[2] His elections to parliament had been as the Duke's candidate,[3] he had been in Clarence's army when he defected to Edward before Barnet in 1471, had travelled with him in the same capacity to France in 1475, and had been a ducal councillor ever since.
Sir Roger Tocotes was also accused by Clarence of aiding, abetting and harbouring the criminals,[5] although he managed to avoid capture.
His wife, Elizabeth Braybrooke of St Amand, was the sister-in-law of the bishop of Salisbury, Richard Beauchamp,[note 1] whose executor he was to be.
[8] On learning of this writ[8]—which removed the danger of his arrest by the Duke—Tocotes surrendered himself to the Marshalsea Prison; he was later acquitted of complicity in the death of the Duchess.
[9] Historians have suggested that previously loyal household servants such as Twynho, and intimates as Tocotes, may no longer have felt the Duke's service provided security or the prospect of promotion.