William Skeffington

Sir William Skeffington (c. 146531 December 1535) was an English knight who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland.

Early life

William Skeffington was born in Skeffington Hall, Leicestershire, the eldest son of Thomas Skeffington by his wife, Mary. His brother John was the patriarch of the Massareene family. He succeeded his father in 1496.

Career William was appointed High Sheriff of Leicestershire and Warwickshire for 1508, 1515 and 1521. He was knighted by King Henry VII in 1509 and appointed Master of the Ordnance from 1515 to 1534. He accompanied King Henry VIII together with other knights to the king's iconic meeting in 1520 with King Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1523, he received from Henry VIII property near Tunbridge that had belonged to the executed traitor Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and in 1529 represented Leicestershire as a knight of the shire in the English House of Commons.

There is a monument to him in the parish church at Skeffington. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas.

Marriages Skeffington married firstly Margaret Digby, daughter of Sir Everard Digby (died 1509) of Tilton, Leicestershire, by whom he had a son and heir, Thomas Skeffington.

He married secondly, Anne Digby, the daughter of Sir John Digby (died May 1533) of South Luffenham, Rutland, by Katherine (née Griffin), widow of John Bellers (died 27 January 1476), esquire, and daughter of Nicholas Griffin (died 6 June 1482), esquire, de jure Baron Latimer, by Katherine Curzon, by whom he had several children, including a son Leonard Skeffington "who served as a Lieutenant of the Tower of London, as a soldier in Ireland, and as a messenger who regularly represented his father at court". Leonard Skeffington is credited with having invented the "Scavenger's Daughter", a torture device used in the Tower during the reign of Henry VIII.