Lincolnshire Connection

Sir Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby of Eresby, was from an ancient family, and overlord of the Willoughby Estates in Lincolnshire, which would have included Thomas Dale of Alford and Captain John Smith’s father, who were apparently on adjoining estates. Lord Willoughby is best known to Virginians because he sponsored the military training of the famous Captain John Smith whose father farmed almost twenty acres at Willoughby. Peregrine Bertie succeeded Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, as the senior military officer in the Low Countries, and the two Vere brothers, Francis and Horace, his kinsmen, succeeded Willoughby in that vital role. It was the younger brother, Sir Horace Vere of Tilbury, who married Lady Dale’s cousin and purchased Clearwell Manor in Saint Briavel’s Parish.