Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles
| Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.1428 |
| Died | 12 March 1470 Stamford, Lincolnshire |
| Spouse(s) | Joan Willoughby, 7th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby |
| Issue | |
| Father | Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles |
| Mother | Joan Waterton |
Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles (c.1428–1470), was an English nobleman and soldier. From a Lancastrian family, he came to be on good terms with the Yorkist King Edward IV, but was later executed after being associated with a plot against Edward known as the "Welles Uprising".
Richard Welles was the only son of Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles, and his first wife, Joan Waterton. He had four sisters of the whole blood:
He married, by 9 January 1449, Joan Willoughby, in her own right Lady Willoughby, the only daughter and heiress of Robert Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. He was knighted shortly before 31 January 1453, on which date he had seisin of his wife’s lands, and was on various commissions in Lincolnshire in that year. On or before 15 March 1454 he was a privy councillor. He was summoned to Parliament from 26 May 1455 to 10 August 1469 by writs directed Ricardo Welles de Willughby, thus becoming Lord Willoughby. According to Hicks, having the expectation of the Welles and Waterton inheritances, 'he was destined to be the principal magnate in the Lincolnshire area'.
In his early years he was a supporter of the House of Lancaster, and for service against the Yorkists in Lincolnshire in 1459 was granted £40 yearly from forfeited lands on 21 March 1460. He was in Queen Margaret's army when it advanced on London and won the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461, and fought at Towton on 29 March 1461; after Towton it was wrongly reported that he had been slain. His father, slain at Towton, was attainted on 21 December 1461 by the victorious Yorkists, whereby all his honours were forfeited, and a result he did not immediately succeed his father in the barony of Welles; however on 5 February 1462 he was able to obtain a pardon from Edward IV.
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