Sir John Markham was present at the battle of Stoke in 1488, on the side of Henry VII. He is described as a man of great prowess, and was much employed in public affairs. "But," says Dugdale," he was an unrulie, spirited man and striving with the people of Long Benington in Lincolnshire about the boundaries of their lordships, he killed some or other of them (some have it he hanged the priest), for which retiring, he lay hid at a place called Cressi Hall, which he had through his great-grandmother the daughter of Sir John Cressi of Hodsac. Here it was his good fortune to entertain the lady Margaret, mother of King Henry VII who not only procured his pardon, but married her kinswoman Anne, the daughter and heir of Sir George Neville, to his son, likewise called Sir John," by (Alice), Alicia his wife, daughter of Sir William Skipwith. At this period the Markham family were at the height of their fortunes, enjoying vast estates in different parts, and the favour of their sovereign; for though they opposed the line of Lancaster till the union of the Roses, yet the service performed by Sir John at the battle of Stoke (an event which added so much security to Henry's throne) obliterated what might have been considered former delinquencies, and established the family again in favour at court.