William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury KG PC (
1547–
25 May 1632) was the son of
Sir Francis Knollys and
Catherine Carey.
Knollys was
MP for
Tregony from
1572 and
1583 and for
Oxfordshire from
1584 to
1586,
1592 to
1593 and
1601. In
1596, he was appointed
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which position he held until his death.
In
1573, Knollys married Dorothy Bray (
1530–
October 31 1605), a daughter of
Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye and the widow of
Edmund Bydges, 2nd Lord Chandos. There was no issue.
On
December 23 1605, Knollys remarried to Lady Elizabeth Howard (
1586–
1658), the daughter of
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk.
Elizabeth remarried shortly after Knollys' death to
Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden. There is some debate as to whether or not Elizabeth's two sons, Edward (
1627–
1645) and Nicholas (
1631–
1674) (possible 2nd and 3rd Earls respectively) were William's offspring as her first son was born when William was 80 years old. As a result, the
House of Lords deprived each of them of the title Earl of Banbury and considered them to be illegitimate sons of Elizabeth and Edward Vaux as Nicholas was born in Lord Vaux's home.
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