Thanks so much for that Garstonite. The research I have been doing so far has been on the Ancestry website. The details of the marriage are supported by a source citation but the birth and death dates are just suggested in the family tree of another member, (as are the names of his parents as William and Frances.) Baron William seemed to have been quite a controversial character and was indeed involved in the Civil War. I believe he died in obscurity in York. The family tree which suggests that Alexander was his son, has him as the eldest son, born before William and Frances were married! and when Frances may have only been very young. Also, Alexander seems to have been born in Willoughby, whilst all William's other children seem to have been born in Saffron Walden, as William was. There is a family legend that an ancestor was born illegitimately to a maid, and fathered by a Howard duke but I have found no evidence of this, and I presume there may be none!