3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby William de Ferrers

Family/Spouse: Margaret de Ufford. Margaret was born in 1335 in Thurston, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Margaret de Ferrers was born in 1355 in Groby, Leicestershire, England.

Henry married Isabel de Verdun. Isabel (daughter of 2nd Lord Verdon Theobold de Verdon and Elizabeth de Clare) was born on 21 Mar 1316/17 in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England; died on 25 Jul 1349. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Isabel, who had the Castle of Ludlow, as 4th co-heiress, m. to Henry Ferrers, Lord Ferrers, of Groby, which Henry d. 17th Edward III [1344], leaving by the said Isabel, William, Lord Ferrers, Philippa, m. to Guy de Beauchamp, and Elizabeth, m. to --- de Assells. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 548, Verdon, Barons Verdon]

William married Ellen de Menteith. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sir Theobald de Verdon, 2nd baron, had summons to parliament in the lifetime of his father as "Theobald de Verdon, junior," from 29 December, 1299, to 22 February, 1307, and afterwards, without the word "Junior," from 4 March, 1309 to 24 October, 1314. This nobleman, in the 6th Edward II [1313], was constituted justice of Ireland, having likewise the lieutenancy of that realm, and the fee of 500 per annum, then granted to him. His lordship m. 1st, Maud, dau. of Edmund, Lord Mortimer, of Wigmore, by whom (who d. at Alveton Castle, 1315), he had issue, I. John, d. s. p.; II. William, d. s. p.; I. Joan, m. 1st William de Montagu; and 2ndly, Thomas de Furnival, 2nd Lord Furnival, and d. in 1334. Joan had the castle of Alveton as co-heiress of her father. II. Elizabeth, m. to Bartholomew, Lord de Burghersh. Elizabeth had the castle of Ewyas Lacie as her share. III. Margaret, m. 1st, Marcus Hussee; 2ndly, William le Blount; and 3rdly, Sir John Crophull. Margaret had the castle of Weobley, as 3rd co-heiress. By Sir John Crophull, she had a son, Thomas Crophull, whose dau. and heiress, Agnes, m. Sir Walter Devereux, Knt.

Theobald m. 2ndly, Elizabeth, widow of John de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and dau. and eventually co-heir of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by Jane Plantagenet, dau. of King Edward I, by whom (who m. 3rdly, Sir Roger d'Amorie) he had an only dau., IV. Isabel, who had the Castle of Ludlow, as 4th co-heiress, m. to Henry Ferrers, Lord Ferrers, of Groby, which Henry d. 17th Edward III [1344], leaving by the said Isabel, William, Lord Ferrers, Philippa, m. to Guy de Beauchamp, and Elizabeth, m. to --- de Assells.

Theobald, Lord Verdon, d. at Alveton Castle, and was buried at Croxden, aged circa thirty-four, in 1316, when the Barony of Verdon fell into abeyance amongst his daughters and so continues with their representatives. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 548, Verdon, Barons Verdon]

Theobold married Elizabeth de Clare on 4 Feb 1315/16 in England. Elizabeth (daughter of 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Joan "of Acre" Plantagenet) was born on 16 Sep 1295 in Tewkesbury, England; died on 4 Nov 1360; was buried in Convent of Minoresses, Aldgate, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare, (c. 1294-1360), foundress of Clare College, Cambridge, was the youngest daughter of Gilbert Clare Earl of Gloucester and Hertford (d. 1295) by his second marriage to Edward I's daughter Joan of Acre (1271-1307). She was married first to John Burgh (d. 1313), heir to the earldom of Ulster, to whom she bore her only son William. Following the childless death of her only brother Gilbert at Bannockburn in 1314, she became a great heiress and was abducted in 1316, probably with her consent, by Theobald Verdon, who died later the same year and to whom she bore a posthumous daughter Isabel. A daughter Elizabeth was born by her third marriage to Roger Damory, who died in 1321. Still only in her mid-twenties, with dowers from all three husbands and with an inheritance worth at least 2,000 a year, she was an obvious target both for marriage and for molestation by the Despensers, who defrauded her of her lordship of Usk. This was recovered after their overthrow and she did not marry again, taking a vow of chastity by 1344. At her death her inheritance descended to her granddaughter Elizabeth, wife of Edward III's son Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and thence passed to the Mortimers and house of York.

Elizabeth's widowhood is illuminated by the finest set of household accounts still surviving. These reveal that she lived in stately splendour at Clare in Suffolk, where she received a stream of visitors, including her kinsfolk Edward III and Queen Philippa. 250 people received her livery in 1343, many of them members of her household, and at least 3,000 a year and sometimes more was spent by her wardrobe and household. This was not because Elizabeth was extravagant; she ran her household and estates efficiently, obtained value for her money, and took a strong line with poachers. That 93 esquires took her livery indicates her role as a great local aristocrat, particularly in East Anglia, which also emerges from her religious patronage.

As an heiress, Elizabeth held estates in her own right, not for life, and could thus give generously to the Church without first saving up wealth, as her friend Mary of St Pol had to do. Already before her husbands' deaths, she had vowed to go on pilgrimage to Santiago and the Holy Land, a promise she was unable to fulfill, and from the early 1330s was giving property to Ely cathedral priory, Tremenhall and Anglesey priories, and West Dereham Abbey. Her attention was attracted by 1336 to the notoriously under-financed University Hall at Cambridge, which she was persuaded to take over as Clare Hall, to endow (1346), and for which she devised statutes in 1359. All this involved dealing tactfully but firmly with the university and unsatisfactory fellows. Clare College was the first college deliberately planned to include undergraduates. While Elizabeth's example may have prompted Mary of St Pol to found Pembroke College, certainly it was Mary who interested Elizabeth in the Franciscans. In 1343 Elizabeth gave a church to Mary's abbey of Franciscan nuns (Minoresses) at Denney, in 1347 she founded a Franciscan friary at the pilgrimage centre of Walsingham priory, from 1355 (like Mary) she was authorised to stay overnight in Minoress houses, and in 1360 her will asked for burial at the Aldgate house of Minoresses. Her influence helps explain the foundation of the final English house of Minoresses at Bruisyard by her granddaughter and her husband Clarence with nuns from Denney. [Michael Hicks, Who's Who in Late Medieval England, Shepheard-Walwyn Ltd, London, 1991]

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Elizabeth m. 1st, John de Burgh, son of Richard, Earl of Ulster, by whom she had issue, William, Earl of Ulster, who m. Maud, sister of Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster, and left a dau. and heiress, Elizabeth de Burgh, who m. Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, K.G., and had an only dau. and heiress, Philippa Plantagenet, who m. Edward Mortimer, Earl of March. Elizabeth, widow of John de Burgh, m. 2ndly, Theobald de Verdon, and 3rdly, Roger d'Amory; by the last she had two daus., Elizabeth, m. to John, Lord Bardolph, and Eleanor, m. to John de Raleigh. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, p. 120, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford, Earls of Gloucester]

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Elizabeth de Clare, the youngest sister of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester, m. John de Burgh, son of Richard, Earl of Ulster, and through this alliance the honour of Clare came into the possession of the de Burghs. The heiress of Clare left a son, William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who m. Maud, sister of Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 434, Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death: 24 Jan 1288, Groby, Leicestershire, England

William married Anna Durward. Anna (daughter of Alan Durward and Marjory) was born in 1248 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England; died in 1280 in Groby, Leicestershire, England; was buried in Groby, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Gilbert "The Red Earl" de Clare

Notes:

Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, 7th Earl of Hertford and 3rd Earl of Gloucester, who, by the king's procurement, m. in 1257, Alice, dau. of Guy, Earl of Angouleme, and niece of the king of France, which monarch bestowed upon the lady a marriage portion of 5,000 marks. This noble man, who, like his predecessors, was zealous in the cause of the barons, proceeded to London immediately after the defeat sustained by the insurrectionary lords at Northampton (48th Henry III) [1264], in order to rouse the citizens, which, having effected, he received the honor of knighthood from Montfort, Earl of Leicester, at the head of the army at Lewes; of which army, his lordship, with John Fitz-John and William de Montchensi, commanded the second brigade, and having mainly contributed to the victory in which the king and prince became prisoners, while the whole power of the realm fell into the hands of the victors, the earl procured a grant under the great seal of all the lands and possessions lying in England of John de Warren, Earl of Surrey, one of the most faithful adherents of the king, excepting the castles of Riegate and Lewes, to hold during the pleasure of the crown, and he soon after, with some of the principal barons, extorted from the captive monarch a commission authorizing Stephen, then bishop of Chichester, Simon Montford, Earl of Leicester, and himself, to nominate nine persons of "the most faithful, prudent, and most studious of the public weal," as well prelates as others, to manage all things according to the laws and customs of the realm until the consultations at Lewes should terminate. Being jealous, however, of the power of Leicester, the earl soon after abandoned the baronial cause and, having assisted in procuring the liberty of the king and prince, commanded the second brigade of the royal arm at the battle of Evesham, which restored the kingly power to its former luster. In reward of these eminent services he received a full pardon for himself and his brother Thomas of all prior treasons, and the custody of the castle of Bergavenny during the minority of Maud, wife of Humphrey de Bohun. His lordship veered again though in his allegiance and he does not appear to have been sincerely reconciled to the royal cause until 1270, in which year, demanding from Prince Edward repayment of the expenses he had incurred at the battle of Evesham, with livery of all the castles and lands which his ancestors had possessed and, those demands having been complied with, he thenceforward became a good and loyal subject of the crown. Upon the death of King Henry, the Earl of Hertford and Gloucester was one of the lords who met at the New Temple in London to proclaim Prince Edward, then in the Holy Land, successor to the crown, and so soon as the new monarch returned to England, his lordship was the first to entertain him and his whole retinue with great magnificence for several days at his castle of Tonebruge. In the 13th Edward I [1285], his lordship divorced his wife Alice, the French princess, and in consideration of her illustrious birth, granted for her support during her life, six extensive manors and parks, and he m. in 1289, Joan of Acre, dau. of King Edward I, upon which occasion he gave up the inheritance of his castles and manors, as well in England as in Wales , to his royal father-in-law, to dispose of as he might think proper; which manors, and c., were entailed by the king upon the earl's issue by the said Joane, and in default, upon her heirs and assigns, should she survive the lordship. By this lady he had issue, Gilbert, his successor, Alianore, Margaret, and Elizabeth. His lordship d. in 1295, and the Countess Joan surviving, m. a "plain esquire," called Ralph de Monthermer, clandestinely, without the king, her father's, knowledge, but to which alliance he was reconciled through the intercession of Anthony Beke, the celebrated bishop of Durham, and became eventually much attached to his now son-in-law. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883, pp. 119-120, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford, Earls of Gloucester]

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Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester (1243-1295), 8th earl of Gloucester and 9th earl of Clare, was born at Christchurch, Hampshire, on Sept. 2, 1243. He married Alice of Angouleme, niece of king Henry III, succeeded his father in July 1262, and joined the baronial party led by Simon de Montfort. With Simon, Gloucester was at the battle of Lewes in May 1264, when the king himself surrendered to him, and after this victory he was one of the three persons selected to nominate a council. Soon, however, he quarreled with Simon. Leaving London for his lands on the Welsh border he met Prince Edward, afterward king Edward I, at Ludlow, just after his escape from captivity; and contributed largely to the prince's victory at Evesham in August 1265. But this alliance was as transitory as the one with Leicester, Gloucester championed the barons who had surrendered at Kenilworth in November and December 1266, and after putting his demands before the king, secured possession of London (April 1267). The earl quickly made his peace with Henry III and with Prince Edward. Under Edward I he spent several years in fighting in Wales, or on the Welsh border; in 1289 when the barons were asked for a subsidy he replied on their behalf that they would grant nothing until they saw the king in person (nihi prius personaliter viderent in Anglia faciem regis), and in 291 he was fined and imprisoned on account of levying private war on Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford. Having divorced his wife Alice, he married in 1290 Edward's daughter Joan, or Johanna (d. 1307). The "Red Earl," as he is sometimes called, died at Monmouth on Dec. 7, 1295, leaving, in addition to three daughters, a son, Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, killed at Bannockburn. [Encyclopedia Britannica, 1961 ed., Vol. 10, p. 434, GLOUCESTER, GILBERT DE CLARE, EARL OF.]

Ninth Earl Clare

Gilbert married Joan "of Acre" Plantagenet on 30 Apr 1290 in Westminster Abbey, London, Middlesex, England. Joan (daughter of Edward "Longshanks" Plantagenet, King of England and Eleanor "of Castile", Countess de Ponthieu) was born in 1272 in Acre, Palestine; died on 23 Apr 1307 in Clare, Suffolk, England; was buried on 26 Apr 1307 in Priory Church of the Austin Friars, Clare, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]