Sir Anketil Malorie

     Anketil was born circa 1321 in Leicestershire, England, at Kirkby Mallory in the parish of Peckleton. Sudborough.¹ Their marriage was arranged by William le Zouche, newly elected archbishop of Yorkshire, [elected in 1342] and an older brother of Thomasina. Anketil was a second cousin once removed, he had left his studies to go to Yorkshire and attach himself to the court of the Archbishop. Because of his education and intelligence, Anketil became a favorite of William. Anketil married Thomasina la Zouche circa 1344. As part of the marriage arrangement, William deeded over to Anketil part of an estate known as Sudborough, which was a part of the le Zouche estates and of which William was now in control.² Ankitel apparently did not use his estate resources wisely, as there is record that he used part his Sudborough property to pay off a debt, and then at the time of the marriage of his daughter to Thomas Greene, he deeded over the remainer of the property to Thomas. There is no obvious reason for this transfer. In 1377, Anketil was knighted, almost immediately after Richard II became king. He received this honor, in all likelyhood, because of his distant relationship to the king. The fact that his daughter's father-in-law, Sir Henry Greene, was Lord Chief Justice and also distantly related, may also have been a factor. Sir Anketil continued to receive favors from Richard II's government as he was given various pensions, for which there are no obvious reasons. Some of these continued even after his death causing the appearance that he died at a later date. Anketil departed this life in 1384 in England.