Sir William Sidney

Sir William Sidney (1482?–1554) was an English courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI.

He was eldest son of Nicholas Sidney, by Anne, sister of Sir William Brandon. In 1511 he accompanied Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy into Spain as a volunteer against the Moors, and when Darcy, finding his assistance not required, returned almost immediately to England, Sidney and several of his companions remained behind in order to see Madrid. He was hospitably entertained by King Ferdinand, but declined the honour of knighthood from him; and shortly afterwards returned home through France.

As captain of the ‘Great Bark’ he took part in the naval operations before Brest in April 1513, and later in the year commanded the right wing of the English army at the battle of Flodden. He was knighted for his services, and on 23 March 1514 obtained a grant in tail male of the lordship of Kingston-upon-Hull and the manor of Myton forfeited by the attainder of Edmund de la Pole. In October he accompanied his cousin Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset to Paris, to witness the coronation on 5 November of the Princess Mary as consort of Louis XII, and took a prominent part in the subsequent jousts and festivities. In the following summer he again went to France, charged with the delicate task of announcing the approaching second marriage of the Princess Mary, to the Duke of Suffolk.

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