Neville's father was slain fighting for the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461, and attainted on 4 November of that year. On 6 October 1472 Ralph Neville obtained the reversal of his father's attainder and the restoration of the greater part of his estates, and thereby became Lord Neville (1459 creation).[2]
After the Yorkist defeat at Bosworth, Westmorland entered into bonds to the new king, Henry VII, of £400 and 400 marks, and on 5 December 1485, he gave custody (and the approval of the marriage of his eldest son and heir), Ralph Neville (d.1498), to the King.[7]
Westmorland held a command in the army sent into Scotland in 1497[8] after James IV supported the pretensions to the crown of Perkin Warbeck.[9]
Death
Westmorland's eldest son died in 1498. Westmorland died at Hornby Castle, Yorkshire, the seat of his son-in-law, Sir William Conyers, on 6 February 1499, allegedly of grief for his son's death, and was buried in the parish church there.[10] His grandson, Ralph Neville, succeeded to the earldom as 4th Earl of Westmorland.
Marriage and issue
Before 20 February 1473, Neville married Isabel Booth, the daughter of Sir Roger Booth, esquire (1396–1467) and Catherine Hatton, and the niece of Lawrence Booth, Archbishop of York, by whom he had a son and a daughter:[11]
Ralph Neville, Lord Neville (d. 1498). As noted above, on 5 December 1485, his father had granted his custody (and the approval of the marriage of his eldest son) to the King. Accordingly, Lord Neville married firstly, in the presence of King Henry VII and his Queen, Elizabeth of York, Mary Paston (born 19 January 1470), the eldest daughter of Sir William Paston (b. 1436 – died before 7 September 1496)[12] by Lady Anne Beaufort, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. She died of measles at court, about Christmas 1489.[13] There were no issue of the marriage.
Lord Neville married secondly, again in the royal presence, Edith Sandys (d. 22 August 1529), sister of William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, by whom he had three children:
Cecilia Neville, who married John Weston, son of John Weston Jr. and Virginia Alice Edshaw, and was the mother of Dr Robert Weston, Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. II (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)ISBN1449966381
Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)ISBN144996639X