Complete Peerage Correction: Death date of Sir John Hastang, of Leamington Hastings, Warwickshire
Douglas Richardson
The authoritative Complete Peerage, 6 (1926): 343 (sub Hastang)
appears to have had a difficult time distinguishing John Hastang, of
Chebsey, Staffordshire (husband of Maud Trussell), who occurs from
1359 to c.1367, from his father of the same name, Sir John Hastang, of
Leamington Hastings, Warwickshire (husband of Blanche), who occurs
from 1346 to say 1360. Having two successive generations of the same
name with no clear delineation between the generations has long been
the bane of medieval research.
Complete Peerage suggests that the elder Sir John Hastang and his
wife, Blanche, were "possibly dead before 2 Feb. 1358/9," but this
date appears to have been purely a guess, and is not based on any
primary evidence. More recent research indicates that the elder Sir
John Hastang (a knight) and his wife, Blanche, were involved in July
1352 in litigation involving Henry de Braylesford and Joan his wife
regarding 16 acres of meadow in Chebsey, Staffordshire (see Colls.
Hist. Staffs. 12 (1891): 115). In Michaelmas term, 1354 John Hastang,
Knt. was likewise sued by the same parties regarding eight acres of
meadow in Slyndon, Staffordshire (see Ibid., 129). In 1354 Sir John
Hastang, of Leamington Hastings, Warwickshire, owed £200 to John le
Blount, of Sodington, Worcestershire, and Adam le Botoner, of
Coventry, Warwickshire (see PRO Document, C 241/138/113). In 1355 Sir
John Hastang, of Warwickshire, owed £146 13s. 4d. to Richard de
Piriton, clerk [see PRO Document, C 241/135/98). In 1360 he exchanged
the manors of Budbrooke and Grave Curly (in Budbrooke), Warwickshire
with Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, for those of Grafton and
Upton Waryn, Worcestershire (see VCH Warwick 3 (1945): 65-68).
Sometime before 1362 he granted the manor of Grandborough,
Warwickshire for life to William Trussell, Knt. (see VCH Warwick, 6
(1951): 94-99). In 1362 there is mention of robbers breaking into the
house of Sir John Hastang within the Park of Chebsey, Staffordshire
(see Close Rolls). It is likely that the elder John is intended in
this record, as the elder John is kmown to have been a knight, whereas
there is no indication that the younger John ever took up knighthood.
Whatever the case, the elder John certainly predeceased his son, the
younger John, who is stated in various inquisitions to have died in
1365, 1366, or 1367. In 1365-1366 Ralph Earl of Stafford conveyed all
his right in the manor of Chebsey, Staffordshire to John Hastang.
John Hastang the younger is evidently intended in this record, as this
individual is not styled a knight in the record. Also, other records
indicate that John Hastang the younger and his wife, Maud, had earlier
been jointly enfeoffed with the manor of Chebsey, Staffordshire by his
father [see Complete Peerage, 6 (1926): 343, footnote n). Given these
facts, it seems likely that the elder Sir John Hastang died sometime
between 1362 and 1365/7, and that his death was quickly followed by
that of his son, John Hastang the younger, who died in 1365, 1366, or
1367.
For interest's sake, I've listed below the names of the 17th Century
colonial immigrants that descend from John Hastang the younger and his
wife, Maud Trussell. For the links down to the various immigrants,
please see my book, Plantagenet Ancestry (2004), which is available
for purchase privately through me.
Thomas Booth, Elizabeth Bosvile, George, Giles & Robert Brent,
Frances, Jane & Katherine Deighton, Edward Foliot, Thomas Ligon, Anne
Mauleverer, Philip & Thomas Nelson, Thomas Owsley, Anthony Savage,
Samuel & William Torrey, Amy Wyllys.
For the royalty buffs, below is the line of descent from King Henry II
of England down to Maud Trussell, wife of John Hastang the younger.
1. Henry II, King of England, by a mistress, Ida de Tony.
2. William Longespée, Knt., Earl of Salisbury, married Ela of
Salisbury.
3. Ida Longespée, married William de Beauchamp, Knt., of Bedford,
Bedfordshire.
4. Beatrice de Beauchamp, married Thomas Fitz Otes, Knt., of
Mendlesham, Suffolk.
5. Maud Fitz Thomas, married John Botetourt, Knt., 1st Lord Botetourt.
6. Ada Botetourt, married John de Saint Philibert, Knt., of Eaton
Hastings, Berkshire.
7. Maud de Saint Phililbert, married Warin Trussell, Knt., of
Billesley, Warwickshire.
8. Maud Trussell, married John Hastang, of Chebsey, Staffordshire.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
P.S. Hastang is the spelling of this family's surname employed by
Complete Peerage and most modern secondary sources that I've
consulted. Regardless, you can find some modern genealogical
databases which incorrectly spell the name "Hastings."