Sir John Basset (1462–31 Jan 1529) of Umberleigh in Devon and Tehidy in Cornwall, was a courtier in the reign of Henry VIII. He was married twice; firstly to Ann Denys, daughter of John Denys and secondly to Honor Grenville. He had 12 children, one son (who died young) and four daughters by his first wife and seven by his second, including John, James, Elizabeth, Katherine and, most famously, Anne, who attracted the interest of Henry VIII.[1]
As High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1497 Sir John was a target for the Cornish rebels under Richard Pendyn of Pendeen who attacked and 'dismantled' Tehidy, the family home. He was created Knight of the Bath by King Henry VII in November, 1501 at the time of the marriage of Katherine of Aragon to Prince Arthur. He was Sheriff of Cornwall again in 1517 and 1522 and High Sheriff of Devon in 1524. In 1520 he was part of the entourage which accompanied Henry VIII to the Field of Cloth of Gold.
Sir John died while his children were young. His wife Honor re-married, to Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, who was the illegitimate son of King Edward IV. He had been given no titles during the reign of his father, half-brother Edward V or uncle Richard III, but was created a viscount by Henry VIII, his nephew. John Basset's children were moved to Calais, then an English enclave which is now a part of France. Lord Lisle was the governor of Calais, and the children were sent to France to be educated.
Lord and Lady Lisle were apparently very happy and very much in love. Honor was a forceful woman, who wrote many letters to friends at court, ensuring that they were kept well-informed. These letters are preserved today as the Lisle Letters and give an interesting account of the developments during the reign of Henry VIII.
Honor finally succeeded in getting one of her young daughters appointed as a maid-of-honour to Queen Jane Seymour in 1537. She was asked to send two of her daughters - Anne and Katherine - to court, where the Queen would pick the most suitable. Anne, who became known at court for her beauty and respectability, was selected. Her first appearance as maid-of-honour was at Jane Seymour's funeral. It was over two years before another queen arrived, but Anne spent a lot of time at court and received expensive presents from the King. She went on to serve queens Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. Her sister, Katherine, and her mother eventually joined her at court, despite Lord Lisle's arrest for treason in 1540.
In 1542, the Imperial ambassador, Chapuys, reported that on the eve of Catherine Howard's execution, Henry seemed besotted with Anne, and that she was a possible sixth wife. This possibility may have been ruined by Anne's own family. Her sister, Elizabeth, favoured the King re-marrying her mistress, Anne of Cleves, and made comments that this seemed to be what God wanted. She also said, "What a man is our king? How many wives will he have?" This was reported to the King and she was brought in to be questioned - under the treason laws her remarks could have warranted the death penalty.
The Bassett family continued to serve at the courts of Henry VIII's children.