Sir Humphrey Stafford,( 1341 – 31 October 1413), of

Southwick, Wiltshire Southwick is a semi-rural village and civil parish southwest of the county town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. It is separated from the southwest fringe of Trowbridge only by the Southwick Country Park, which consists of of open fields. T ...

;

Hooke, Dorset Hooke is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated about northeast of the town of Bridport. It is sited in the valley of the short River Hooke, a tributary of the River Frome, amongst the chalk hills ...

; and

Bramshall Bramshall is a village to the west of Uttoxeter, within the parish of Uttoxeter Rural, in Staffordshire. It has a new housing estate to the north of it. History It was sometimes known as Broomshull, Bromshall etc., (Domesday Book: Branselle) an ...

, Staffordshire, was a member of the fifteenth-century English

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

. He held royal offices firstly in the county of his birth, and later in the west country, particularly

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, and has been called 'one of the wealthiest commoners in England' of the period.Jacob, E. F., ''Essays in Medieval History'' (Manchester, 1968), 36.

Early life and career

Humphrey Stafford was born some time after 1341, the eldest son of Sir John Stafford of

Amblecote Amblecote is an urban village and one of the most affluent areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it, an ...

and his second wife, Margaret Stafford (a daughter of Ralph, 1st Earl of Stafford, a distant relation). Ralph Stafford was his brother. His first official positions ranged from tax assessor for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

(1379), JP for the same county a year later,

Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

(1383–4), and Member of Parliament for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

during the October 1383 parliament. Prior to his long parliamentary career, he was primarily a soldier of the crown, generally

retained In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS Firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to em ...

in the armies of the

Earls of Stafford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, campaigning in France (in 1359), Ireland (1361), and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

(1373).

Family

Stafford married twice. In 1365 he married Alice Greville (born 1345) of

, who at the time was a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, KG (March 25, 1342–January 16, 1373) was the son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson of Humphrey de Bohun, ...

, and brought Stafford estates in Warwickshire as well as the manor of

Southwick Court Southwick Court is a Grade II* listed moated medieval manor house at the centre of a system of fields and water meadows that lie between the town of Trowbridge and the village of Southwick in Wiltshire, England. It has remained a private ...

. His second marriage, around 1387, to Elizabeth d'Aumarle ( 1345 – 1413) (daughter of William d'Aumarle) gave him those lands in the south-west which formed his later power-base, and allowed him to stand for the

parliamentary constituency for the subsequent twelve parliaments. His second wife also brought him Sir

William Bonville William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (12 or 31 August 1392 – 18 February 1461), was an English nobleman and an important, powerful landowner in south-west England during the Late Middle Ages. Bonville's father died before Bonville reached ...

of Shute (died 1408) as a brother-in-law. Elizabeth d'Aumarle also married John Maultravers (c. 1342 – 1386) of Hooke, Dorset.

Later career

In 1388, Humphrey Stafford was eventually caught up in the crisis of the

Lords Appellant The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II, who, in 1388, sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word ''appellant'' — still u ...

, 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 Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

100

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...

, 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 Ernest Fraser Jacob (12 September 1894 – 7 October 1971) was a British medievalist and scholar who was President of the Chetham Society, Lancashire Parish Register Society and Ecclesiastical History Society. Education He was educated at Tw ...

'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''.Roskell, J. S., ''The Commons in the Parliament of 1422: English Society and Parliamentary Representation Under the Lancastrians '' (Manchester, 1954), 80.

Death

Stafford died on 31 October 1413. In his will he left, among other things, his household servants one pound each; to his

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man an ...

s, 6s.8d. apiece; and to his

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

s, half that amount. The majority of his bequests were to ecclesiastic institutions: over £23 to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, £20 to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey in

Abbotsbury Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical g ...

, and £8 for two-years' worth of

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es for Stafford's soul. His wife had died two weeks previously. His

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

was Sir Humphrey Stafford (died 1442). Stafford also left an illegitimate son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, by one Emma, of

North Bradley North Bradley is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, between Trowbridge and Westbury. The village is about south of Trowbridge town centre. The parish includes most of the village of Yarnbrook, and the hamlets of Brokerswood, Cu ...

; he was the subject of a

Papal dispensation In the jurisprudence of the canon law of the Catholic Church, a dispensation is the exemption from the immediate obligation of law in certain cases.The Law of Christ Vol. I, pg. 284 Its object is to modify the hardship often arising from the ...

in 1408, rose through the ranks of the

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, and eventually became

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, and

Chancellor of England The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Humphrey 1413 deaths English MPs October 1383 High Sheriffs of Staffordshire English MPs November 1384 English MPs September 1388 English MPs January 1390 English MPs 1391 English MPs 1393 English MPs 1394 English MPs 1395 English MPs January 1397 English MPs 1399 English MPs 1401 English MPs January 1404 English MPs 1406 English MPs 1407 English MPs 1410

Humphrey Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Medieval period :''Ordered chronologically'' *Hunfrid of P ...