William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh

William Feilding was the son of Basil Feilding, of Newnham Paddox, Warwickshire (High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1612), and Elizabeth Aston, daughter of Sir Walter Aston. and was knighted on 4 March 1607. Feilding was created Baron and Viscount Feilding in 1620. Two years later he was appointed Master of the Great Wardrobe and Custos Rotulorum of Warwickshire and Earl of Denbigh on 14 September 1622. On his return to England, Denbigh's sixteen ships encountered off Cherbourg on 21 June 1628 (N.S.) a squadron of French ships under Francois Le Tellier de La Luthumière, Governor of Cherbourg; three English ships were burnt and four captured by the French. In 1628, Denbigh became a member of the Council of war. On the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, Denbigh served as a Cavalier under Prince Rupert of the Rhine and was present at the Battle of Edgehill. On 3 April 1643, during Rupert's attack on Birmingham, he was wounded and died from the effects on the 8 April 1643, being buried at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire. His brother, Edward Feilding, who also served in the Royalist army, was killed at the second battle of Newbury the following year. Lord Denbigh's courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty are much praised by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. ==Family==

Sir William and his wife, Susan Villiers, had six children: • Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh (c. 1608–1675) In 1632, Feilding's daughters Mary and Anne, and his niece Goditha Arden, a maid of honour, joined Henrietta Maria to perform in the court masque ''The Shepherd's Paradise''. His daughter, Lady Mary Feilding (1613–1638), also known as Margaret, was married to James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, one of the heirs to the throne of Scotland after the descendants of James VI (James I of England). Her portrait was painted by Anthony van Dyck and Henry Pierce Bone. His eldest son, Basil, inherited the title of Earl of Denbigh and famously fought against his father during the Civil War. His second son, George Feilding, was awarded the right to the title of Earl of Desmond at the same time as his father was made Earl of Denbigh in 1622. George Feilding was around eight years old at the time. The Earldom of Desmond was a lesser title than the Earldom of Denbigh, being a title in the Irish, rather than English, peerage. ==Ancestry==