William Ferrers, 5th Baron Ferrers of Groby (1372–1445) was an
English baron in the
Late Middle Ages
The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
. He was an important figure in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
society and took part in most of the royal commissions that were held there. He was also active at a national level and earlier in his career he took part in some of the crises in the reigns of both
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, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
and
Henry IV. However, he supported the
Lancastrian regime under
Henry V and acted as a councillor to that King's baby son when the latter inherited the throne at the age of six months. Ferrers was married three times, twice to daughters of the
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
. Because his eldest son died before him, the Ferrers barony descended to his granddaughter's husband. Thus, when William Ferrers died, the Ferrers line, which had begun in England with the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, after which they were first granted lands in Leicestershire came to an end.
Early years and inheritance
Ferrers was born at Hoo,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
, and
baptised
Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
there on the same day, 25 April 1372. He was the only son and heir of
Henry Ferrers, 4th Baron Ferrers of Groby and his wife, Jean, daughter of Sir Thomas Hoo of
Luton Hoo
Luton Hoo is an English country house and estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Saxon word Hoo means the spur of a hill, and is more comm ...
. The bulk of the Ferrers' family landholding was in Leicestershire. In May 1394, Ferrers turned 21- the age of
majority
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...
- and, on paying
homage to
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, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
, received
livery
A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
of his inheritance, the King's
escheat
Escheat () is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied t ...
or taking his
fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another.
Definition
In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fealty" also r ...
in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
and
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
. By July he had received his mother's
dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...
lands, including the
knight's fee
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. It would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, and servants, but also the means to furnish himself and h ...
s and
advowson
Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...
s, and the following year he had received livery of
manors in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
.
Career
One of Ferrers' earliest acts of royal service was to join the King on his 1394-95 expedition to Ireland, where a by-now "resurgent" Irish nobility was threatening royal rule. Two years later, Ferrers was summoned to
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
for the first time, and would attend four more parliaments between then and January 1444. On at least two of those occasions, he was appointed a
trier of petitions. (n.(
''f'')
Although he had shown loyalty to the King in his early years, says the Ferrers family's most recent biographer, William's "political affiliations were flexible." Ferrers took part in some of the momentous events of the last years of Richard II's turbulent reign. In September 1397 he was among those who swore, upon the
shrine
A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...
of
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
in the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
, to uphold statutes. Two years later— after the
usurpation of Henry IV —he was a member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
that gave its assent to the secret imprisonment of the by-then deposed King Richard. In 1401 he was a member of the lords who condemned two members of the
Holland family as traitors,
John, Duke of Exeter and his nephew
Thomas, Duke of Surrey, who had been executed the previous year for their part in the failed '
Epiphany Rising' of the previous year. Five years later, Ferrers also sealed the
exemplification
Exemplification, in the philosophy of language, is a mode of symbolization characterized by the relation between a sample and what it refers to.
Description
Unlike ostension, which is the act of showing or pointing to a sample, exemplification ...
s of the
Acts which settled the
royal succession, in July and December 1406.
Ferrers also joined the
royal council in 1422, after the death of
King Henry V in France, as the new King— also
Henry —was a six-month-old baby. Ferrers' appointment, says
Ralph Griffiths, "provided an injection of youth into discussions hitherto conducted by a rather elderly group"; in any case, it made the
regency council "more fully and representatively attended."
However, Ferrers spent as much time as a local administrator and looking after his estates as he did in national politics. He was a
justice of the peace and a
commissioner of array in
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
for most of his life. However, local politics was not always more peaceful than government. In 1426, for example, Sir William Bermingham, from
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, with a group of men, attacked Ferrers' house in
Smethwick
Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
and killed two of Ferrers' servants in doing so.
Family

Ferrers married three times. His first marriage was arranged whilst he was still a
minor. At the age of sixteen, a few months after the death of his father, the right to dictate his marriage was conferred upon
Roger, Lord Clifford. As was the custom of the time, Clifford arranged for Ferrers to marry Clifford's daughter Philippa, and this not only connected Ferrers to the Clifford noble house but also (through Clifford's marriage to Maud Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas) to the
Earl of Warwick. Ferrers' second marriage was to a Margaret Montagu (died before October 1416), daughter of
John, Earl of Salisbury, and his third was to Elizabeth Standisshe, daughter of Robert Standisshe of Lancashire. This last marriage had taken place by the end of October 1416, and had not received a royal licence; Ferrers was her third marriage also.
Death and will
Elizabeth predeceased him, dying in either January or February 1441; he outlived her by slightly over four years, dying on 18 May 1445 at his manor of
Woodham Ferrers,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. His
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
had been written the day before. Ferrers left a
bequest
A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...
that his body be buried in
Ulverscroft Priory, Leicestershire. Ferrers had had to take part in the
Income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
of 1436, at which his estate was valued at £666. Ferrers' heir,
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, was worth £100 on top of this. However, although Thomas was 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. Offi ...
, he was only William's second son. Ferrers' eldest son and original heir, Henry, had died in 1425. As a result, the family
''caput honoris'' of
Groby and its
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
y passed not to Thomas but to William Ferrers' granddaughter—and Henry's heiress—Elizabeth (1419–1483). She eventually married Sir Edward Grey (son of
Reynold Grey, 3rd Baron Grey of Ruthin) in 1426 and thus conveyed the Barony of Groby away from the Ferrers family; this,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
K. B. McFarlane believed, was the point at which the Ferrers family line was finally extinguished.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrers, William)
1372 births
1445 deaths
14th-century English nobility
15th-century English nobility
5
People from Luton
People from the City of Chelmsford