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William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
Born	1544
Died	25 May 1632
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Bray (? - 1605) Elizabeth Howard (1605 - 1632)
Children	Edward Nicholas
Parents	Sir Francis Knollys Catherine Carey

William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury KG PC (1544 – 25 May 1632) was an English Earl at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James.

He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys of Greys Court in Oxfordshire and Reading in Berkshire, and his wife, Catherine Carey. Knollys was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tregony from 1572 and 1583 and for Oxfordshire from 1584 to 1586, 1592 to 1593 and 1601. In 1584 he was made castellan of Wallingford Castle. In 1596, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which position he held until his death.

William rebuilt Caversham Park where he often resided. He was first married to Dorothy Bray, daughter of Edmund, 1st Baron Braye by his wife Jane Halliwell and widow of Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos of Sudeley (d 1573). Dorothy was several years his senior, and had at least four children from her first marriage, though their marriage was childless.

In the mid-1590s, William took in Mary Fitton, the daughter of a family friend. Intended to be her protector from wayward influence of courtiers, he fell in love with her himself and wished his wife dead so he could marry her. He expressed desire for children with her, and when made godfather to Mary sister's daughter (Anne Newdigate) he named the child Mary. His infatuation with Mary was the cause of much court laughter:

Party Beard, party beard...
...the white hind was crossed:
Brave Penbroke struck her down
And took her from the clown^[1]

went one song about him. He was derided as "Party Beard" because his beard was three colors: white at the roots, yellow mid-way and black at the ends. Mary refused him. He courted her even after she had an illegitimate child (who died) with the earl of Pembroke, but she was not interested and after his wife Dorothy died (October 31, 1605 at Minty, buried at Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire) he re-married quickly.

On December 23, 1605, Knollys married 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 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.

Footnotes

1. ^ Haynes, Alan: Sex in Elizabethan England, page 46. Wrens Park Publishing, 1997

References

• Haynes, Alan. Sex in Elizabethan England. Groucestershire: Sutton Publishing Limited, 1997. ISBN 0-905-778-359