5th daughter of Richard Neville, K.G., 5th Earl of Salisbury, by Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Montagu, Knt. K.G., 4th Earl of Salisbury.3135

Katherine was a legatee in the 1459 will of her father.3135

She left a will dated 22 Nov 1503, proved 25 Mar 1504, directing burial at Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire.3135

Lady Katherine Neville was born in 1442, one of the ten children and the fifth eldest daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montacute, suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury. Her mother was the only child and heiress of Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury by his first wife Lady Eleanor Holland. Katherine's eldest brother was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury, also known as "Warwick the Kingmaker". He was the most important and influential peer in the realm, and one of the principal protagonists in the Wars of the Roses. Her aunt, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of future kings and Katherine's first cousins, Edward IV and Richard III, was another key figure in the dynastic civil wars that dominated most of the latter half of 15th century England. Her niece, Anne Neville (youngest daughter of the "Kingmaker") would become Queen of England as the consort of Richard III, with her sister Alice, Baroness FitzHugh serving Anne in the capacity of lady-in-waiting. Her paternal grandparents were Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland, a daughter of John of Gaunt by his third wife, Katherine de Roët, making her a direct descendant of Edward III.3144

Sir William Bonville, 6th Lord Harington, was captured and beheaded at the Battle of Wakefield with his father 31 Dec. 1460.3135

King Edward died on 9 April 1483; his son Edward V and kingdom were placed under the guardianship of his youngest brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester who was made Lord Protector of England. It was William Hastings who advised Richard to take the young King Edward V into protective custody immediately following the death of Edward IV. It was about this time that William became the lover of Jane Shore, a former mistress of both the late King Edward and Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, husband of William’s step-daughter Cecily Bonville Grey, who had married Thomas Grey in 1474. Hastings had confided to his mistress his concern that his considerable power and influence was on the wane under the protectorate of Richard. She encouraged him to enter into a conspiracy with the Woodville family against the Lord Protector. Richard, upon discovering Hastings' treachery ordered his immediate execution, which took place on 13 June 1483 at the Tower of London.3144