Robert de Stafford

Family/Spouse: Gundreda. Gundreda died about 1308. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From The Gresleys of Drakelowe by Falconer Madan (Oxford, 1899):

[Peter de Gresley] married Johanna, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert de Stafford and a lineal descendant of the Toenis. Very shortly after her husband's death, she was forcibly abducted from her manor of Drakelowe, which had been assigned to her by her eldest son, and carried off to Swinnerton by Sir John de Swinnerton and others. There she was detained for a long time, and it is certainly noticeable that we hear nothing of her for some years after this event. Justice was slow, and not till 1321-4 was Sir John brought to trial, when he produced a pardon from the King dated May 25, 1310! However, before 1320 Johanna must have escaped, for she was then the wife of Sir Walter de Montgomery (a connexion of the Swinnertons), who died in 1322 or 1323. The violence of the times can be as well gathered from the following single incident as from a catalogue of crimes. On Sept 23, 1323, Johanna is found abetting her sons Peter and Robert de Gresley in the murder of Sir William de Montgomery, son of her late husband Sir Walter "on the high road under the park of Seal!"

Philippa the widow of the murdered man procured the arrest of all three, but they were acquitted! Again in 1333 she was accused of murder and again acquitted. After these records -- and they are only samples -- one is not surprised to hear of her own strong-box being broken into at Drakelowe in 1323-4. At last in or before 1342 her turbulent life is ended.

-----

[Note: Rosie Bevan, in reproducing the above passage on SGM, 24 Nov 2002, noted that Madan's death date for Sir Walter de Montgomery is incorrect and that in fact he appears to have been alive when his son William was murdered.]

Family/Spouse: Peter de Gresley. Peter (son of Geoffrey de Gresley and Agnes) died about 1310. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joan married Walter de Montgomery before 1320. Walter (son of William de Montgomery) was born in of Cubley, Derbyshire, England; died after 6 Dec 1323. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William de Stafford. William (son of William de Stafford and Cecily de Waure) was born in of Bramshall, Staffordshire, England; died between 1326 and 1339. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Staffordshire 1324.

Geoffrey married Margaret Gernon about 1318. Margaret (daughter of John Gernon and Alice de Plessis) died after 1352. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1370
• Alternate death: Bef 1372

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Staffordshire, 1339-40. Knight of the Order of the Hospital. Fought in the king's division at Crécy.

John married Margaret de Stafford before 1337. Margaret (daughter of Ralph de Stafford and Katherine de Hastang) died after 22 Aug 1373. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 2 Apr 1396

Notes:

"In the brief Parliament of 1372 he sat as a representative of Staffordshire." [The Gresleys of Drakelowe, citation details below.]

John married Alice de Swynnerton about 1345. Alice (daughter of Roger de Swynnerton) died about 1350. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Joan Toly before 1352. Joan (daughter of John Toly) was born in 1325 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England; died in Dec 1393 in Drakelow, Burton-upon-Trent, Derbyshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1355, of Stafford, Staffordshire, England

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Worcestershire 1383, 1384, 1401; knight of the shire for Staffordshire 1404.

Ralph married Maud Hastang after 20 Aug 1373. Maud (daughter of John Hastang and Maud Trussell) was born on 2 Feb 1359 in Chebsey, Staffordshire, England; was christened on 2 Feb 1359 in Chebsey, Staffordshire, England; died before 1410. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Warwickshire Oct 1383; Wiltshire Nov 1384; Dorset Sep 1388, Jan 1390, 1391, 1393; Somerset 1394; and Dorset 1395, Jan 1397, 1399, 1401, Jan 1404, 1406, 1407, and 1410.

Sheriff of Staffordshire 1 Nov 1383 to 11 Nov 1384, 1 Dec 1388 to 15 Nov 1389, Somerset and Dorset 18 Nov 1386-7, 21 Oct 1391 to 18 Oct 1392, 22 Nov to 19 Dec.1405, and 29 Nov 1410 to 10 Dec 1411.

Called one of the wealthiest commoners in England of his time.

"In 1388, Humphrey Stafford was caught up in the crisis of the Lords Appellant, being required by them to take oaths of loyalty to the regime in Dorset. It was at this time – in a possibly related incident – that members of the Cornish gentry conspired to assassinate him, eventually managing to shoot him 'with a certain engine called a "gunne" so that his life was despaired of.' However, since at the same time he loaned King Richard II 100 marks, and later received a royal appointment to assess the Appellants' forfeited lands there, the king clearly did not see Stafford as a major player in the rebellion locally. Following Richard II's deposition by Henry Bollingbroke in 1399, Stafford does not seem to have lost royal favour by his previous support for the old king; indeed, within a few weeks of Henry's coronation he was referred to as a 'King's Knight' and was granted the royal manor of Seavington, Somerset. By now Stafford was, in E.F. Jacob's words, 'a shire knight of standing and influence,' and of all the gentry in the county, Humphrey was 'at their head for wealth.' His estates were valued in the 1412 tax assessment at around £570 per annum." [Wikipedia, accessed 25 Sep 2020]

Humphrey married Alice Grenville before 1365. Alice (daughter of John de Grenville) was born about 1344; died before 1386. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Humphrey married Elizabeth d'Aumarle between Jun 1386 and Jan 1388. Elizabeth (daughter of William d'Aumarle and Agnes) was born about 1345; died on 17 Oct 1413; was buried in Abbotsbury Abbey, Dorset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]