Thomas Knyvett
Sir Thomas Knyvett, of Buckenham, Norfolk was a young English nobleman who was a close associate of [Henry VIII|King Henry VIII] shortly after the monarch came to the throne. According to Hall's Chronicle, Knyvett was a frequent participant in the jousts and pageants of the new king's glittering court and was made Henry's Master of the Horse in 1510.
Family
Sir Thomas Knyvett was the son of Sir Edmund Knyvett of Buckenham by his wife Eleanor Tyrrell, the daughter of Sir William Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk by Margaret, daughter of Robert Darcy, knight. His mother Eleanor was sister of Sir James Tyrrell.Spousal connections
Knyvett married, before 9 July 1506, Muriel Howard, the widow of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle, by whom she was the mother of Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle, who was at one time betrothed to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and later the wife of Henry Courtenay. Muriel Howard was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth Tilney, and through the Howard connection, Knyvett was related to many of the great figures of English history. Their children were first cousins to both Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Katherine Howard.Descendants
By Muriel Howard, Knyvett had three sons and two daughters:- Edmund, Sir Edmund, who by 1527 had married Anne Shelton, the daughter of Sir John Shelton of Carrow, Norfolk, and his wife, Anne Boleyn. Knyvet's wife was a sister of Madge and Mary Shelton, and also a first cousin of Anne Boleyn. Sir Edmund Knyvett and Anne Shelton had two sons according to most sources. After Sir Edmund's death, his widow remarried to Christopher Coote, Esq., of Blo’ Norton. Anne's will mentions three children:
- * Edmund Knyvett
- * Henry Knyvett
- * Anthony Knyvett
- Katherine who married firstly Sir William Fermor son of Thomas Thursby Henry Spelman, the son of Sir John Spelman, and the father of Sir Henry Spelman and of Erasmus Spelman, whose son Henry went to Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia, by license dated 26 January 1543/4.
- Henry who married as her second spouse Anne Pickering, the widow of Francis Weston. Anne would thirdly marry John Vaughan, the nephew of Blanche Parry. Their children were:
- * Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton Park, Member of Parliament.
- ** Katherine Knyvett who married her third cousin Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and is the ancestor of the Earls of Suffolk and Berkshire.
- ** Elizabeth Knyvett who married Thomas Clinton, 3rd Earl of Lincoln.
- ** Frances Knyvet, first married Sir William Bevill, and secondly Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland.
- ** Anthony Knyvet, illegitimate son, pirate, slave and slave trader.
- ** Anne Knyvet, illegitimate daughter, believed to by the same mother as Anthony.
- * Elizabeth Knyvett
- * Alice Knyvett
- * Katherine Knyvett, Lady Paget,, married Henry Paget, 2nd Baron Paget and secondly, Sir Edward Cary of Berkhamsted and Aldenham, Hertfordshire, Master and Treasurer of His Majesty’s Jewels.
- * Thomas Knyvett, English courtier and member of parliament who played a part in foiling the Gunpowder Plot
- * Margaret Knyvett, who married Henry Vavasour of Tadcaster, Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire, and was the mother of Anne Vavasour and Thomas Vavasour
The actress and theatre director Sally Knyvette, who starred as Jenna Stannis in the British science fiction TV series Blake's 7, is a direct descendant of Sir Thomas Knyvet.