There is a fine article about Sir Francis Willoughby at a web site http://www.tudorplace.com.ar which links to articles about many other Tudor personages and is worthy of study. Here the main aspects of his formative experiences are summarised.
He was the second of the sons of Sir Henry Willoughby and Anne Grey. Anne Grey was sister to Henry Grey, Marquis of
Dorset and Duke of Suffolk, the father of Lady Jane Grey; Francis was therefore a first cousin of the short-lived Queen
of England. When Francis' father was killed while supporting the Earl of Warwick in putting down the uprising called
Ket's Rebellion, Henry Grey became guardian of Thomas, the older brother, Francis and their sister Margaret. Henry Grey
was married to Frances Brandon, whose mother was the sister of Henry VIII and as a result the Willoughby children were
brought up in Court circles.
When Henry Grey tried to put his daughter on the throne and failed he was beheaded
and the guardianship passed to Thomas Lord Paget, the first Midlands ironmaker, whose second daughter, Dorothy, Thomas
Willoughby married. The marriage did not last long since Thomas died while out riding when he was 18 years old. Francis
was then 12 and his wardship was taken up by Sir Francis Knollys, one of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers.
Having refused the hand of one of Knolly's daughters, Francis married the daughter of Sir John Littleton, Elizabeth, in one of the worst marriages to be recorded in any detail. How they managed to produce many children - some say as many as 12, all daughters, is a mystery, but only 7 survived.
It is evident that Francis was scarred by his early closeness to the mighty and he aspired to be a grand personage. It is clear that he was ashamed of the modest circumstances of his estate. The main home was at Wollaton, which was little more than a collection of modest farmhouses and the second home at Middleton was not much better. Nevertheless it was to Middleton that Queen Elizabeth came in 1575 straight from the 19 days of junketing at Kenilworth. Middleton was a very modest establishment and it is tempting to think that Elizabeth wanted a few days of a simpler life after all the entertainment at Kenilworth. Having avoided contact with Elizabeth, even though his sister Margaret was one of her Ladies-in-Waiting, Francis was probably mortified by the revelation of the mean-ness of his resources. He had already started trying to make iron at Middleton to gain value from the woodlands there by making charcoal and just a few years later he started on the folly of building a grand house at Wollaton. This bankrupted the family and it took two generations to restore the family fortunes.
Francis married a second time after Elizabeth died to a widow Dorothy Tamworth (née Colby) and had another daughter by her. His first daughter Bridget had by this time already married Percival Willoughby, grandson of Francis' aunt who had married an Eresby Willoughby. Francis had already fallen out with Percival and was anxious to have a son to displace Percival as inheritor of the estate.
Francis died in 1596. His third daughter, Margaret, married Sir Robert Spencer and he thus became an ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Diana.