On the accession of the Duke of Lancaster as Henry IV of England, Sir William senior stood so high in the estimation of the new monarch that he was deputed with the bishop of St. Asaph to announce the revolution to the court of Spain.

[1] After the death of Dame Isabel, Sir Thomas remarried Joan Mowbray, a granddaughter of Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk.

[4] Sir Thomas Parr, the courtier's father, was sub-vice comes (i.e. deputy to the hereditary sheriff, Baron Clifford) for Westmorland from 1428 to 1437 and MP six times.

He was on the side of the rebellion (Robin of Redesdale) instigated by Richard Neville, earl of Warwick and King Edward IV's younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence.

One result appears to be that the royalist forces became divided between Pembroke and Devon (Humphrey Stafford) and once the rebel host did arrive, with William Parr, Geoffrey Gates and John Clapham in command, then Herbert's troops were overwhelmed, turning it into a rout.

Within weeks the 'Redesdale' rebels would find and execute King Edward's father-in-law, Lord Rivers and his young son, and soon after, Devon himself.

Edward had to disband his own denuded troops as he soon found himself prisoner to his cousin Warwick and spent the summer being toted about the country until he had to be released.

And, like Parr, both Guildfords, the Auchers, Brune and Robert Neville, would be pardoned by Edward in 1471, once he regained the throne; as for Gates, after 1477 he simply disappeared.

For William, aligning himself with the always reliably stalwart Yorkist, James Harrington, once Edward and Gloucester returned from exile, meant that he was rewarded with the comptrollership of the household, which he held until 1475.

He also received a major grant of estates, including the third part of the crown's share of the Kendal barony, and Burgh, Pendragon and Appleby castles.

He was exempted from the act of apparel in 1482, was chief commissioner for exercising the office of constable of England in 1483, and took part in the funeral of Edward IV.

After the death of Edward IV, Parr followed the direction of King's Council, Lord Hastings, and probably his mother-in-law, Lady FitzHugh, and accepted the rule of the Lord Protector, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, during the minority of the new boy King Edward V.[1] The FitzHughs were closely related to the royal family through Parr's wife, Elizabeth, whose mother was cousin to the Yorks and aunt to Anne, Duchess of Gloucester.

[1] After refusing to be part of the coronation of King Richard III and his queen consort on 6 July 1483, Lord Parr returned north where he died shortly after.

Sir William married, first, Joan Trusbut (died 1473), widow of Thomas Colt of Roydon, Essex; her issue by Parr, if any, did not survive.