58B232.111.131.111.1. Sir John Basset, son of Sir John Basset
Sir John Basset, son of Sir John and Joan (Beaumont) Basset, was born in 1463. He was Esquire of Tehidy, Umberleigh, and Devon. He married (1) Elizabeth Denys, daughter of John Denys. He married (2) Honora Granville, daughter of Sir Thomas Granville, in 1515. They had 6 daughters and 3 sons. Sir John died in 1528. His widow Honora, married (2) Arthur Plantagenet Viscount L’Isle.
NOVEL ‘Honora and Arthur – The Last Plantagenets’
This is the story of the life of Honora Grenville, a real person who lived from 1491-1566. She was born in Cornwall England, the second youngest daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville of Stowe. The story is told in the first person and relates Honora’s life from her earliest memories until shortly before her death.
After a happy childhood spent with her large family at Stowe Honora falls desperately in love at the age of eighteen. The object of her affections is Arthur Plantagenet, an illegitimate son of Edward IV. The affair ends abruptly when Arthur is ordered by King Henry VIII to marry a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Dudley Grey, Baroness Lisle.
Honora subsequently marries John Basset of Umberleigh in Devon, a family friend and a widower twenty-eight years her senior. She moves to Umberleigh with her new husband and they have seven children in the thirteen years until his death.
Arthur Plantagenet, also recently widowed, re-enters her life and they marry, after which they move to Soberton in Hampshire with the ten children they now have between them. They spend a blissful five years at Soberton before fate once again steps in with an order from Henry VIII for Arthur to take up the position of Governor of Calais. They have no choice but to reluctantly break up the household at Soberton and move to Calais.
Once there it soon becomes apparent that they are in a difficult and unhappy situation. Not only is Calais itself a hot-bed of trouble and dissent but Arthur is not cut out for a high-profile diplomatic position of such delicacy. They are surrounded by enemies, sink rapidly into debt and are caught up in the political and religious turmoils of the day. It comes as no surprise when, after seven tumultuous years, Arthur is accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Honora and two of her daughters are placed under house arrest in Calais.
After two years Arthur is granted his freedom but just as Honora and her daughters are to board the ship which will take them back to England, they receive the news that he has died in the tower.
They return to Umberleigh accompanied by Honora’s eldest surviving son and most of the remainder of her life is spent quietly in the West Country. The last chapters of the novel deal with her final years during which she has to deal with tragedies, both past and present, and with the lives of her children, three of whom continue to be involved with Court life in London.
The novel is divided into five sections: Stowe, Umberleigh, Soberton, Calais and Return to Umberleigh. Each section is divided into chapters of varying lengths. There is a short Epilogue written by Honora’s half-brother John Grenville, Rector of Kilkhampton. The novel consists of just under 117,000 words. All of the main characters are real people and I have tried to keep their characters and actions as true and possible to that which we know of them historically. There are very few fictional characters in the novel and their roles are only very minor. There are three family charts for the reader to refer to.
As the life of my heroine is so bound up with the tumultuous history of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary, the novel deals in detail with that history, combined with the drama and romance of Honora’s personal life.
I think this novel would be widely read by lovers of history and historical romance as it is both a historically factual description of the times and a dramatic and sympathetic portrayal of Honora and of her undying love for Arthur Plantagenet. I am their descendant.
To see information about this novel and to order a copy, you can click on the link below.
