Sir Thomas Skipwith, 2nd Baronet

If the will of Henry VIII, and invalidity of Lady Katherine Grey’s marriage was to be believed, upon Margaret’s death, Sir Thomas’ son and heir,George, would theoretically be the King of England.

[3] During this time the theatre ceased performing serious dramatic works in favour of lighter entertainments, leading the noted actor Thomas Betterton to petition the Lord Chamberlain in protest.

She described him as having:[3][5] "...a very good Face, but his Body was grown fat: He was naturally short, and his Legs being what they call somewhat bandy, he was advis’d to wear his Cloaths very long, to help conceal that Defect... he was detestably vain, and lov’d to be thought in the Favour of the Fair, which was indeed his only Fault, for he had a great deal of Wit and good Nature; but sure no Youth of Twenty had so vast a Foible for being admired.

He wrote very pretty well-turned Billet-deuxs..."Manley also described his pursuit of two mistresses,[3] and Skipworth's philandering led to him living apart from his wife on at least one occasion.

[4] Historian D. W. Hayton, who describes Skipwith as 'an engaging roué', suggests this 'strengthens the suspicion' that Gurney was also his mistress, and her daughter his illegitimate child.