Richard de Stafford

Notes:

Seneschal of Gascony, 1361. Steward of Edward the "Black Prince." Knight of the shire for Staffordshire, 1341. Summoned to Parliament by writs, 8 Jan 1371 to 20 Oct 1379.

Present at the siege of Bergerac (1345). At Crécy (1346) and the siege of Calais (1347).

Richard married Isabel de Vernon before 16 Mar 1339. Isabel (daughter of Richard de Vernon and Maud de Camville) died before 1351 and 1371. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Katherine de Stafford

Notes:

Summoned to Parliament by writs 6 Feb 1299 to 20 Aug 1307.

Edmund married Margaret Basset before 1299. Margaret (daughter of Ralph Basset and Hawise) died on 17 Mar 1337; was buried in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died at the siege of Droslin Castle in Wales, crushed by a falling wall.

Nicholas married (Unknown) de Langley. (Unknown) (daughter of Geoffrey de Langley and Matilda de Brightwell) died before 1287. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

CP calls her "probably da. of Geoffrey de Langley" and notes that "In 1272 a Staffordshire jury stated that the King had given [Nicholas de Stafford] in marriage to a da. of Geoffrey de 'Langeley'."

Notes:

"Ralph Basset, s. and h. of the above, served in the French and Scottish wars. He suc. his father 4 Aug. 1265. He held lands of Ralph Basset of Weldon 1284/5; he was sum. to attend the King at Shrewsbury, 28 June (1283) 11 Edw. I, and was sum. to Parl. 23 June (1295) 23 Edw. I to 10 Apr. (1299) 27 Edw. I, by writs directed Radulfo Basset de Drayton whereby he is held to have become Basset of Drayton. He m. Hawise. He d. 31 Dec. 1299, and was bur. at Drayton." [Complete Peerage II:2]

Ralph married Hawise. Hawise died before 20 Mar 1317. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 20 May 1317

Notes:

This post by John P. Ravilious, from 2005, conjectures based on good circumstantial evidence that she was a daughter of Hugh le Despenser (d. 1265) by his wife Aline Basset (1245-1281).

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1282

Robert married Alice Corbet. Alice (daughter of Thomas Corbet and Isabell de Valletort) was born in of Caus, Westbury, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

He was probably of age by 1222, which suggests a date of birth about 1200, and first appears in royal service in 1233-4 as constable of St Briavels, Gloucestershire. He joined the royal curia, and was appointed knight-deputy to the earl marshal and marshal of the household.

The Gascon campaign of 1242–3 proved a turning point in Langley's career. On his return he was given custody of the honour of Arundel. From late 1244 to early 1250 he was associated with the general forest eyre conducted under the headship of Robert Passelewe (d. 1252). On 4 March 1250 he was made chief justice of the forest on both sides of the Trent, an office which he exercised for two and a half years until 25 October 1252. As a forest justice he earned some notoriety. According to Matthew Paris, Langley had gained a reputation for parsimony while marshal of the household. Now he was to be particularly zealous in the interests of the king. Langley's northern eyre was a very lucrative one, and undoubtedly caused murmurings.

By 1252 Langley was at the height of his power and high in royal esteem, being a particular favourite of the queen. A member of the council, he functioned as a guardian of the king's young daughter, Margaret, queen of Scots, during 1252–3, but made himself unpopular in Scotland and was removed. Then in March 1254 he took responsibility for the English and Welsh lands of the young Prince Edward. This proved to be a disaster, however, for he provoked the Welsh rising of November 1256. Paris says that he conducted himself here in a typically high-handed manner, while the Dunstable annalist writes of him as trying to bring Wales under English law, and ordering the introduction into that country of shires and hundreds, while boasting before the king and queen that he had the Welsh in the palm of his hand. Out of favour with the king, he was eventually pardoned on 14 February 1258. In 1262 he was one of the auditors investigating the accounts of Prince Edward's bailiffs. He was unpopular, however, with the opposition baronage, and was among those royalists whose lands were pillaged in the spring of 1263.

Geoffrey married Matilda de Brightwell before 25 Sep 1236. Matilda (daughter of Robert de Brightwell) was buried in Grey Friars, Coventry, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Custos pacis for Shropshire and Staffordshire, 1264.

"Ralph Basset, s. and h. of Ralph B. of Drayton, co. Stafford, and of Colston Basset, Notts, was sum. to Parl. 24 Dec. (1264) 49 Hen. III, by writ directed Radulfo Basset de Drayton; which writ however, having issued in rebellion, should not create a peerage dignity. He m. Margaret, da. of Roger de Somery, of Dudley, Basset, co. Worcester, by his ist wife (to whom she was da. and coh.), Nicole, da. and eventually coh. of William (d'Aubigny), Earl of Arundel. He d. 4 Aug. 1265, being slain at the battle of Evesham fighting against the King, who, however, continued the estates to his widow and son, as her father had fought for the King at Evesham. His widow m., before 26 Jan. 1270/1, as 2nd wife, Ralph de Cromwell, of Cromwell, Notts, and West Hallam, co. Derby, who d. shortly before 18 Sep. 1289. She took the veil shortly before 18 June 1293." [Complete Peerage II:1-2]

Ralph married Margaret de Somery. Margaret (daughter of Roger de Somery and Nichole d'Aubigny) died after 18 Jun 1293. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"She took the veil shortly before 18 June 1293." [Complete Peerage II:2]

Notes:

With two others, he was dictator of the truce in North Wales, 1236.

Hervey married Petronille de Ferrers before 1215. Petronille (daughter of William de Ferrers and (Unknown wife of William de Ferrers)) died after 12 May 1237; was buried in Stone, Staffordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 1195, of Caus, Westbury, Shropshire, England

Notes:

Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire, 1248-50. "The appointment of Thomas Corbet (a Baron Marcher) to be Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire in this same year (1248) is an extraordinary one, and has given rise to a discussion whether he, or his namesake of Hadley, was the person so distinguished. When we find that Thomas Corbet of Hadley was deceased in August 1247, we are satisfied that it was the Baron of Caus." [Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, citation details below. Marcher lords were rarely made sheriffs for the same reason that they rarely went on crusade: their presence at the border was constantly required.]

Thomas married Isabell de Valletort before 1 Jul 1235. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Or de Vautort.

Walter married Emma de Lacy. Emma died before 1223. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1261
• Alternate death: Bef 1262

Notes:

"He joined the rebel Barons against King John for which his lands were seized, but returning to his fealty, they were restored in 1217. He attended the King at the siege of Bitham Castle 1221, fought in France 1230 and in Brittany 1234. In 1257 he served in Wales." [The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz]

Ralph married Isabel. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1272
• Alternate death: Bef 27 Aug 1273

Notes:

Fought at Evesham on the King's side, according to the CP entry on his son-in-law Ralph Basset. Earlier, according to The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, he was taken prisoner with the King at the battle of Lewes.

Roger married Nichole d'Aubigny before 22 Nov 1232. Nichole (daughter of William d'Aubigny and Mabel of Chester) was born in of Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, England; died about 1240. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 20 Jan 1247

Notes:

Also called Colette.

Notes:

"[A]ssumed the name of DE STAFFORD upon becoming seised of the barony." [Complete Peerage]

CP (XII/1:170) notes that Eyton said that this Hervey "was certainly descended from Bagot, who held Bramshall under Robert de Stafford in 1086."

Hervey married Millicent de Stafford before 1193. Millicent (daughter of Robert de Stafford and Avice) died before Jan 1225; was buried in Stone, Staffordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Earl of Derby.

"He was one of the adherents of the younger Henry on his rebellion in April 1173, and sacked and burnt Nottingham in May or June 1174. He made his submission to the King at Northampton, 31 July 1174, surrendering his castles of Tutbury and Duffield. The King took him, with other prisoners, to France in August following, and imprisoned them at Caen. [...] He died on Crusade, at the siege of Acre, in Palestine, in 1190, before 21 October. His wife survived him, and was, perhaps, living as late as 5 February 1227/8." [Complete Peerage]

His wife has long been given as Sybil, a daughter of William de Braose and Bertha of Hereford. But Complete Peerage XIV notes that the charter which was the sole evidence for this was a forgery.

William married (Unknown wife of William de Ferrers). (Unknown died after 5 Feb 1228. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 17 Oct 1222

Robert married Emma Pantulf. Emma (daughter of Hugh Pantulf and Christiana Fitz Alan) was born in of Wem, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Or de Vautort.

Roger married Alesia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 29 Sep 1210
• Alternate death: 1211

Notes:

Note that although Dudley town is in Worcestershire, Dudley Castle was across the county border in Staffordshire.

Ralph married Margaret le Gras before 1194. Margaret (daughter of William le Gras and (Unknown) Marshal) died after 14 Jun 1247. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Margaret Marshal.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Mar 1221, near Rome
• Alternate death: Bef 30 Mar 1221, Cainell, near Rome

Notes:

Earl of Arundel; Earl of Sussex. Chief Butler of England; Privy Councillor; Judge in the King's Court 1198, 1200, 1218. A King's man at Runnymede.

Went on Crusade in 1218; was present at the siege of Damietta.

"In the beginning he was one of King John's favourites, but he joined the baronial party opposing the King in 1216 after the sealing of the Magna Carta. According to the Barnwell Chronicle, when the barons met in London in 1216 to plan the division of England among them, they assigned to d'Aubigny the government of Lincolnshire. In 1217 he switched his support back to the young Henry III." [Leo van de Pas]

From Complete Peerage I:236-38:

William (d'Aubigny), Earl of Sussex, and Earl of Arundel, s. & h. He was a favorite of King John, whose concession of the Kingdom to the Pope, 15 May 1213, he witnessed, and whom he accompanied to Runnymede, 15 June 1215. (d) When, however, King John abandoned Winchester, 14 June 1216, to Louis (afterwards Louis VIII) of France, he joined that Prince, but (consistently taking the winning side) returned to his allegiance 14 July 1217, after the Royalist victory at Lincoln. Shortly afterwards he acted as Justiciar, the young King, Henry III, having restored to him his forfeited possessions. He m. Mabel, 2nd da. of Hugh (le Meschin, surnamed Kevelioc), Earl of Chester, by Bertrade, da. of Simon, Count of Evreux in Normandy. She, in her issue, was (1232) one of the four coheirs to her br. Ranulph (surnamed Blundeville), Earl of Chester. He embarked in the crusade of 1218, and was at the taking of Damietta in Nov. 12 19, but d. at Cainell, near Rome, ("quoddam oppidulum Kainel nomine") shortly before 30 Mar. 1221 (when the news reached England) and was bur. at Wynmondham Priory.

(d) His namesake of Belvoir became one of the sureties for the King's observance of Magna Charta as 'William d'Aubigny, Sheriff of Warwick and Leicester.'

William married Mabel of Chester. Mabel (daughter of Hugh of Chester and Bertrade de Montfort) died before 1232. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Mabel le Meschin.