John Richers

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Batchcroft. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Henry Richers was born about 1500 in of Swannington, Norfolk, England; died before 26 Apr 1543; was buried on 26 Apr 1543 in Swannington, Norfolk, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1501

Notes:

Or Rychers. Lawyer of Grey's Inn. Commissioner of array, 1491.

John married Elizabeth Stapleton. Elizabeth (daughter of Brian Stapleton and Isabel) was born about 1440; died before 1501. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Or Rychers.

John married Margaret. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lieutenant of the duke of Exeter, 1443.

Brian married Isabel before 4 May 1438. Isabel died after 1455. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1424-26. Knight of the shire for Yorkshire, 1436-37.

He fought at Agincourt. He was subsequently in the retinue of Robert Willoughby on Henry V's second expedition into France, where he was taken prisoner and held for five years until ransomed for 3,000 marks.

Brian married Cecily Bardolf before 1408. Cecily (daughter of William Bardolf and Agnes Poynings) died on 29 Sep 1432; was buried in Ingham, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1355, of Ingham, Norfolk, England
• Alternate birth: 1356

Notes:

"He had letters of protection in 1381 among those sent to Portugal to renew the alliance; afterwards he was sent to Prague to negotiate the marriage of King Richard II and Princess Anne of Bohemia." [Royal Ancestry]

Miles married Ela Ufford before 1376. Ela (daughter of Edmund de Ufford and Sibyl de Pierrepont) died in 1425; was buried in Ingham Priory, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Summoned to Parliament by writs, 28 Dec 1375 to 3 Sep 1385.

William married Agnes Poynings after 10 Feb 1366. Agnes (daughter of Michael de Poynings and Joan) died on 12 Jun 1403; was buried in Trinity Priory, Aldgate, London. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 20 Oct 1364

Notes:

Walter Rye (citation details below) gives his birth year as "circa 1300", but this has to be wrong, as he was an infant only child on his father's death in 1321. The ODNB (citation details below) says 1320, with a question mark. The ODNB also notes that "[i]t is sometimes impossible to distinguish Sir Miles Stapleton of Bedale from his first cousin, Sir Miles Stapleton of Haddlesey (c.1318–1372)."

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

It was probably he who went overseas in the king's service in September 1342, and the family's historian suggests that he was at the siege of Tournai with his younger brother Brian Stapleton, and then in Brittany. A Miles Stapleton, probably of Bedale, was singled out by the chronicler Adam Murimuth as taking the honours on the first day of a three-day tournament at Windsor which in January 1344 saw the inauguration of the order of the knights of the Round Table. He was given letters of protection to go abroad with Sir John Darcy, the king's chamberlain, in 1345, which may suggest that he was educated in Darcy's household. He was certainly present at the siege of Calais in 1346, and given his later link with the Garter, he almost certainly fought at Crécy in 1346 too. Having become associated with the royal household at about this time, he took part in three further tournaments between October 1347 and January 1348, at Bury St Edmunds, Eltham, and Windsor. An account for the great wardrobe in 1348 describes him as a knight of the chamber, and he became a founder member of the Order of the Garter, sitting on the king's side in the ninth stall.

In October 1351 Stapleton was sent abroad with William Latimer and then, for a while, the careers of both Miles Stapletons, of Bedale and of Haddlesey, sometimes coincided. In 1354 both witnessed an instrument requesting papal intervention in the Anglo-French war. Stapleton of Bedale was involved in Lancaster's march across Normandy in 1356, and in 1358 he was paid £50 for acting as a messenger to Philippe de Navarre. In 1359 he went abroad again on royal service. In June 1360 he was granted a life annuity of £100, in consideration of his 'laudable service in the king's deeds of war' (CPR, 1358–61, 429). This makes it likely that he is the Miles Stapleton who was one of the witnesses to the treaty of Brétigny in 1360. Abroad again in June 1361 and January 1362, on the latter occasion he made his brother Brian his attorney for two years. His destination in 1362 appears to have been the Baltic rather than France, since in January 1363 he was one of a group of leading English knights recorded as borrowing money from local merchants at Thorn on the Vistula. The money was to be repaid at Bruges. In March 1361 and August 1362 he served on commissions of peace with the earl of Suffolk. Miles Stapleton of Haddlesey was appointed to a commission of the peace headed by the earl of Lancaster in 1361.

In January 1364 Miles Stapleton of Bedale took out letters of attorney for three more years, but died on 20 October 1364, probably from wounds or disease after the battle of Auray (29 September 1364). […]

In May 1349 Stapleton was licensed to endow a chantry at North Morton, but following his second marriage his plans became more ambitious, and between 1355 and 1360 his chantry developed into a Trinitarian priory at Ingham, to which Ingham parish church was appropriated. Stapleton was buried in the church, and he and his descendants were commemorated there in a series of splendid brasses: Sir Miles and his second wife were shown holding hands, with the inscription 'Priez pour les almes monseur Miles de Stapleton et Dame Johanne sa femme fille de Monseur Oliver de Ingham fondeurs de cette maison qe dieu de lour almes eit pitee' ('Pray for the souls of Sir Miles Stapleton and Lady Joan his wife, daughter of Sir Oliver Ingham, founders of this house, that God may have pity on their souls'; Gough, 1/2,120). In 1799 the brasses were sold as 'old metal', but rubbings were taken of them before their destruction.

Miles married Joan de Ingham. Joan (daughter of Oliver de Ingham and Elizabeth) was born about 1320; died between 26 Jun 1360 and 12 Dec 1365; was buried in Ingham, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Walter Rye (citation details below) calls the father of Ela Ufford "Sir Edward [Norris says of Sir Ralph] Ufford".

Edmund married Sibyl de Pierrepont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1312

John married Elizabeth Damory before 25 Dec 1327. Elizabeth (daughter of Roger Damory and Elizabeth de Clare) was born before 1321; died before 1363. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 23 May 1318

Notes:

He fought at Crécy and was present at the siege of Calais. He was summoned to Parliament by writs from 1348 to 1368.

Michael married Joan before 1349. Joan died between 11 May 1369 and 28 May 1369. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]