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William Skeffington is first mentioned in two cases concerning landed r i g h t s i n Skeffington and Keythorp in 1488 and 1496. A supporter of the G r e y s , h e was an executor of the will of the 1st Marquess of Dorset, who d i e d i n 1 5 01. He may have served with Dorset in France, as he was to do w i t h t h e 2 nd Marquess, when he was given command of the ordnance. It was t h u s a s a n e xperienced artilleryman that he replaced Sir Sampson Norton a s m a s t e r of the ordnance in 1515. With the return of peace the work may h a v e b e e n at first less demanding, and by 1522 Skeffington had served tw i c e a s s h eriff and had discharged various other local duties; but when i n 1 5 2 6 h e t estified in the dispute between Dorset and Sir Richard Sache ve r e l l h e admitted that he had not been in his county for four years. A s w e l l a s p erforming ceremonial duties he had served on various commiss io n s r e l ating to Calais and had spent most of his time either there or a t t h e T o w er, the two principal ordnance depots. In 1523 he had also bee n c h a r g ed with supplying victuals to the army in the field, and his fre qu e n t v o yages between Calais and London also made him a useful liaison o f f i c e r.
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1460 - 1535 (75 years)
