William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton

Parr advanced at court during the reign of Henry VIII and benefited from the marriage of his sister Katherine to the king. Under Edward VI he supported the Protestant government and received the marquessate of Northampton, but his position collapsed after his involvement in the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne.

Parr's career was repeatedly shaped by the Tudor succession and by his close relationship to his sister Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last queen. Under Edward VI he became Marquess of Northampton, but he lost his titles after supporting Lady Jane Grey in 1553. Elizabeth I restored him to favour and later permitted his marriage to Helena Snakenborg; he died in 1571 without surviving legitimate children.

Sandra Byrd’s Roses Have Thorns brings William Parr into Helena Snakenborg’s early life at Elizabeth I’s court as the nobleman whose marriage gives the Swedish-born attendant rank and a place within English aristocratic society. His death soon leaves Helena a wealthy young widow, allowing the novel to use their historically documented marriage as the starting point for her later service to Elizabeth and her more difficult effort to marry Thomas Gorges with the queen’s approval.