William Catesby

William Catesby was a lawyer who possessed great influence with Richard III (r. 1483-1485). His career and wealth was at its peak during Richard’s reign, but his reign was short and so was Catesby’s fortune.

Catesby was a son of Sir William Catesby, one of the leading gentry of Northamptonshire, who left him fourteen manors worth £250 a year. Catesby went to the Inner Temple to study the law, and by 1474-7 5, in his mid-thirties, Catesby was lecturing on Magna Carta and had built up a lucrative legal practice advising barons and clergy alike.

Catesby involved himself in political intrigue and had betrayed William Hastings to have been plotting against Richard III (1483-1485). As a result Hastings was executed and Catesby was rewarded by lucrative offices and lands which gave him a £323 a year income. However, Catesby fought alongside Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field (22 August 1485) where Richard fell and Catesby was taken prisoner. Three days later he was beheaded at Leicester.

At the time of his death Catesby was worth about £10,000, equivalent to about 0.27% of the £3.6m net national income at the time. That would be around £2.9bn in 2010.