Pontefract Castle at Pontefract was among such properties under threat which roused Bolingbroke to return to England to claim his rights to the Duchy of Lancaster and the properties of his father. Act 2, scene 1, of Shakespeare's play "Richard II" relates Bolingbroke’s homecoming in the words of Northumberland in the speech of the eight tall ships:- When he landed at Ravenspur on the Humber he made straight way for his castle at Pontefract. The King, being in Ireland at the time, was in no position to oppose Bolingbroke who deposed Richard and took the crown for himself as Henry IV. Richard
John Wittlebury John Wittlebury John Wittlebury or Whittlebury (1333 – 21 April 1400) was an English Member of Parliament. He was the third son and heir of Aubrey Wittlebury (1306–1349) of Whissendine, Rutland, a member of one of the leading families of the county. He inherited his father's estates in Rutland and Northamptonshire after his eldest brother had died young and his other brother had entered Peterborough Abbey. He served on the bench as a Justice of the Peace for Rutland from 1368 to 1399 and was appointed High Sheriff of Rutland for 1372–1374 (2 years), 1377–1378, 1381–1382, 1388 and from 1399