GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF THE
adjoining manor of Papelwick, and the church patronage annexed to it, with other lands, were granted by that monarch to Sir John Byron, who was also constable of Nottingham Castle, and master of Sherwood Forest.
The next proprietor of Newstead Abbey was also named Sir John, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1579. His eldest son, Sir Nicholas, served with distinction in the Low Countries; and, in the great rebellion, he was one of the first to take up arms in the royal cause. After the battle of Edgehill, at which he was present, he was made Colonel-General of Cheshire and Shropshire, and Governor of Chester, which city he gallantly defended against the Parliament forces, although he at last fell into their hands. Lord Clarendon thus notices him: " He was," (says the noble historian) "a person of great affability, and dexterity, as well as martial knowledge, which gave great life to the designs of the well-affected; and with the encouragement of some gentlemen of North Wales, he in a short time raised such a power of horse and foot, as made frequent skirmishes with the enemy, sometimes with notable advantage, never with signal loss."
Another son, Sir John Byron, was made Knight of the Bath, at the coronation of King James I. He married Anne, the eldest daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, Bart., by whom he had eleven sons and a daughter. To Sir John Byron (besides