Sir Robert KNOLLYS ⁹⁹⁰

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Find A Grave ID: 84442319

  General Notes:

Knollys, the name of an English family descended from Sir Thomas Knollys (d. 1435), Lord Mayor of London.
Robert Knollys, or Knolles (d. 1521), a courtier in the service and favour of Henry VII and Henry VIII.
(Wikipedia)

Robert Knollys, or Knolles, (died 1521) was an English courtier in the service and favour of Henry VII and Henry VIII.
In 1488 the Knollys was one of Henry VII's henchmen, and late in that year was appointed to wait on ?the king's dearest son the prince? (Arthur). He received £5 ?by way of reward? for each of the three years 1488 to 1490, and when Henry VII met Archduke Philip in 1500 he accompanied the English king as one of the ushers of the chamber. He continued in the same office under Henry VIII, and received an annuity of £20, on November 15, 1509, and a grant of Upclatford, called Rookes Manor, in Hampshire ? part of the confiscated property of Sir Richard Empson ? on February 10, 1510?11. On 9 July 1514 the usher and his wife were jointly granted the manor of Rotherfield Greys, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, in survivorship, at an annual rental of a red rose at midsummer. The grant was confirmed on January 5, 1517?18 by letters patent for their own lives and that of one successor. Other royal gifts followed.

Robert Knollys died in 1521, and was buried in the church of St Helen's Bishopsgate. His will, dated November 13, 1520, was proved 19 June 1521. His widow, Letitia or Lettice, was daughter of Sir Thomas Penyston of Hawridge and Marshall, Buckinghamshire. After Robert Knollys's death she became the second wife of Sir Robert Lee of Burston, Buckinghamshire, son of Sir Henry Lee of Quarendon in the same county. Sir Robert Lee, by whom she had issue, died in 1537, when she became the second wife of Sir Thomas Tresham of Rushton, Northamptonshire, prior (under Queen Mary) of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Her will, dated 28 June 1557, was proved 11 June 1558.

Robert Knollys's children included Francis Knollys, a son Henry and two daughters, Mary and Jane. The latter married Sir Richard Wingfield of Kimbolton Castle. The son Henry (d 1583) was in some favour with Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth. He went abroad with his brother Francis during Queen Mary's reign. In 1562 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Germany, to observe the temper of German protestants, and in 1569 was temporarily employed in warding both Queen Mary of Scotland at Tutbury and the Duke of Norfolk in the Tower. He was M.P. for Reading in 1563, and for Christchurch in 1572. His will, dated 27 July 1582, was proved 2 Sept. 1583.
(Wikipedia)

Sir Thomas Knollys, d. 1435 was Lord Mayor of London in 1399 and 1410.
Lord-mayor Knollys was a member of the Grocers' Company. He directed in 1400 the rebuilding of the Guildhall, and he also rebuilt St. Antholin's Church in Watling Street, where he was buried with his wife Joan. His will, dated 20 May 1435, was proved 11 July 1435 at Lambeth, where it is still preserved.

Knolleys was a forebear of Robert Knollys (great-great-grandson) and Francis Knollys (Robert's son).

Knollys is said by Dugdale to have been descended from Sir Robert Knollys or Knolles (d 1407), the soldier, but, according to Sidney Lee in the

  Noted events in his life were:

1. He worked as an and late in that year was appointed to wait on ‘the king's dearest son the prince’ (Arthur), he received £5 ‘by way of reward’ for each of the three years 1488 to 1490 in 1488. ¹⁶³⁴

2. He worked as a when Henry VII met Archduke Philipin 1500, Knollys accompanied the English king as one of the ushers of the chamber. in 1500. ¹⁶³⁴

3. He worked as a He continued in the same office under Henry VIII, and received an annuity of £20, on 15 November 1509, and a grant of Upclatford, called Rookes Manor, in Hampshire — part of the confiscated property of Sir Richard Empson — on 10 February 1510/11. on 15 November 1509. ¹⁶³⁴

4. He owned Granted the manor of Rotherfield Geys on 9 July 1514 in Rotherfield Greys, South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England. ¹⁶³⁴
On 9 July 1514 the usher and his wife were jointly granted the manor of Rotherfield Greys, near Henley-on-Thames. The grant was confirmed 5 January 1517-18 by letters patent of their own liveds and that of one successor.

5. He signed a will on 13 November 1520. ¹⁶³⁴

6. Will Proved: 19 January 1521. ¹⁶³⁴
Robert Knollys, Esquire, Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber of the King, 13th November 1520. My body to be buried in the place where Elizabeth Knollys, my late mother, now lieth buried. To the Prioress and Convent of the monastery of St. Ellen's within Bishop's Gate, a suit of copes and xx l. ; Mary my daughter; Jane my daughter'; Francis and Henry my sons; Lettice: my wife; my lands in London, Henley-upon-Thames, and the manor of Rotherfield Gray. Proved 19th January 1521.

The full Will is held at the National Archives, Kew, London.[.

Robert married Lady Lettice PENYSTON, daughter of Sir Thomas PENYSTON and Alice BULSTRODE, about 1514.¹⁶³⁴ (Lady Lettice PENYSTON was born in 1481 in , , , England,⁹⁹⁰ died in 1558 in , , , England ⁹⁹⁰ and was buried in 1558 in Rothwell, , Northamptonshire, England ⁹⁹⁰.)