnight, who
apprehended Alex. Crawhawe, the chief counsellor of William and
Humphrey Lisle ; John Pringle, to whose house the Lisles and their
spies resorted ; Matthew Stokehall, of Tindale, one of the pledges
that broke from the duke of Richmond's council at Pomfret ; John
Armstrong, who brought the Armstrongs to Newcastle when they
broke the gaol there, and eleven others. Held a warden court at
Alnwick, on Wednesday, 8th January, and beheaded nine for march
treason and hanged five for felony. On the twenty-eighth the earl
is able to report to Wolsey the surrender of William Lisle and his
son, with most of their adherents. Thomas Errington, his own [the
earl's] servant, and Edward Horsley, the cardinal's servant, with their
tenants, made a fray on the twenty-first, on William Charlton, otherwise
William of Shotlington, the head rebel of all the outlaws,
Harry Noble, Archibald Dodd, and Roger Armstrong, who had
been on a raid into the bishopric, and brought away the priest of
Muggleswick as their prisoner. " And finally the said William
Charlton of Shotlington was slain, and one James Noble slain
too, and one Roger Armstrong and one Archibald Dodd too ;
other their complices were taken, the residue escaped. I caused the
said William Charlton, because he had committed divers and sundry
horrible and cruel crimes and offences within your grace's dominions
of Durham and Hexham - as burning of towns, murders, robberies,
spoils, taking of persons, and other such like detestable and unlawful
attempts - for the which causes I caused his body to be hanged up in
chains, upon a pair of gallows, nigh unto your grace's said town of
Hexham, and in likewise the body of James Noble is hanged up
at Haydon Bridge, within my lordship of Langley. And at a warden
court holden at my castle of Alnwick on Monday, the 2/th day of
the said month of January, Roger Armstrong and Archibald Dodd
were attainted of sundry march treasons ; and for terrible example of
semblable offenders, I have caused their bodies to be in like case
hanged up in chains - the one of them nigh the town of Newcastle,
and the other at Alnwick. And upon the said conflict and overthrow
of the said thieves spread abroad in the country, and also the noise
and speech of the country, that if the earl of Angus would not deliver
unto me the king's rebellious prisoners, aided and assisted in Scotland,
that I would invade Nedesdale [Liddesdale ?], where they were
kept, and destroy and burn all the houses and holds there ; the which
among the outlaws, as well of Scotland as of England, by the
dread of the same, as it is supposed, was the occasion that upon
Sunday, the 26th day of the present month of January, came William
Lisle, Humphrey Lisle, William Shaftowe, and other their adherents,
in all the number of eighteen persons, without any composition, covenant,
or comfort of me or of any other to my knowledge, in my way
coming from the high mass at the parish church of Alnwick, in their
linen clothes, and halters about their necks, kneeling upon their knees,
in very humble and lowly manner submitted themselves to the king's
highness's mercy and your grace, knowledging their offences, and
requiring of his highness mercy and pardon ; and if not, they were
ready to bide his execution of his most dread laws."
Within a few days after this remarkable surrender, Brian Tuke
writes to Wolsey on behalf of the youth Humphrey Lisle: - "One of
the surrendered prisoners is an unoffending lad, not past twelve
or thirteen, son of Sir William, simply out with his father, " peradven-
ture fearing lest he should lack bread at home." " Whether it be of
fatherly compassion, for I have children of mine own, and one much
of that age, vel nescio quo spiritu ductus, the remembrance of this
innocent hath caused me that in my bed this night I could not
forbear to water my plants, having in fresh remembrance what I
knew in king Henry the VIFs days, as considered and alleged
touching the difference between the king's laws and an instinct or
law that is in nature, when Sir James Tirel and Sir John Wyndham
were put to death, and their sons upon that consideration pardoned.
I thought convenient to advertise your grace what was showed me of
the younger son, most humbly beseeching the same to pardon me of
my boldness and simple pity." - Humphrey was spared, and probably
his younger brother. The rest were hanged and quartered, and their
remains publicly exhibited in Newcastle and elsewhere, as appears
by a letter from the earl of Northumberland to Wolsey, dated the
2nd April : - " For the more terrible and dreadful example of all the
inhabitants in these parts, William Lisle, Humphrey Lisle his son,
John Ogle, William Shaftowe, and Thomas Fenwick, gentlemen of
name, chief leaders and most heinous offenders of all the said rebels,
were, according to their demerits, attainted of high treason, and by me
had judgment given to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. The
execution whereof was accomplished upon them accordingly, only
reserving Humphrey Lisle, whom, according to the pleasure of the
king's highness and your grace, I have sent by this bearer, John
Norton, my servant, to be further ordered as shall stand with your
gracious pleasure, notwithstanding he had judgment among the
other. And the other young son of the said William Lisle I detain
here with me, to such time as I shall be advertised of the further mind
and pleasure of the king's highness and your grace's concerning the
said young Lisle. And the heads and quarters of them that were
so executed for high treason I have caused to be set up upon the '
dongeon ' of the castle of Newcastle, and in sundry other eminent
and open places, most apparent to the view and sight of the people, to
the high contentation of all the true inhabitants of these parts, and
extreme terror of all other semblable offenders. The residue of the
said rebels been also attainted for march treasons and put to execution . .
and have also . . . executed and put to death six thieves
of Tynedale, who of late time were reported the most notorious and
heinous offenders of that country. After which execution so done,
the 2nd day of this instant month of April, at this town of Newcastlc-
upon-Tyne, in presence of the most part of the gentlemen and
freeholders of Northumberland ; the Tynedale men in great numbers
submitted themselves, according to the king's most gracious pleasure,
in most humble wise, upon their bare knees, beseeching his highness
of grace and pardon for their offences past," etc. [J. C.]
Humphrey Lisle made a confession in June of the offences which
his father and himself, with their adherents, had committed, as
follows : -
1. About twelve months ago he and his father, with about forty
persons, Scots and English (of whom all the English have been
executed) attacked Newcastle, compelled the keepers of the castle to
surrender the keys, and delivered nine prisoners.
2. Shortly afterwards came to Widdrington, intending to have
taken or slain Sir William Ellerker, if he had issued out of the town,
and took away twenty horses from the fields.
3. With about 140 persons, chiefly Scots, spoiled and burned
Holmeshaigh.
4. Attacked Widdrington a second time, and took prisoner and
ransomed Michael Vynell.
5. In returning to Scotland took prisoners four of my lord of
Northumberland's company, three of whom they liberated without
ransom.
