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The Parish of
Astley |
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The Grey Family
Joanna
Astley, whose second husband was Lord Grey, had two sons by him and the elder
son also had two sons, John and Edward. The younger son, Edward, built
a lady chapel at Astley, which has long since disappeared, and he and his
wife were buried there. The elder son, Sir John Grey,
married Elizabeth Woodville. Sir John of Astley,
fought on the side of the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses and was
killed at the battle of St Albans in 1461. The Astley estate was forfeited to
the crown as the Yorkist Edward IV was by then on
the throne. Elizabeth Woodville went to live at Grafton with her parents and
in 1464 petitioned the King for the estate to be restored to her
children. Not only was she successful in this petition, she married
Edward IV in May 1464 and on May 25 1465 she was crowned as his Queen. The
eldest son of Elizabeth and her first husband, Sir Thomas Grey (b.1454), came
into possession of the estate. Later he was created Earl of Huntingdon and
Marquis of Dorset and died in 1501. He was succeeded by his son who became
the second Marquis, who in turn died in 1530 and was buried at Astley.
The third Marquis, Henry Grey married Frances Brandon, heiress to the Duke of
Suffolk, and succeeded to the Dukedom in 1551. They had three
daughters Jane, Catherine and Mary. The eldest of these was Lady
Jane Grey who reigned as Queen for 9 days in July 1553. Her father became involved
in the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt and was
captured in the park at Astley and subsequently beheaded on Tower Hill in
February 1554. The
widow of Henry Grey retained possession of the estate for some years but she
married the steward of the property, Adrian Stokes. On the death of the
Duchess, about 1558, the estate was given, by Queen Mary, to Sir Edward Chamberlayne. |
