Eric Miller's Family Tree

URL: Children of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond - Website

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John Butler 6th Earl of Ormond
Sir Thomas Chaworth

Notes


An interesting series of books at the FHL Library in Salt Lake City by T. Blake Butler on the Butler family of Ireland, Earls of Ormond, etc., that appear to have been printed privately about 1962, shed some light on the very confusing branches of the large family, offshooting from many younger sons and illegitimate sons. Most of the information below was taken from the ninth Volume of the series: 'The First To Seventh Earl of Ormond'. JOHN BUTLER (who also used 'Ormond' as a last name) was born 1423-25, the second son and third child of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond and Joan Beauchamp, daughter of the formidable widow Joan, Lady Abergavenny. His elder brother James (future 5th Earl of Ormond), born in 1420, was raised in the household of the infant king Henry VI, and John may have been raised at court as well. The Butlers remained steadfast Lancastrians and loyal to Henry VI throughout the Wars of the Roses. As a second son, John followed a military career, and arrangements for his marriage were perhaps delayed due to his serving in France in the 1440s, and to his being a prisoner there from 1449-51. His father the 4th Earl died in 1452, and John received some manors in Somerset in 1455. Now in his 30s and still unmarried, the political tensions of the 1450s greatly affected John and his elder brother the 5th Earl, with both fighting for Henry VI at the battle of Towton. The 5th Earl was beheaded some weeks after the battle and John succeeded his childless elder brother as 6th Earl of Ormond, but was attainted in the November Parliament that year when all the English lands of the Butlers were forfeited. Earl John had already gone to Ireland, where he styled himself Earl of Ormond and lord of Tipperary until the Irish Parliament attainted him in October 1462, and the Butler Irish lands forfeited. It was during his stay in Ireland from 1461 until about 1465 (when he fled to Portugal), that Earl John took up with Reynalda, daughter of Turlogh "The Brown" O'Brien, King of Thomond, who had died in 1460 the year before John's arrival. During the early 1460s she bore him at least two sons, and at some later point bore him a third, before she was married off to Earl John's kinsman Richard Butler of Glan, co. Waterford (the younger son of Earl John's first cousin Piers Butler of Cahir Castle). By her husband, she had further issue. After the death (murder) of Henry VI, John made peace with Edward IV, who recognized him as Earl of Ormond in 1474. His attainder was annulled in 1475, and all the lands in England and Ireland restored. Earl John left on a pilgrimage in 1476, was in Rome in the spring and died in the Holy Land on 14 October 1476. Before his death Earl John had settled on Reynalda an annuity out of the manor of Killinaule co. Tipperary, and she survived her husband Richard Butler of Glan, as well as two of her sons by Earl John. After her husband's death, Reynalda became abbess of Killone, an Augustinian nunnery founded in 1190 by her ancestor Donal Mor O'Brien, King of Thomond. She made her will there, and it was proved on 20 May 1510. She mentions her grants made to her by John late Earl of Ormond and by her husband, and leaves a bequest to her son (by Richard) Thomas Butler, clerk. She asked to be buried in the Franciscan friary of Ennis, also founded by her family, and their chief burial place. Issue of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond and Reynalda O'Brien: 1) Sir JAMES "The Black" ORMOND, born about 1462-65, was a minor when his father died in 1476, and was placed under the guardianship of his father's younger brother Thomas who succeeded as 7th Earl of Ormond. Apparently there was a move to legitimate young James in 1480, but Earl Thomas was able to protest it, and thus keep the extensive Ormond inheritance. Young James was placed by his uncle at the English court where he became an expert in the use of arms. He was groomed for a legal career and entered as a bencher of Lincoln's Inn 24 June 1486. After the death of Sir James Butler of Callan in April 1487, James Ormond was appointed by his uncle Earl Thomas as his attorney and deputy of the Ormond lands in Ireland, an appointment James was said to have obtained with a lawyer's dexterity. This led to a fatal feud with Piers Butler, the son and heir of Sir James Butler of Callan, who viewed the deputyship of the Ormond lands as his hereditary right, and grew troubled by the growing power and influence of Sir James "The Black" Ormond in Ireland. Married about 1489, Amice Poynings, daughter of Robert Poynings of Maidstone, Kent and Elizabeth Paston, and sister of Sir Edward Poynings who was appointed deputy of Ireland in 1494. She seems to have died without issue before 1492 when Sir James Ormond was betrothed to a daughter of the Earl of Desmond. The only source for the Desmond betrothal, however, is a statement made by James's archrival Sir Piers Butler and there is no record of such a marriage or of the Earl of Desmond even having such a daughter. Sir James made a good career for himself in Ireland in the 1490s, and for his military efforts received a grant of the manors and lands in counties Meath, Tipperary and Kilkenny in 1491, renewed in 1494. He was appointed Lord Treasurer of Ireland in 1492. He took a mistress named Rose Barry, and on 17 July 1497, while travelling between Kilkenny and Dromore to visit her, he encountered his cousin Sir Piers Butler in the open fields, and in the fight that ensued he was killed. Sir Piers wrote to Earl Thomas a few weeks later on 7 September his version of the event, and stated that Sir James had kept him out of his lands, imprisoned him for a long time, and had vowed after the Earl of Desmond had secured Sir Piers's release that he would slay Sir Piers whenever he met him. Whatever was the actual truth, Sir Piers received a pardon for all crimes committed by him in Ireland on 28 February 1498. He finally received from Earl Thomas the coveted post of deputy of the Ormond Irish lands in July 1505, and succeeded him as 8th Earl of Ormond in 1515. 2) JOHN ORMOND of Alfreton, Derbyshire, second son, born 1462-65. The Butlers of Ormond held lands in Derbyshire as early as 1406, and John Ormond apparently was groomed to wield local influence. In 1485 and a marriage was arranged for him that year with Joan Chaworth, heiress of Alfreton manor and he had a commission to hold inquests in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 19 February 1487. He was selected to be made a Knight of the Bath at the marriage of Prince Arthur, but paid a fine to release himself from that honor in July 1501. He married, 1485, Joan Chaworth, born about 1463, only daughter of Sir William Chaworth of Wiverton. On the death of her childless cousin Sir Thomas Chaworth in 1483, Joan was heiress to the manors of Medbourne (Leicestershire), Marnham (Nottinghamshire) and Alfreton. Sir Thomas Chaworth had been married to John Ormond's first cousin Margaret Talbot (daughter of the 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and Elizabeth Butler, sister of the 5th, 6th and 7th Earls of Ormond). It was likely through the influence of his Talbot relations that John Ormond's marriage to the Chaworth heiress was secured. John Ormond died 5 October 1503, and his wife Joan died 29 August 1507. They are buried in St. Martin church, Alfreton. Issue, three daughters and co-heiresses: 2A) JOAN ORMOND married 1st, Thomas Dynham (d. 1519), of Eythorpe, Buckinghamshire, illegitimate son of John, 7th Lord Dinham; married 2nd, William Fitzwilliam (d. at Milton 9 August 1534) of Gains Park, Es*** and Milton, Northamptonshire, son of John Fitzwilliam of Greens Norton and Ellen Villiers. 2B) ANNE ORMOND married Sir William Mering of Mering, Nottinghamshire, and died without issue. 2C) ELIZABETH ORMOND married 1498, Sir Anthony Babington (b. by 1476, died at Kingston-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire 23 August 1536) of Dethick, Derbyshire, son and heir of Thomas Babington of Dethick and Edith Fitzherbert, and died November 1505, leaving issue, two sons. 3) EDWARD ORMOND, born after 1465?, youngest son. He accompanied his brother Sir James "The Black" Ormond to Ireland in December 1491 and appears to have joined Perkin Warbeck's rebellion in 1492, for he was in Edinburgh in the spring of that year in connection with it. He apparently switched sides, received a general pardon in May 1493, and joined his brother Sir James in the affray at Oxmanton Green in Dublin on 19 July 1493 against the 8th Earl of Kildare who strongly supported Warbeck, continuing to aid his brother in his campaign against the Geraldines thru 1495. He last appears in record as a defendant in a July 1511 suit concerning the manors of Ashley and Weston (in Northamptonshire) brought by Thomas Babington of Dethick (father of the husband of his late niece Elizabeth Ormond). Whether he married and/or left issue is not known. Cheers, ---------Brad

An interesting series of books at the FHL Library in Salt Lake City by
T. Blake Butler on the Butler family of Ireland, Earls of Ormond, etc.,
that appear to have been printed privately about 1962, shed some light
on the very confusing branches of the large family, offshooting from
many younger sons and illegitimate sons.

Most of the information below was taken from the ninth Volume of the
series: 'The First To Seventh Earl of Ormond'.

JOHN BUTLER (who also used 'Ormond' as a last name) was born 1423-25,
the second son and third child of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond and
Joan Beauchamp, daughter of the formidable widow Joan, Lady
Abergavenny. His elder brother James (future 5th Earl of Ormond), born
in 1420, was raised in the household of the infant king Henry VI, and
John may have been raised at court as well. The Butlers remained
steadfast Lancastrians and loyal to Henry VI throughout the Wars of the
Roses.

As a second son, John followed a military career, and arrangements for
his marriage were perhaps delayed due to his serving in France in the
1440s, and to his being a prisoner there from 1449-51. His father the
4th Earl died in 1452, and John received some manors in Somerset in
1455.

Now in his 30s and still unmarried, the political tensions of the 1450s
greatly affected John and his elder brother the 5th Earl, with both
fighting for Henry VI at the battle of Towton. The 5th Earl was
beheaded some weeks after the battle and John succeeded his childless
elder brother as 6th Earl of Ormond, but was attainted in the November
Parliament that year when all the English lands of the Butlers were
forfeited. Earl John had already gone to Ireland, where he styled
himself Earl of Ormond and lord of Tipperary until the Irish Parliament
attainted him in October 1462, and the Butler Irish lands forfeited.

It was during his stay in Ireland from 1461 until about 1465 (when he
fled to Portugal), that Earl John took up with Reynalda, daughter of
Turlogh "The Brown" O'Brien, King of Thomond, who had died in 1460 the
year before John's arrival. During the early 1460s she bore him at
least two sons, and at some later point bore him a third, before she
was married off to Earl John's kinsman Richard Butler of Glan, co.
Waterford (the younger son of Earl John's first cousin Piers Butler of
Cahir Castle). By her husband, she had further issue.

After the death (murder) of Henry VI, John made peace with Edward IV,
who recognized him as Earl of Ormond in 1474. His attainder was
annulled in 1475, and all the lands in England and Ireland restored.
Earl John left on a pilgrimage in 1476, was in Rome in the spring and
died in the Holy Land on 14 October 1476.

Before his death Earl John had settled on Reynalda an annuity out of
the manor of Killinaule co. Tipperary, and she survived her husband
Richard Butler of Glan, as well as two of her sons by Earl John. After
her husband's death, Reynalda became abbess of Killone, an Augustinian
nunnery founded in 1190 by her ancestor Donal Mor O'Brien, King of
Thomond. She made her will there, and it was proved on 20 May 1510.
She mentions her grants made to her by John late Earl of Ormond and by
her husband, and leaves a bequest to her son (by Richard) Thomas
Butler, clerk. She asked to be buried in the Franciscan friary of
Ennis, also founded by her family, and their chief burial place.

Issue of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond and Reynalda O'Brien:

1) Sir JAMES "The Black" ORMOND, born about 1462-65, was a minor when
his father died in 1476, and was placed under the guardianship of his
father's younger brother Thomas who succeeded as 7th Earl of Ormond.
Apparently there was a move to legitimate young James in 1480, but Earl
Thomas was able to protest it, and thus keep the extensive Ormond
inheritance. Young James was placed by his uncle at the English court
where he became an expert in the use of arms. He was groomed for a
legal career and entered as a bencher of Lincoln's Inn 24 June 1486.
After the death of Sir James Butler of Callan in April 1487, James
Ormond was appointed by his uncle Earl Thomas as his attorney and
deputy of the Ormond lands in Ireland, an appointment James was said to
have obtained with a lawyer's dexterity. This led to a fatal feud with
Piers Butler, the son and heir of Sir James Butler of Callan, who
viewed the deputyship of the Ormond lands as his hereditary right, and
grew troubled by the growing power and influence of Sir James "The
Black" Ormond in Ireland.

Married about 1489, Amice Poynings, daughter of Robert Poynings of
Maidstone, Kent and Elizabeth Paston, and sister of Sir Edward Poynings
who was appointed deputy of Ireland in 1494. She seems to have died
without issue before 1492 when Sir James Ormond was betrothed to a
daughter of the Earl of Desmond. The only source for the Desmond
betrothal, however, is a statement made by James's archrival Sir Piers
Butler and there is no record of such a marriage or of the Earl of
Desmond even having such a daughter.

Sir James made a good career for himself in Ireland in the 1490s, and
for his military efforts received a grant of the manors and lands in
counties Meath, Tipperary and Kilkenny in 1491, renewed in 1494. He
was appointed Lord Treasurer of Ireland in 1492. He took a mistress
named Rose Barry, and on 17 July 1497, while travelling between
Kilkenny and Dromore to visit her, he encountered his cousin Sir Piers
Butler in the open fields, and in the fight that ensued he was killed.
Sir Piers wrote to Earl Thomas a few weeks later on 7 September his
version of the event, and stated that Sir James had kept him out of his
lands, imprisoned him for a long time, and had vowed after the Earl of
Desmond had secured Sir Piers's release that he would slay Sir Piers
whenever he met him. Whatever was the actual truth, Sir Piers received
a pardon for all crimes committed by him in Ireland on 28 February
1498. He finally received from Earl Thomas the coveted post of deputy
of the Ormond Irish lands in July 1505, and succeeded him as 8th Earl
of Ormond in 1515.

2) JOHN ORMOND of Alfreton, Derbyshire, second son, born 1462-65. The
Butlers of Ormond held lands in Derbyshire as early as 1406, and John
Ormond apparently was groomed to wield local influence. In 1485 and a
marriage was arranged for him that year with Joan Chaworth, heiress of
Alfreton manor and he had a commission to hold inquests in Derbyshire
and Nottinghamshire 19 February 1487. He was selected to be made a
Knight of the Bath at the marriage of Prince Arthur, but paid a fine to
release himself from that honor in July 1501.

He married, 1485, Joan Chaworth, born about 1463, only daughter of Sir
William Chaworth of Wiverton. On the death of her childless cousin Sir
Thomas Chaworth in 1483, Joan was heiress to the manors of Medbourne
(Leicestershire), Marnham (Nottinghamshire) and Alfreton. Sir Thomas
Chaworth had been married to John Ormond's first cousin Margaret Talbot
(daughter of the 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and Elizabeth Butler, sister of
the 5th, 6th and 7th Earls of Ormond). It was likely through the
influence of his Talbot relations that John Ormond's marriage to the
Chaworth heiress was secured.

John Ormond died 5 October 1503, and his wife Joan died 29 August 1507.
They are buried in St. Martin church, Alfreton. Issue, three
daughters and co-heiresses:

2A) JOAN ORMOND married 1st, Thomas Dynham (d. 1519), of Eythorpe,
Buckinghamshire, illegitimate son of John, 7th Lord Dinham; married
2nd, William Fitzwilliam (d. at Milton 9 August 1534) of Gains Park,
Es*** and Milton, Northamptonshire, son of John Fitzwilliam of Greens
Norton and Ellen Villiers.

2B) ANNE ORMOND married Sir William Mering of Mering, Nottinghamshire,
and died without issue.

2C) ELIZABETH ORMOND married 1498, Sir Anthony Babington (b. by 1476,
died at Kingston-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire 23 August 1536) of Dethick,
Derbyshire, son and heir of Thomas Babington of Dethick and Edith
Fitzherbert, and died November 1505, leaving issue, two sons.

3) EDWARD ORMOND, born after 1465?, youngest son. He accompanied his
brother Sir James "The Black" Ormond to Ireland in December 1491 and
appears to have joined Perkin Warbeck's rebellion in 1492, for he was
in Edinburgh in the spring of that year in connection with it. He
apparently switched sides, received a general pardon in May 1493, and
joined his brother Sir James in the affray at Oxmanton Green in Dublin
on 19 July 1493 against the 8th Earl of Kildare who strongly supported
Warbeck, continuing to aid his brother in his campaign against the
Geraldines thru 1495. He last appears in record as a defendant in a
July 1511 suit concerning the manors of Ashley and Weston (in
Northamptonshire) brought by Thomas Babington of Dethick (father of the
husband of his late niece Elizabeth Ormond). Whether he married and/or
left issue is not known.

Cheers, ---------Brad

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