Sir John Conyers (died 1490), one of twenty-five children of Christopher Conyers (died 1460),Ross, C.D., Richard III, London 1981, p.50 was a pre-eminent member of the gentry of Yorkshire, northern England, during the fifteenth century Wars of the Roses.
Life and career Based in Hornby Castle, he was originally retained by his patron, the regional magnate Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury at a fee of £8 6s. 8d. By 1465, he was steward of the Honour of Richmond and was being retained, along with his brothers William and Richard, by Salisbury's son and successor as regional magnate, the earl of Warwick,Pollard, A.J., North-Eastern England During the Wars of the Roses, Oxford 1990, p.128 for which he received £13 6s. 8d. He accompanied Salisbury on his journey from Middleham to Ludlow in September 1459, and took part in the Battle of Blore Heath on the 23rd of that month.Griffiths, R.A., The Reign of King Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, Berkeley 1981, p.847 n.276 He later took part in Warwick's rebellion against Edward IV in 1469 and the Battle of Edgcote, raising his 'Wensleydale connection,Ross, C.D., Edward IV, Trowbridge 1974, p.141 and possibly even being the ringleader, 'Robin of Redesdale.'Ross, C.D., Edward IV, Trowbridge 1974, p.128 He submitted to the King in March 1470. After Edward's successful return to power in 1471 he was a Justice of the Peace for Yorkshire's North Riding.Hicks, M.A., 'Dynastic Change and Northern Society: The Fourth Earl of Northumberland, 1470-89,' Northern History XIV (1978), p. 89, n.52 A loyal retainer and probable ducal councillor of Edward's brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III, (who retained him for £20 annually) he was made a Knight of the Body, at 200 marks per annum annuity, and substantial estates in Yorkshire, "where he was very active on local commissions." He was also elected to the Order of the Garter.Ross, C.D., Richard III, London 1981, p.57 In August 1485 he appears to have fought in and survived the Battle of Bosworth Field in the army of Richard III, and was later granted offices in Richmondshire by the new king, Henry VII in February 1486, as a result of 'good and faithful service.'Skidmore, C., Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors, Croydon 2013, p.363 He supported Henry during the first rebellion of his reign, in spring 1486, a position that has been called 'particularly significant' and, according to Michael Hicks, it 'was a momentous decision'.Hicks, M.A., The Wars of the Roses, London 2012, p.342
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