Balthazar Willech, of Alford

Balthazar Willich aka Willech/Willix of Alford seems to have been a man of substance, perhaps a protege or child of Peregrine Bertie, 13th Lord Willoughby d'Eresby (12 October 1555 – 25 June 1601).

Willech/ Willick/Willix is likely not an English name, and may be Flemish according to historian Frank Herrick. Peregrine Bertie was almost always away on diplomatic missions outside England and then, by 1598, he returned and became governor of Berwick Castle and died in 1601. He spent a great deal of time in the Dutch "Low Countries" and probably brought Balthazar back with him, as the name "Willicks" is found no where in England by genealogists.

Balthazar Willech received all his leaseholds from Peregrine Bertie exclusively, suggesting he may have been an illegitmate son of Peregrine Bertie.

Balthazar's will states he held his lands for 21 years from Lord Willoughby of Willoughby and d'Eresby (will proved at Lincoln Feb. 16, 1598/99). The town of Willoughby is also where Captain John Smith was born, on a farm rented from Lord Willoughby). Balthazar states in his will that he is to be buried "in" the church of Alford, therefore his burial may be in a tomb or vault, perhaps St. Wilfrid's church, where Francis Marbury preached while in Alford and who was his mentioned in his will.

Francis Marbury ("Mr. Frances Merburie", father of Anne Hutchinson, is left Balthazar's "best gowne" for the good will which he bears him. Marbury, a well known dissenting minister, was sent to prison, and after being considered sufficiently reformed to preach again and sent to Alford, close to his ancestral home about 1580. He was not transferred to London until 1605.

The will of Balthazar Willix:

https://archive.org/stream/lincolnshireorig00sanb#page/16/mode/2up

About Peregrine Bertie:

Richard Bertie, Peregrine's father, was Lady Catherine Willoughby de Eresby's second husband, the first being Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Peregrine Bertie's half-brothers, Henry and Charles Brandon, died as teenagers four years before his birth. His sister Susan married the Earl of Kent, and then the nephew of Bess of Hardwick.

Owing to religious politics, the parents had to move outside England and the boy was born at Wesel on the River Rhine. Mary Tudor "Bloody Mary" was queen of England during the time of his birth; he was baptized at the church of Saint Willibrord on 14 October. Bertie's father Richard married Catherine Willoughby, the daughter and heiress of William, 11th Lord Willoughby, and widow of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The Berties had married for love around 1553, after Richard Bertie had for several years served as her Master of the Horse and Gentleman Usher. The pair fled to the Continent during the reign of the Catholic Mary I and the Counter-Reformation. They ignored commands to return, and their estates were sequestered. They travelled first to Cleves and then Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During this period Sigismund II Augustus, the King of Poland and Duke of Lithuania appointed them as administrators of Lithuania, based at Kražiai. They returned in 1559 soon after the accession of the more Protestant Elizabeth I and had their lands restored to them. Their story is recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Richard and Catherine were parents of Susan Bertie, Countess of Kent and Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. Peregrine was named for their wandering life in exile..

In 1582, Peregrine Bertie was commissioned to escort the Duke of Anjou from Canterbury to Antwerp. Lord Willoughby de Eresby arrived at Elsinore on 22 July and left on 27 September 1582. In 1585, he returned to Denmark on behalf of Elizabeth in support of Henry III of Navarre and to obtain Danish help for England's efforts on behalf of the independent Netherlands.

These journeys were made at Bertie's expense as his correspondence with Francis Walsingham made clear; he was becoming desperate to be paid or to escape from the diplomatic duties. After two and a half months of working on the Danish king, Bertie got him to offer to try to persuade the Spanish king to retire from the Low Countries. Frederick also agreed to send 2,000 horse to back up the English force already in the Netherlands. On achieving this much, Peregrine set off for England by way of Hamburg, Emden and Amsterdam. From March 1586 Bertie served in the Netherlands as governor of Bergen-op-Zoom under Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester,[3] who was Governor-General of the United Provinces. After Leicester's departure for England in December 1586, he was made general of the English forces. He suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Zutphen but redeemed himself with his victory at the Siege of Bergen. Subsequently, he fought for the Huguenots under Henry of Navarre. He commanded the English contingent at Henry's Siege of Paris in 1590.

Bertie's final appointment was Governor of Berwick upon Tweed on the Scottish border and Warden of the East March in 1598, displacing Robert Carey. At the request of Robert Cecil he organised the kidnapping of Edmund Ashfield, an Englishman visiting James VI of Scotland. Peregrine died on 25 June 1601 at Berwick and was buried at Spilsby, Lincolnshire.

He had married (and separated from) Mary de Vere, the daughter of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford. They had at least three sons: Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey (d. 1642), Sir Peregrine Bertie (d. 1639), and Henry Bertie of Lound (d. 1655)

Sources:

"The Lincolnshire origins of some Exeter settlers" V.C. Sanborn pages 17-18 https://archive.org/stream/lincolnshireorig00sanb#page/16/mode/2up

The Daughters of Balthazar Willix Virginia Hall pages 18-19

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Willix-7

Richard Bertie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bertie_(courtier)

Frances Marbury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Marbury