♂William Sandys

William Sandys (died 1497) was an English knight of Andover in Hampshire, whose son and namesake rose to be Lord Sandys of the Vyne and Chamberlain of the Household to King Henry VIII. He was the fourteenth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006), through his son William Sandys (died 1542).

Life

As the peerage histories tell it, Sir William Sandys married Elizabeth Cheney, a daughter of Sir John Cheney of Shurland, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Their son William^W made his name as a soldier, fighting in Flanders in 1492, and went on to become a Knight of the Garter and one of the leading men at the court of Henry VIII.

He was probably not Sir William’s first heir. An elder son, John Sandys of Ringwood, was promised in marriage to Margaret Bourgchier^W by an agreement dated 11 November 1478. John died before 1495, leaving his wife pregnant, and Margaret later took Sir William to the Court of Chancery^W over the marriage settlement. Sir William died in 1497, and the younger William was his heir.

The family

The peerage histories give the couple a daughter, Edith Sandys, who married Ralph Nevill, styled Lord Nevill, the only son and heir apparent of the Earl of Westmorland^W. It was his second marriage, and like his first it was made “in the royal presence”. Ralph died before his father, shortly before 12 July 1498, and before 7 December 1499 Edith married Thomas, Lord Darcy^W, as his second wife. She died at Stepney on 22 August 1529 and was buried at the Friars Observants at Greenwich.

Notes

His place and his death

The Complete Peerage (first edition, vol. 7, 1896, p. 55), in its account of his son, calls him “Sir William Sandys, of Andover, in that county (d. 1497)”, the county being Hampshire. Other entries in both editions of the Complete Peerage, and Douglas Richardson’s Magna Carta Ancestry (2005) and Plantagenet Ancestry, call him “of the Vine” or “of the Vyne”, in Sherborne St John; the Complete Peerage adds that the Vyne was said to be the ancient seat of the family and that his son recovered it from the Brocas family. Wikipedia’s article on his son gives him the dates 1440–1496; this page follows the Complete Peerage’s 1497.

His wife

The Complete Peerage, in both editions, names her Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Cheney of Shurland. Richardson’s Magna Carta Ancestry (p. 503) names her Margaret, daughter of John Cheyney, Knt. Wikipedia calls her Edith Cheyne and makes her Sir William’s second wife, which the peerage histories do not say. This page follows the Complete Peerage.

His son John

Richardson’s Plantagenet Ancestry (pp. 359–360) has Margaret Bourgchier marry, by agreement dated 11 November 1478, “JOHN SANDYS (or SANDES), of Ringwood, Hampshire, son and heir apparent of William Sandys, Knt., of the Vyne”, and before 1495 Sir Thomas Bryan; among its sources is a Chancery suit, “Margaret Sandys v. William Sandys, Knt. re. marriage settlement with John, son of defendant, who died leaving complainant pregnant of a child since born”. Plantagenet Ancestry says John and Margaret had one child; Magna Carta Ancestry (p. 124) says they had no issue. The Complete Peerage calls the younger William his father’s “s. and h.”, which fits an elder brother who had died. Neither of Richardson’s books names John’s mother, so this page does not make him Elizabeth Cheney’s son.

His daughter Edith

Edith’s marriages and death are from the Complete Peerage (first edition, vol. 8, p. 112, under Westmorland, and second edition, vol. 4, p. 72, under Darcy) and Richardson’s Magna Carta Ancestry (p. 503). The second edition calls her “da. of Sir William Sandys, of the Vine, by Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Cheney, of Shurland”. It dates her marriage to Lord Darcy only “before 1520”; Richardson gives “before 7 Dec. 1499”, which this page follows.