Biography of James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde 1393-1452

Before 17th June 1386 [his father] James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde [aged 27] and [his mother] Anne Welles Countess Ormonde [aged 26] were married. She by marriage Countess Ormonde. He the son of [his grandfather] James Butler 2nd Earl Ormonde and [his grandmother] Elizabeth Darcy Countess Ormonde [aged 54]. They were sixth cousins. He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward I of England.

On 23rd May 1393 James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde was born to [his father] James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde [aged 34] and [his mother] Anne Welles Countess Ormonde [aged 33] at Kilkenny, County Kilkenny. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England.

On 13th November 1397 [his mother] Anne Welles Countess Ormonde [aged 37] died.

In 1399 [his father] James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde [aged 40] and Katherine Fitzgerald Countess Ormonde were married. She by marriage Countess Ormonde. He the son of [his grandfather] James Butler 2nd Earl Ormonde and [his grandmother] Elizabeth Darcy Countess Ormonde.

On 7th September 1405 [his father] James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde [aged 46] died. His son James [aged 12] succeeded 4th Earl Ormonde.

In 1413 James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 19] and Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde were married. She by marriage Countess Ormonde. He the son of James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde and Anne Welles Countess Ormonde. They were third cousins. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

On 24th November 1420 [his son] James Butler 1st Earl Wiltshire 5th Earl Ormonde was born to James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 27] and [his wife] Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde at Kilkenny, County Kilkenny. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. He married (1) before 3rd June 1457 Avice Stafford Countess Ormonde (2) April 1458 his second cousin once removed Eleanor Beaufort Countess Ormonde, daughter of Edmund Beaufort 1st or 2nd Duke of Somerset and Eleanor Beauchamp Duchess Somerset.

Before 1422 [his son] John Butler 6th Earl Ormonde was born to James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 28] and [his wife] Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde in Kilkenny, Ireland [Map]. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England.

In 1424 [his daughter] Elizabeth Butler Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford was born to James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 30] and [his wife] Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde at County Tipperary. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England. She married before 1445 her third cousin John Talbot 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, son of John "Old Talbot" Talbot 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Maud Neville 6th Baroness Furnivall, and had issue.

In 1426 [his son] Thomas Butler 7th Earl Ormonde was born to James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 32] and [his wife] Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. He married (1) 1445 his fourth cousin once removed Anne Hankford Countess Ormonde, daughter of Richard Hankford and Anne Montagu Duchess Exeter, and had issue (2) after 2nd January 1495 Lora Berkeley Countess Ormonde.

On 18th July 1432 James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 39] and Joan or Elizabeth Fitzgerald Countess Ormonde were married. She by marriage Countess Ormonde. She the daughter of Gerald Fitzgerald 5th Earl of Kildare and Margaret Rocheford Countess Kildare. He the son of James Butler 3rd Earl Ormonde and Anne Welles Countess Ormonde. They were half second cousins. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England.

Chronicle of Gregory. 16th May 1441. Ande the xvj day of May the Duke of Yorke [aged 29], the Erle of Oxynforde [aged 33], the Erle of Ewe [aged 37], the Erle of Ormounde [aged 47], and Syr Richard Woodevyle [aged 56], whythe many othyr knyghtys and squyers, toke the way towarde Fraunce, and they schippyd at Portysmouthe [Map].

Before 1445 [his son-in-law] John Talbot 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 27] and Elizabeth Butler Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford [aged 20] were married. She the daughter of James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 51] and Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde. He the son of John "Old Talbot" Talbot 1st Earl of Shrewsbury [aged 61] and Maud Neville 6th Baroness Furnivall. They were third cousins. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

In 1445 Thomas Butler 7th Earl Ormonde [aged 19] and Anne Hankford Countess Ormonde [aged 14] were married. She the daughter of Richard Hankford and Anne Montagu Duchess Exeter [aged 44]. He the son of James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 51] and Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde. They were fourth cousin once removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Chronicle of Gregory. 4th October 1445. Ande that same year there was a pechyng i-made uppon the Erle of Ormounde [aged 52] by the pryour of Kylmayn [aged 24]¹ for certayne poyntys of treson, the whyche was takyn in to the kyngys grace, where uppon it lykyd our sovereign lorde [aged 23] to graunte a generalle pardon unto the said Erle. But nevyrtheles the said pryour appayryde in Smethefylde [Map] the iiij day of the monythe of October, as it was apoyntyde, full clenly harnyssyd, redy whythe alle his fetys and whythe alle his wepyns, kepynge the fylde tylle hyghe none.

Note 1. Thomas Fitzgerald grandson of Thomas Earl of Kildare, was at this time Prior of the Knights of St. John at Kilmainham in Ireland.

In July 1452 [his wife] Joan or Elizabeth Fitzgerald Countess Ormonde died.

On 23rd August 1452 James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde [aged 59] died at Dublin [Map]. He was buried at St Mary's Abbey, Dublin. His son James [aged 31] succeeded 5th Earl Ormonde.

[his daughter] Anne Butler was born to James "White Earl" Butler 4th Earl Ormonde and Joan Beauchamp Countess Ormonde. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.