William Stafford, 4th Earl of Stafford (21 September 1375 – 6 April 1395) was an English
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
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* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Gr ...
in the fourteenth century. He was the third son of
Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford
Hugh may refer to:
*Hugh (given name)
Noblemen and clergy French
* Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks
* Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II
* Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...
(c. 1344 – 16 October 1386); Hugh's second son
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
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* List of people with given name Thomas
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* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
inherited the
earldom
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", particula ...
in 1390. He died in 1392, still childless, and the title passed to William.
[Cokayne, G.E., The Complete Peerage of England and Wales (Vol. XII, part i, London, 1953), 179-80.] He was still a
minor, however, in the
wardship
In law, a ward is a minor or incapacitated adult placed under the protection of a legal guardian or government entity, such as a court. Such a person may be referenced as a "ward of the court".
Overview
The wardship jurisdiction is an ancient ...
of
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Early life
Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock ...
, his dead brother's father-in-law, and the Stafford estates were administered by a ' group of senior officials and lawyers.' He was still so when he died on 6 April 1395 in
Pleshey
Pleshey is a historic village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England, north-west of Chelmsford. The Normans built a motte and bailey in the late 11th century; the motte is one of the largest of its kind in ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
of natural causes.
[Harris, B., '' Edward Stafford, Third Duke of Buckingham, 1478-1521'' (Stanford, 1986), 245 n.4.] He was interred in
Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. William also dying childless, the Stafford earldom descended to the next brother,
Edmund
Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector".
Persons named Edmund include:
People Kings and ...
, who became the fifth earl.
References
External links
Inquisition Post Mortem 1395.
{{s-end
1375 births
04
1395 deaths