ON THIS DAY - 15 April 1530

On This Day (15 April) in 1530, Gilbert Tailboys, 1st Baron Tailboys of Kyme, Lincolnshire, died.

Plaque at Kyme Church © The Cosmic Elk

Gilbert was born c.1498, the eldest son of Sir George Tailboys, and his second wife, Elizabeth Gascoigne. In 1507, George had been made keeper of Harbottle Castle in Northumberland, a position that was continued in the new regime of Henry VIII. In 1509, he was appointed as an Equire of the Body to the new king, and in 1513, he accompanied Henry in his fight against the French. However, in 1517, George became "insane" and was declared "a lunatic"; he had reportedly first become unwell in 1499, but had partially recovered, having been able to perform the military tasks asked of him was initially placed under the charge of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, with Gilbert also coming under the care of the Lord Chancellor.

Elizabeth 'Bessie' Blount had been the recognised mistress of Henry VIII; she had first come to court c.1512, as a maid-of-honour to Henry's queen Katherine of Aragon, and by 1515 had began a relationship with the king. In Jun 1519, Bessie gave birth to a son, Henry, whose paternity the king acknowledged, offering on him the name of Henry Fitzroy and titles of Dukes of Richmond and Somerset.

Bessie appears to have given birth to her next child, a daughter Elizabeth, the following year, in 1520. However, this child carried the name of Tailboys, with Henry not acknowledging paternity. His affair with Bessie also appears to have come to an end, with him commencing an affair with Mary Boleyn by Spring 1522.

By June 1522, Bessie was known to have married Gilbert, confirmed by a grant issued to the couple. In 1527, Gilbert had been appointed as a gentleman of the king's bedchamber, and was appointed as a Member of Parliament to Lincolnshire, later being created as Baron Tailboys of Kyme in 1529, and entering into the House of Lords.

Church of St Mary and All Saints, South Kyme © English Heritage

Gilbert died on 15 April 1530, likely at his manor of South Kyme; given his age and his recent acceptance into the peerage, Norton (2011) believes that his death was likely unexpected. Gilbert was buried at Kyme Priory, now the Church of St Mary and All Saints, South Kyme, where other members of his family had been buried.

Monumental Brass - Elizabeth Blount ©Trustees of the British Museum

Bessie commissioned two memorial brasses, depicting herself and her husband, kneeling in prayer, with the inscription:

Here lyeth the body of Sir Gilbert Taylboys, Lord Taylboys, Lord of KLyme. Which married Elizabeth. One of the daughters of Sir John Blount of Kinlet Knight. He departed forth of this world Ye 15th day of April An. Do. 1530. On whose soul God have Mercy, Amen. Gilbert was succeeded by his eldest son, 7-year-old George, named after his father, who was created 2nd Baron Tailboys of Kyme on his death. His daughter Elizabeth would go on to inherit the Barony of Kyme in 1542, following the deaths of her two younger brothers, George and Robert. Elizabeth married twice, first to Thomas Wymbish, and secondly to Ambrose Dudley, in Spring 1553, Gilbert's widow, Bessie, remarried, to Edward Fiennes, 1st Baron of Lincoln, with whom she had three more daughters, later rejoining the Royal Household.