Ancestral Homes -- Groby Old Hall

Last week, I set my PVR (or DVR) to record an old episode of BBC's great Time Team series focusing on Groby Old Hall in Leicestershire. Why? Well, I remembered that I have ancestors who lived there -- Sir John Grey of Groby (abt 1432-1461), Lancastrian knight, and Elizabeth Woodville (abt 1437-1492). Their links to me are still works in progress -- for now, we're cousins.

The Dictionary of National Biography has one of their extensive entries (almost all entries in this resource are extensive) on John Grey, whose formal title was 8th Baron Ferrers of Groby. Here's the beginning of that entry (bottom right in the image on the left).

Sir John was killed fighting for Henry VI's Lancastrian forces in the second Battle of St Albans during the Wars of the Roses, leaving Elizabeth a young widow with two young sons. Elizabeth went on to re-marry. You'll recognize her name as the bride of Edward of York of that Plantagenet family of mine, who went on to become King Edward IV. Theirs was a love match, so say several historians and biographers.

Lady Jane Grey (1536/7-1554), who was queen for nine days in 1553 and then executed at the age of 17 is a member of this Grey family and my 5th cousin 14x removed. Hers is a sad story. She never wanted to be queen, but found herself a pawn in scheming and plotting orchestrated by her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, who was a granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and others.

But back to Old Groby Hall. It was inherited by the Grey family in 1445 and in their hands until 1554. You can read more about the Greys of Groby here. There is so much history--including my own history--at Groby. To find a documentary about a place where my ancestors lived is a bit of a thrill, I admit it.

The archaeological results of the Time Team's work at Old Groby Hall are here.

The never ending story continues.....


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