Ferrers

The following history on the De Ferrers family is from various sources including "Medieval English Ancestors of Robert Abell" of which is primarily based on the research in Cokayne's Complete Peerage [4:190-199]

01. Walkelin De Ferrieres, earliest recorded ancestor was born abt. 1010 in Tutbury, Staffordshire, England.  He sided with Philip Augustus of France and was slain in the civil wars which occurred in Normandy during Duke William's youth. His name has also been recorded as Gaulchline.  His wife's name is unknown.

02. Henry De Ferrieres, son of Walkelin was born abt. 1036 in Normandy, France.  He married Bertha (Roberts?) abt. 1061.  She was born abt. 1040 in Gostenois, Normandy, France and died in Darly, Derbyshire.  Henry was buried in Tutbury in Staffordshire.

03. Robert De Ferrieres, son of Henry and Bertha was born abt. 1062 in Derbyshire, England.  He was the 1st Earl of Derby.  He married Hawise De Vitre, daughter of Andre, seigneur de Vitre in Brittany, by Agnes, daughter of Robert, Count of Mortain.  Robert died in 1139.

04. Robert De Ferrieres, son of Robert and Hawise was born abt. 1100 in Derbyshire, England.  He was the 2nd Earl of Derby.  He founded Merrevale Abbey in 1148.  He died before 1160, and was buried in Merevale Abbey, Warwickshire, wrapped in an oxhide. He married Margaret Peverel, daughter and heir of William Peveril of Nottingham.

05. William De Ferrieres, son of Robert and Margaret was born abt. 1130 in Derbyshire, England.  He was the 3rd Earl of Derby.  He died while on crusade at the siege of Acre, Palestine, before 21 Oct. 1190. He married Sybil De Braiose, who was living 5 Feb. 1227/8; she had remarried Adam de Port of Basing.

06. William De Ferrieres, son of William and Sybil was born in 1162 in England.  He died after suffering long with the gout, on 22 Sept. 1247. He married in 1192, Agnes (De Meschines) of Chester, sister and coheir of Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, and third daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, Earl of Chester, by Bertrade, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Count d'Evreux. They had livery of her share of her brother's lands, including the castle and manor of Chartley, Staffordshire, and the castle and vill of West Derby, Lancashire, on 22 Nov. 1232. She died 2 Nov. 1247, and the King had livery of her inheritance. William supported King Richard and was rewarded with lands and honors; at Richard's second coronation he was one of four who carried the canopy over the king's head. He supported King John, and was further rewarded; and he supported King Henry III, assisting at his coronation - all in opposition to the rebelling barons.

07. William De Ferrers, son of William and Agnes 5th Earl of Derby, born about 1193, died at Evington near Leicester, 24 or 28 March 1254, and was buried at Merevale Abbey on the 31st.  He married first, in her father's lifetime, thus before 14 May 1219, Sibyl Le Marshal, third daughter of William le Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and his wife Isabel de Clare, daughter and heir of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke. He married second, in or before 1238, Margaret De Quincy, first daughter and coheir of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, by his first wife, Helen de Galloway, first daughter and coheir of Alan de Galloway, Constable of Scotland.  He accompanied King Henry III to France in April 1230, and was Constable of Bolsover Castle from 28 Feb. 1234/5 to 3 July 1236. He paid homage to the King and had livery of Chartley Castle and the rest of his mother's lands on 10 Nov. 1247. He was invested as Earl 2 Feb. 1247/8 at Westminster, and attended Parliament that month.  He suffered with gout from his youth, and his death was due to the affects of injuries sustained when he was accidently thrown from the litter in which he was carried into a river.

08. Robert De Ferrers, son of William and Margaret, 6th Earl of Derby, born about 1239, died in 1279, and was most probably buried in the Priory of St. Thomas at Stafford.  He married second, 26 or 27 June 1269 Alianore De Bohun, who died 20 Feb. 1313/4, and was buried in Walden Abbey. She was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun VI and his first wife, Eleanor de Braiose.  The wardship of his lands was granted, 15 April 1254, to Prince Edward, who sold it in 1257 to the Queen and Pierre de Savoie. Robert had livery of his lands in 1260 and then destroyed Tutbury Priory. When the barons went to war in 1263 he seized three of Prince Edward's castles, and on 29 Feb. 1263/4 he captured Worcester, destroying the town and Jewry. However, in April or May Prince Edward retaliated by wasting Robert's lands and demolishing Tutbury Castle. Robert was absent from the battle of Lewes, but in Nov. 1264 he used 20,000 foot and many horsemen to defeat the royal forces near Chester. On 24 Dec. 1264 he was ordered to deliver Peak Castle to Simon de Montfort; the same day he was summoned to Montfort's parliament, where he was accused of trespasses and sent to the Tower by Simon.  On 5 Dec. 1265 he was admitted to the King's grace and had a full pardon for all offenses committed up to that day on payment of 1500 marks and a certain gold drinking cup. However, within a few months he rebelled again, joining John d'Eiville, Baldwin Wake and others in devastating the Midlands. They were surprised at Chesterfield on 15 May 1266 and hewas sent to prison in Windsor Castle for nearly three years. On 12 July 1266 the honour of Derby was granted to Edmund, the King's son. Under the Dictum of Kenilworth his lands were subject to the penalty of seven year's purchase, and on 1 May 1269 Edmund was ordered to restore his lands to him upon payment if 50,000 which Robert could not make. He lost an action to regain them in 1274, having taken possession of Chartley Castle in 1273 while the King was abroad. Expelled from Chartley, he was allowed to recover the manor of Holbrook in 1274/5, and the manor (but not the castle) of Chartley in 1275, as heir of Thomas de Ferrers of Chartley [CP, 4:201c].

09. Sir William De Ferrers, son of Robert and Alionore died shortly before 20 Dec. 1287.  He married first Anne, who was said to be a daughter of Sir Hugh le Despencer of Ryhall in Rutland, Loughborough in Leicestershire, and Parlington in Yorkshire, by Aline Basset, daughter and heir of Sir Philip Basset.  He held lands in Groby in Leichestershire; Newbottle in Northamptonshire; Woodham Ferris, Stebbing and Fairsted in Essex, and Bolton-le-Moors in Lancashire. He was taken prisoner at Northampton on 5 or 6 April 1264, and was committed by Prince Edward to the custody of Roger de Layburne, who demanded an excessive ransom; it was not paid as King Henry III pardoned him 11 July 1266. He was with King Edward 1 in Wales in 1282. He was summoned to military service from 18 March 1263/4 to 14 March 1282/3, to a military council on 14 June 1283, and to attend the King at Shrewsbury on 28 June 1283.

10. Sir John De Ferrers, only son of William and Anne was born on June 20, 1271.  John inherited the turbulent spirit of his father, joined the Earl of Hereford and others, in the 25th year of Edward I., in opposing the collection of the subsidies granted by the parliament then held in St. Edmundsbury, to the crown, but the ferment was allayed by the king's confirming Magna Charta, and the charter of the forests; and by declaring that in the future no tax should be imposed upon the subject without the consent of the parliament, and at the same time granting a pardon to the discontented lords and their adherents, in which pardon John de Ferrers is especially named. Soon after this he petitioned Pope Nicholas III., that his holiness should interfere to procure him the lands of his late father which had been conferred upon Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, but his suit was ineffectual. He was subsequently in the Scottish wars, and was then raised to the peerage as stated above. He married as her 2nd husband, Hawise Muscegros, daughter and heiress of Robert de Muscegros, of Charlton, co. Somerset, by whom he acquired a great increase in fortune. In the 34th year of Edward I., he was again in the wars of Scotland, and, subsequently, in the 4th year of Edward II., the year following he was constituted seneschal of Aquitaine. John died in August of 1312 in Gascony.

11a. Sir Robert De Ferrers, son of John and Hawise was born on March 25, 1309 in Chartley, Musgrove, Somersetshire, England. He married first, by 20 Oct. 1330, Margaret, who died after Aug. 1333.  He married second Joan de la Mote, Lady of Willisham, Suffolk, and St. Pancras, Middlesex, who died in London 29 June 1375.  He was of record in Sept. 1325 as being about to go overseas with the King, and on 13 Aug. 1327, although he was still a minor, the King took his homage and gave him livery of his brother's lands as a result of his recent good services in northern parts. He was summoned for military service against the Scots in 1335, and in 1338 the King granted him Pirehill Hundred in Staffordshire, at pleasure. He served in Flanders in 1338-39, and was appointed a justice in 1340, when he was a banneret. Summoned to Council 25 Feb. 1341/2, he was a member of the King's retinue in Brittany in Oct. 1342. On 26 April 1344 he was appointed Vice Admiral of the Fleet, and in Oct. 1345 he was with the Earl of Derby at the battle of Auberoche in Perigord. He served in the battle of Crecy and the siege of Calais in 1346. He attended the tournament of Lichfield 9 April 1347 as one of the eleven knights of the King's Chamber [CP, 14:319-320]. On 13 May 1347 he received a pardon for all homicides, robberies and any consequent outlawries for his good services in France. Robert died on Aug. 28, 1350.

11b. Eleanor De Ferrers, daughter of John and Hawise married Sir Thomas De Lathom.  Eleanor is the grandmother of Isabel De Lathom, the wife of Sir John Stanley of whom I also descend.

12. Sir John De Ferrers, son of Robert and Margaret 3rd Baron Chartley, born and baptized in Southoe, Huntingdonshire, on or about 10 Aug. 1333, was slain at Najera, Spain, 3 April 1367, according to a poem by Chandos Herald, lines 3443-5 [CP, 5:314b].  He married as her second husband, by license dated 19 Oct. 1349, Elizabeth De Stafford, daughter of Ralph Stafford and Margaret D'Audley who was great-granddaughter of King Edward I. On 13 Dec. 1353 the King took his homage and he had livery of his grandmother's lands. He accompanied the King in the invasion of France Oct. 1359 to 1360, and in the invasion of Navarre in 1367. He also petitioned the Duke of Lancaster to restore to him the lands forfeited by Robert, Earl of Derby, and other properties [CP, 5:313].

13. Sir Robert De Ferrers, son of John and Elizabeth, 4th Baron Chartley, of Chartley in Staffordshire, was born in Staffordshire 31 Oct. 1357 or 1359 [CP, 5:315d], died 12 or 13 March 1412/3, and was buried at Merevale Abbey, Staffordshire, where there is a brass.  He married first, after 16 Sept. 1376, Elizabeth, who was living 13 Jan. 1378/9.  He married second Margaret Le Despencer, who died 3 Nov. 1415 and was buried at Merevale Abbey, where there is a brass.  King Richard II took his homage and fealty on 23 July 1381.

14. Sir Edmund De Ferrers, son of Robert and Margaret 5th Baron Chartley, was born about 1387, and died 17 Dec. 1435.  He married Ellen de la Roche, who died 4 Nov. 1440, Lady of Castle Bromwich, Worcestershire, having married second Sir Philip Chetwynd [CP, 5:317-319] of Ingestre, Staffordshire (as his first wife), who died without issue on 10 May 1444.  He had livery of his father's lands on 14 April 1413. Soon after he carried on a private war, with the help of his brothers Thomas and Edward, against the Erdeswikes of Sandon, near Chartley. He received a pardon on 24 Jan. 1414/5 for all treasons, murders and other offenses committed up to 8 Dec. 1414, except for any murders committed after 19 Nov. 1414 [CP, 5:317g]. He went to Frances with King Henry V in Aug. 1415 and was at the siege of Harfleur, and then in the battle of Agincourt on 25 Oct. 1415. He was in the relief for Harfleur with the Duke of Bedford in Aug. 1416. Accompanying Henry V to France again in Aug. 1417, he was at the siege of Rouen from July 1418 to Jan. 1418/9 in the division commanded by the Earl of Huntingdon. He was also in the siege of Melun from July to Nov. 1420, and that of Meaux from Oct. 1421 to May 1422.

15. Sir William De Ferrers, son of Edmund and Ellen, 6th Baron Chartley, was born about 1412, and died 9 June 1450. He married Elizabeth Belknap, who died 28 May 1471, having in May 1455 conveyed to feoffees the manors she held for life, in dower or otherwise. He had livery of his father's lands on 9 Feb. 1435/6 [CP, 5:320], when he was aged 23 and more.  William died on June 9, 1450.

16. Anne De Ferrers, daughter of William and Elizabeth was born on in Nov. of 1438.  She married Sir Walter Devereux, son of Sir Walter Devereux and Elizabeth Merbury.  Anne died on Jan. 9, 1469.  I descend from their daughter Elizabeth Devereux who married Sir Richard Corbet.
 

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