Although a soldier and an administrator, he was described by William of Worcester as 'more devoted to literature and the muses, than to politics and arms'.
His father was killed at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July 1460, fighting for the Lancastrians under Henry VI.
The senior Joan was a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and Elizabeth de Bohun.
He was Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer for Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmorland and the City of York in 1469 and of Shropshire in 1470.
They had three children: John died on 28 June 1473 in Coventry and was buried in the Lady chapel at Worksop Priory in Nottingham.