John Wenlock, Baron Wenlock

Also known as: John Wenlock / lord Wenlocke / sir Iohn Wenlock / sir Iohn Wenlocke · Family: House of York · Role: knight · First appears: Henry VI 57

Around c. 1460 at Coventry, Henry VI’s parliament attainted John Wenlock alongside leading Yorkists, confiscating their goods and possessions. In the struggle for London, he acted as an ally of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Edward IV, watching the gates so that no aid could reach Thomas Scales in the Tower, while Thomas Scales was his enemy.

John Wenlock later served Edward IV by governing the rearguard, but by c. 1471 he was allied with Margaret of Anjou, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick, who landed at Weymouth to oppose Edward IV. Although Edward IV had elevated him to baron, Wenlock stood with the Lancastrian force at Teukesbury; when Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (the younger) and John (brother of the Duke of Somerset) led forward, “still he stood, and gaue the looking on,” leaving his purpose uncertain.