Honor Grenville, Viscountess Lisle
| Honor Grenville | |
|---|---|
| Viscountess Lisle | |
Monumental brass of Honor Grenville on chest-tomb of her first husband
|
|
| Spouse(s) |
Sir John Basset Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | Grenville family |
| Father | Sir Thomas Grenville |
| Mother | Isabella Gilbert |
| Born | c. 1493 – 1495 |
| Died | 1566 (aged 71–73) Tehidy, Cornwall |
| Buried | 30 April 1566 Illogan Church |
Honor Grenville (c. 1493–5 – 1566) was a Cornish lady whose domestic life from 1533 to 1540 during the reign of King Henry VIII is exceptionally well recorded, due to the survival of the Lisle Papers in the National Archives, the state archives of the United Kingdom.
Honor was a daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville (died 1513) of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton, Cornwall, and lord of the manor of Bideford in North Devon, by his wife Isabella Gilbert, a daughter of Otes Gilbert (1417–1492) of Compton in the parish of Marldon, Devon (whose effigy survives in Marldon Church).
She married twice:
Honor was one of the ladies who attended Anne Boleyn when she travelled to Calais with Henry VIII in 1532. She moved permanently to Calais with her second husband in 1533 when he was appointed Lord deputy of Calais. They lived together at the Staple Inn in Calais until 1540, during which time she succeeded in forwarding the careers of her children, much assisted by her husband's agent in England John Husee.
Her husband was arrested in 1540 whilst on recall to England, for alleged involvement in a plot to betray Calais, Henry VIII's cherished personal possession, to the French, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Although no evidence was ultimately found to implicate him and in 1542 he was due for release and pardon, he died in the Tower "at the sudden rapture", having heard the good news but before regaining his freedom. During this time Honor had been under house arrest in Calais with her daughters Mary and Philippa. The contemporary chronicler Elis Gruffydd described the event of 20 May 1540 thus:
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