John Nesfield Esq.

By Martyn Smith, John Nesfield's Retinue

Nothing is known of John Nesfield before 1471, when he appears in the service of Edward IV. Being granted for life on June 20th the office of "Riding Forrester of the Forest of Galtres" (in Yorkshire). In the following months he (along with others including Sir Ralph Assheton) was commissioned to bring to justice several Lancastrian dissidents.

Due to his sudden rise in favour, it is logical to assume that he had been active in Edward's campaign of 1470/71 to reclaim the throne from the restored Henry VI. He may have been with Edward in exile, or more likely, working under cover against the Lancastrian Redemption. It is known that later in his career (May 1480) while serving in Calais

• "There was 2 Frenchmen chased an English ship before Calais, and Federston and John Dave and Thomas Overton lay in Calais roads but themselves were on land, and as soon as they saw them, they got boats and went aboard, and so did Master Marshall and Sir Thomas Everingham and Master Nessefylde with divers soldiers of Calais and rescued the English ship and took the Frenchmen". (Source: The Cely Letters).

Also, in 1484, Nesfield, along with Sir Thomas Everingham again, were captured fighting at sea off Scarborough against a French and Scottish force and were ransomed by Richard III. It is therefore possible that as a capable seaman he could possibly have been involved with Edward's invasion of 1471. Although this is my assumption only, it is obvious that he did something of note.

At some point he married Margaret, the eldest daughter of Sir Ralph Assheton; other than that nothing is known of his family life, but there may have been a daughter named Eleanor or it may have been that Eleanor (who married a certain Thomas Maddison) was a Sister of John. It is also probable that he had a brother called Robert, who in 1472 is named with John on a commission to arrest several men in Essex.

John further advanced through the 1470s but it was under the Kingship of Richard III he really made his mark. He had become retained by Richard, Duke of Gloucester before June 1483 and was active in Richard's coup. He was made an Esquire of The Body and created Constable of Hertford Castle. Richard chose him to watch over Queen Elizabeth Wydville and her daughters whilst in sanctuary and was later commissioned to be her "attendant" for life. It is almost certain that he was present at the Guild Hall when Gloucester was "asked to take the throne" on 24th June 1483. He fought against Buckingham's rebellion later that year and was rewarded with the Manor of Hewtesbury in Wiltshire. John fought for his King at Bosworth (his arms are shown on the Tudor woodcarving of the battle, at Stowe).

He then disappears without trace just as he appeared in 1471. It must therefore be assumed that he died at Bosworth, rather than escaping as there are no surviving commissions ordering his arrest. He was certainly dead before 8th April 1488, when administration of his goods were granted to his widow.