George, the eldest son, who succeeded, died in the following year, leaving by his wife Elizabeth, eldest daughter and co-heir of Henry Fynes-Clinton, of Kirkstead, in Lincolnshire, grandson of Henry, second Earl of Lincoln, a son, John Willoughby, who succeeded, but he dying issueless in 1678, the barony reverted to his uncle, John, son of George, the seventh lord. This nobleman died before the close of the year, and, having no surviving male issue, the title and estates passed to his younger brother, Charles, who succeeded as tenth baron, and who was then married to Mary, daughter of Sir Beaumont Dixie. He did not, however, long enjoy the honours, his death occurring in the following year, and being, like so many of his predecessors, childless, the barony remained for a time in abeyance; the vast estates in Lincolnshire passing meanwhile, in accordance with the provisions of his will, to his niece Elizabeth, only daughter of George, seventh Lord Willoughby, and then wife of the Hon. James Bertie, eventually second Earl of Lincoln. On the failure of the elder line by the death of Lord Charles without issue, the barony should by right have reverted to the heir of Sir Ambrose, second son of Charles, the second Lord Willoughby; but Sir Ambrose's grandson, Henry Willoughby, being then settled in Virginia, whither the "Pilgrim Fathers," who, "well weaned from the delicate milk of their mother-country," had gone some years before, and having no knowledge of the failure, took no steps to establish his claim. Under these circumstances, and in the belief that the line of Sir Ambrose was extinct, the barony was erroneously adjudged to Sir Thomas Willoughby, son and heir of Sir Thomas, the fifth and youngest son of Charles, the second lord, who, as previously stated, was then settled in Lancashire, having married Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Whittle, of Horwich, the representative of a noted Puritan family, whose religious opinions he had embraced.