Children of Margaret d'Audley & Ralph, Earl of Stafford
Brad Verity
(d'Audley), Lady Stafford':
"Margaret and Ralph had six known children, two sons and four
daughters. Margaret was abducted by Ralph in the spring of 1336, and
their first child, apparently their daughter Elizabeth, was born in
the following year. Ralph, their elder son, came next, and was
contracted to marry Maud of Lancaster in November 1344, but died
before November 1347 and before he was aged 10. Either Beatrice or
Hugh came next, with the two youngest children the daughters Joan and
Katherine."
Turns out I was incorrect as to birth order of the daughters. Using
the research of historian K.B. McFarlane, published in 1973 in the
book "The Nobility of later Medieval England", and the research of
genealogist Patrick Montague-Smith in his 1984 article 'An Unrecorded
Line of Descent From King Edward I of England With Some Early Settled
American Descendants' published in "The Genealogist", plus a little of
my own research, the birth order of Ralph and Margaret's children can
be reconstructed with some degree of certainty.
Ralph de Stafford abducted Margaret d'Audley in early 1336, when he
was aged 34 and she was about 16. The abduction may have been
collusive (let's hope so, for Margaret's sake, otherwise it would've
been extremely traumatic, if not terrrifying, for her), and may have
been abetted by Margaret's aunt - the formidable Elizabeth de Burgh,
Lady of Clare, who had undergone a similar 'abduction' several years
back by her second husband Theobald de Verdun. Ralph and Margaret
stayed close to Lady Elizabeth throughout their married lives, and
named their first daughter after her.
Using the order in which the children were married off, we can deduce
their birth order.
1) Elizabeth Stafford, the first child, born in 1337. McFarlane and
CP do not have her married until 12 March 1347, which throws off my
whole "order-of-marriage indicates order-of-birth" theory. But a
little digging in the PRO reveals the marriage contract was negotiated
much earlier:
E 326/6114 Indenture recording the delivery by Wm. Legh to Hugh Burgh
of the u/m documents:- (1) An indenture of 16 Edw. III relating to the
marriage of Fulk son of John Staunge of Whitchurch with Eliz. daughter
of Ralph, baron of Stafford. (2) A deed of 18 Edw. III in which John
le Staunge, lord of WHitchurch, enfeoffed Bartholomew de Berdefeld,
parson of Ightfield (Ithtefeld), of the manor and advowson of
Whitchurch. [c.18 Ric II]
The above indicates that Elizabeth's marriage to Fulk le Strange was
planned and agreed on as early as 1342 - though not apparently
finalized/celebrated until 12 March 1347. Elizabeth's portion was
f1,000 and the jointure 200 marks a year.
2) Joan Stafford, the second daughter, was the next child to be
married. McFarlane says the "contract was sealed on 15 December 1343
for the marriage of his daughter Joan to John, grandson and heir of
John, Lord Charlton of Powys. The portion was f800 and the jointure
f100 a year. [footnote: Bodleian Library, Dugdale MS. 15, p. 62.]" In
late 1343, Joan was a younger daughter with two brothers alive, which
may be why her portion and jointure were less than Elizabeth's.
3) Ralph Stafford, the elder son, was the next marriage arranged.
Whether he was born before or after Joan, however, cannot be
determined with certainty. He was contracted to marry on 1 Nov. 1344
to Maud of Lancaster, the only daughter and heiress (at that point) of
Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Derby.
The next marriage Ralph Stafford arranged for a child was the second
marriage of his daughter Elizabeth, the underage widow of Fulk le
Strange, to John de Ferrers of Chartley. This was in 1349 and I need
to research what the details of the marriage terms were. It is
unlikely Ralph provided Elizabeth a marriage portion, as she was
well-endowed at that point with dower from the Strange lands.
4) Beatrice Stafford, the third daughter, "was promised on 20 April
1350 to Maurice, son and heir of the Earl of Desmond; the portion was
again f1,000, but this time the jointure had risen to f200. [footnote:
Bodleian Library, Dugdale MS. 15, p. 63.]"
5) Hugh Stafford, the younger son, was born in 1341, having come of
age in the year 1362, and was of full age by January 1363 [his
mother's IPM]. Whether Hugh was born before or after Beatrice,
however, is difficult to determine. The arrangements for Hugh to
marry Philippa Beauchamp, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, were
underfoot as early as March 1351 (CP cites a Patent Roll entry, which
settled the estates reversion on them, but does not, however, call
Philippa Hugh's wife). "Finally on 20 July 1353 Ralph contracted his
only surviving son, Hugh ... for this match he was given f2,000; what
jointure he offered is not recorded. [Footnote: The sum of the portion
is stated in a receipt for payment of 200 marks of it in Whitsun Term
1353 (Bodleian Library, Dugdale MS.15, p. 294 (transcript)).]"
Finally, we have:
6) Katherine Stafford, the alleged youngest daughter, who was missed
by McFarlane, which I assume means that her marriage was not mentioned
in the Bodleian Library manuscript he researched. Montague-Smith, in
his 1984 article, provides the details: "While still a minor, Lady
Katherine married, on Christmas Day in 1357, Sir John Sutton III, son
and heir of Sir John Sutton II, Baron of Dudley, co. Stafford. This
marriage followed upon a settlement made in London 31 October 1357.
We learn of its terms from a plea roll dated Michaelmas 1363.
[footnote: Gen. Hon. George Wrottesley, "Extracts from the Plea
Rolls", CHS 13:38 (1892).] The same roll reveals that the marriage
took place at the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord in 1357, and that
her father had paid 400 marks out of the 600 marks promised."
All of a sudden, six years after he has been made an Earl, Ralph
Stafford lowers the marriage portion for a daughter from f1,000 to 600
marks? This is the only piece of contemporary evidence Montague-Smith
provides to identify Katherine as the daughter of Ralph, Earl of
Stafford. His 1892 source, Wrottesley, needs to be tracked down - as
well as the original 14th-century Plea Roll. The abstract of the plea
roll that Montague-Smith provides (itself a transcription of
Wrottesley), makes no mention of Katherine's mother, nor of any date
for her marriage to John de Sutton, nor that she was underage at the
marriage. (Though it does say: "the said John [de Sutton II] further
conceded that if Katrine should die within four years after the
marriage, that the money which the Earl had given for the marriage
should be returned to him".)
John de Sutton III was of full age at the death of his father in
November 1359, so why marry him to an underage (as Montague-Smith
argues) girl who was not an heiress? Margaret d'Audley must've been
generous-minded to name a daughter after her husband Ralph's deceased
first wife. Could Katherine Stafford, wife of John de Sutton, been
the daughter of Ralph's first wife, and thus born prior to 1336? Or
could she have been an illegitimate daughter? Ralph Stafford did have
at least one illegitimate son, who entered the church.
Something doesn't feel right. I think further research is needed
before we accept Katherine Stafford as the daughter of Margaret
d'Audley, though it does seem safe to accept her as daughter of Ralph,
Earl of Stafford.
Cheers, -----Brad
Brad Verity
> 5) Hugh Stafford, the younger son, was born in 1341, having come of
> age in the year 1362, and was of full age by January 1363 [his
> mother's IPM]. Whether Hugh was born before or after Beatrice,
> however, is difficult to determine.
Turns out it's not so difficult - Hugh was born before Beatrice. In
CP Vol. 4, p. 242 [Desmond article], "His widow [Beatrice] was still
under age, 16 June 1358, when her guardians were appointed for a year.
[footnote: 'Close Roll' [I.], 32 Edw. III, p.2, no.54; 'Patent Roll',
p. 1, m.5; 'Patent Roll' [I.], no.18.]"
If under age refers to under age 14, Beatrice was born after 1344, if
it refers to under age 16, she was born after 1342. In either case,
younger than her brother Hugh, born in 1341. If it refers to under
age 21, it doesn't help us. But making Beatrice older than Hugh means
Margaret had to give birth three times in 1338-40, which is extremely
unlikely, so Beatrice had to be born after Hugh.
This is then a case where a younger daughter was arranged in marriage
before an elder son. But we don't know exactly when negotiations for
Philippa Beauchamp to marry Ralph Stafford and Margaret d'Audley's
heir had begun - at least by early 1351, and finalized in 1353.
Eldest sister Elizabeth's first marriage had a delay of 5 years
between indenture and finality.
So this makes the birth order of the children:
1) Elizabeth, b. 1337
2) or 3) Joan, b. 1338-40
3) or 2) Ralph, b. 1338-40
4) Hugh, b. 1341
5) Beatrice, b. after 1342
6) Katherine - possible daughter of Margaret
Cheers, ------Brad