John Underhill of Ettington Manor

Members of the House of Shirley would rise to positions of great importance in England. Sir Hugh Shirley was the Grand Falconer to King Henry IV in 1400. He lost his life in the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, when dressed as a decoy. He was mistaken as the King by the enemy and killed. [v]Sir Hugh’s heroic efforts later would be immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Henry IV, in which King Henry said:

Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like
Never to hold it up again! the spirits
Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:
It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth but he means to pay.

Sir Hugh Shirley’s son Ralph was the next to acquire Ettington. Ralph Shirley distinguished himself at the siege of Harlefleur in 1415. He was also a principal commander at the Battle of Agincourt, where he had a retinue of seven men at arms and twenty-three archers. This Battle was remembered as a decisive victory of England over a superior French force which outnumbered them nearly six to one. The use of the longbow especially was particularly decisive. Later Shakespeare would use this battle as the centerpiece of his play Henry V.

John Underhill acquired an 80 year lease for Ettington from Sir Ralph Shirley in 1509. Underhill’s wife Agnes Porter was the daughter and heir of Thomas Porter who was a former lessee of Ettington Manor.[vi]Sir Ralph Shirley would eventually die in 1517, and his son Francis Shirley would go on to inherit Ettington following his father’s death.[vii]John Underhill himself died in 1518. Both he and later his wife Agnes would be laid to rest in the Chapel of St. Nicholas on the grounds of Ettington. [viii]

Underhill and Porter would have three sons, all who would go on to positions of importance. These include William Underhill (1475-1542), Thomas Underhill (1485-1520), and Edward Underhill (1486-1547). The will of John Underhill clearly stated that if his eldest son William Underhill died without heirs, that his lands would pass on to his second eldest son Thomas and his heirs. William Underhill lived long enough for a fresh one-hundred year lease to be made to him by the son of Sir Ralph Shirley, Francis Shirley, in 1541.

William Underhill unfortunately died the following year in 1542 with “no issue.” Thomas Underhill and his wife Anne Wynter of Hudington, who herself came from a long line of nobility, were the last two in their respective families to remain Catholic. Thomas Underhill had long since been dead by the time his brother William died in 1542. This meant that the property would then pass on to Edward Underhill, the last surviving son of John Underhill and Agnes Porter. [ix]By the time of his death in 1547, Edward Underhill gained lease not only to Ettington but also to the Manor of Herbury and lands in Stratford-upon-Avon. This was merely prelude to the accomplishments of his son William Underhill (1512-1570) who would go on to study law and amass substantial landholdings of his own, while rising to a position of prominence as a member of the Inner Temple in London. [x]

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