George Tailboys (c. 1523 – c. 6 September 1540) was the eldest son of Elizabeth Blount and Gilbert Tailboys, 1st Baron Tailboys of Kyme. Through his mother he was the half brother of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, who was the only illegitimate offspring acknowledged by Henry VIII, King of England.
Birth
George's birth date is unknown, as is the date or year of his parents' marriage. On 25 March 1539, George was stated to have been sixteen years old. This would mean that he was born between April 1522 and March 1523. He was named George for his paternal grandfather Sir George Tailboys.
Siblings
George, as the heir of his father, was the eldest surviving son. The evidence of Gilbert and Elizabeth's children are obscure; they seem to have had five or six. In 1805 when the church of South Kyme, Lincolnshire, was being rebuilt, the vaults containing Gilbert's tomb were opened. Four lead coffins were found inside, below the monument erected by Elizabeth Blount: these contained a fully grown adult and three children. One of the coffins was opened by the workmen and they found it to contain a child aged around five or six. The body was well preserved and looked as if the child had only recently died. In one of the coffins, a body could be that of Robert Tailboys, 3rd Baron Tailboys of Kyme, who died in March 1542 aged about 14. George, who died at 16 or 17, was unlikely to have been buried with his father.
The siblings who survived their father were George's elder sister was Elizabeth, and one known younger brother Robert, who succeeded him following his short life. On Robert's death the barony passed to their elder sister Elizabeth, who lived until the reign of Elizabeth I and became the wife of Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.
George's mother remarried a few years after the death of her husband Gilbert. Her new husband was Edward Clinton or Fiennes, 1st Earl of Lincoln, 9th Baron Clinton, and through him George gained three half-sisters, Margaret, Catherine and Bridget.
Henry FitzRoy
His elder half brother Henry FitzRoy was around four years older than him, and Richmond would only have his maternal brothers, as he would die before the birth of his royal half brother Edward VI, King of England. George seems to have built a friendship with his royal brother, suggesting that the two brothers were brought up together; perhaps when their mother would visit Richmond at Sheriff Hutton Castle, George would go too. George received royal hand-me-down's of Richmond's fine clothing. In the 1531 inventory of Richmond's possessions, his clothing was given to George. On 3 August 1533, on the orders of the Duke of Norfolk, Richmond's guardian, clothes including a gown of purple taffeta, edged with purple velvet and with buttons of gold decorated with roses were passed along to George. On the same day he also received a gown of blue tinsel, lined with black satin and edged with black velvet. Other garments included a doublet of gold. Richmond also thought of his maternal family in the last weeks of his life. In an inventory taken following his death, it was recorded that he had given his half-brother George more clothing and it had been delivered by Richmond's personal attendant and friend, George Cotton. Richmond died in July 1536 when George was around thirteen.
Guardian
On 15 April 1530, George's father Gilbert Tailbois died when George was about seven years of age. George's wardship was a valuable commodity, and it was granted to William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton who would become Lord High Admiral after the death of Richmond. Southampton took his ward with him to Calais, George being there on 13 December at the reception of Anne of Cleves. Southampton was a childless man and seems to have been fond of his ward; when George died in September 1540 he wrote to Henry in a letter dated 6 September: Thus having no other news to signify, but that your majesty hath lost a great treasure in my lord Tailbois, whom, if worldly goodness would have preserved, would to God, I had bestowed and spent all I have wonder your grace in this world to have him a life, for in my opinion a more toward and likely gentleman to have done your majesty service had ye not within your realm but the will of God must be fulfilled.