It’s strange but true that there are a lot of people from Essex who can trace their ancestors back to a family of prominent landowners in Staffordshire, but it’s true. In the early 1540s, William Cardinall married Lettice, widow of William Clippesby of Norfolk, and daughter of William Knightley – a Norwich lawyer who was descended from the Staffordshire family.
A great deal of contradictory information can be found online about the Knightleys and perhaps we will never know exactly what William Knightley’s family tree looks like as no one can agree even on the identity of their parents. Here is my attempt to dig through the evidence.
- Knightley brothers: William Knightley and Matthew Knightley
- Who were William and Matthew Knightley’s parents? (to follow)
- Knightley memorials in Fawsley church (to follow)
- Collections for a History of Staffordshire: The William Salt Archaeological Society