William Brandon ( died 1485 ) Sir William Brandon ( 1456 – 22 August 1485 ) of Soham , Cambridgeshire was Henry Tudor ' s standard - bearer at the Battle of Bosworth Field , where he was killed by King Richard III . He was the father of Charles Brandon , 1st Duke of Suffolk . Family . William was the son of Sir William Brandon of Wangford , Suffolk , and Soham , Cambridgeshire , Knight Marshal of Marshalsea ( 1425 - 4 March 1491 ) and wife ( married 1462 ) Elizabeth Wingfield ( died 28 April 1496 / 1497 ) . He had numerous siblings , including Sir Thomas Brandon , who fought with him at the Battle of Bosworth and later became a leading courtier and Master of the Horse of Henry VII . Biography . In 1478 Sir John Paston wrote that Brandon had been arrested for an attempted rape : " yonge William Brandon is in warde and arestyd ffor thatt he scholde have fforce ravysshyd and swyvyd an olde jentylwoman . . . " By that time he was already married to Elizabeth Bruyn , a widow with two sons , and according to Paston there were rumours he would be hanged for his offence . Brandon apparently escaped prosecution however , because a few years later he was one of the key London connections behind the Buckingham Revolt of 1483 , along with his brother Thomas and brother - in - law , Wingfield . Pardoned in March 1484 , he boarded a ship at Mersea in November and sailed for France , where he was supposedly joined by his wife , who gave birth to their eldest son in Paris . He joined his brother Thomas in the relief of the Hammes fortress . Battle of Bosworth . At the Battle of Bosworth , William formed part of Henry Tudor ' s personal entourage , performing the role of royal standard bearer . When Richard III launched his final charge , he personally unhorsed Sir John Cheney , a well - known joust ing champion . Brandon was the other notable victim of the charge , killed by Richard while defending the standard . As such he appears in stanzas 155 and 156 in " The Ballad of Bosworth Field " : According to popular myth William and his brother were both knighted by Henry Tudor when he landed at Milford in 1485 , however Thomas was only knighted after the Battle of Blackheath in 1497 and William was presumably only called " Sir William " out of courtesy after his death , or out of confusion with his father , the elder Sir William . Marriage and issue . Before 4 November 1475 Brandon married Elizabeth Bruyn , daughter and co - heiress of Sir Henry Bruyn of South Ockendon , Essex , himself the son of Sir Maurice Bruyn . She was the widow of Thomas Tyrrell of Heron , Essex , whom she had married before 17 February 1462 , and who died after 3 July 1471 . After William Brandon ' s death at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485 , she married William Mallory , whom she survived . She died 7 March 1494 . By Elizabeth Bruyn , William Brandon had two sons and a daughter ( the actual order of birth is not known ) : Brandon also had two illegitimate daughters named Elizabeth and Katherine . < ref name = " The Brandons 1988 , pp . 46 / 47 " > ' The Brandons ' In : Gunn , Steven J . : " Charles Brandon , Duke of Suffolk , c . 1484 - 1545 " Blackwell Publishing , Williston 1988 , pp . 46 / 47 < / ref >