Robert (Ferrers) de Ferrers (abt. 1118 - bef. 1160)

Born about 1118 in Staffordshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1160 before about age 42 in Derbyshire, England

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Biography

1118 Birth

He was born about 1118.^{[citation needed]}

1139 Earl of Derby

He succeeded his father in 1139 as Earl [of Derby]. ^[1]

1139 Marriage to Margaret Peveril

Before 1139 he married Margaret, daughter of William Peveril of Nottingham & his first wife Oddona, who was born between 1123 and 1126.^[1]

Her parentage is suggested by the charter of John King of England which names “Willelmo de Ferrariis comiti” as heir to territories of “Willelmi Peverell”. If this parentage is correct, Margaret is unlikely to have been born outside the narrow date range estimated above, which would also indicate that her marriage took place only shortly before the date of this charter.^[1]

He married Margaret, daughter and heir of William Peverel, of Nottingham. He died before 1160, and was buried in Merevale Abbey, wrapped in an oxhide. "^[2]

Marriage Notes

Regarding The history and antiquities of the county of Buckingham, pg 252-253 pedigree chart:

It is Robert II, 2nd Earl of Derby, son of Robert I and Hawise, who marries Margaret Peverel. They have sons William and Walcheline.

It is that William, 3rd Earl of Derby, who marries Sybil de Braose. They have children William, 4th Earl of Derby, Robert, Milisent, and Agatha.

Supporting charters:

Calendar of documents preserved in France ^[3]

Abbey of St Pierre-Sur-Dive

581 (1140-1150): Robert the younger earl of Nottingham, grandfather Henry, uncle Engenulf, father Robert

582 (1141): Robert the younger earl of Nottingham, mother Hatwis

1140 Charter

1140-1150, "Robert the younger earl of Nottingham" drafts a charter "addressed to the bishop of Chester, all the faithful [sons] of the church, and all his barons, knights, and men, and all his friends, clerk and lay". 1141, Robert drafts a charter which mentions the death of "Hatwis", the earl's mother, as well as "Robert son of Walchelin de Raborna". ^[4]

Merevale Abbey

He founded the abbey of Merevale, Warwickshire, where he was buried. ^[1]

"During the reign of King Stephen, he founded the Abbeys of Merevale, co. Warwick, and Darley near Derby, and was the virtual founder of the Priory of Bredon, co. Leicester. He went, or proposed to go, on pilgrimage to Santiago.

"Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, in the 12th Henry II, upon levying the aid for marrying the king's daughter, certified the knights' fees then in his possession to be in number seventy-nine for which he paid the sum of 68 marks. This nobleman was also a liberal benefactor to the church. His lordship was buried at the Abbey of Meervale, co. Warwick, one of the religious houses which he had founded, wrapped in an ox's hide according to his desire. His lordship m. Margaret, dau. and heiress of William Peverel, of Nottingham, by whom he had issue. He was s. by his son, William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby." ^[5]

"The second earl, another Robert, used as well the titles: Comes junior de Ferrariis and Comes junior de Notingham. He was outstanding, in an age when the endowment of monasteries seemed to be the privilege of every nobleman, in the number and generosity of his foundations : Breedon in Leicestershire; Darley near Derby; and Merevale in Warwickshire where he was buried, wrapped in an oxhide. To Garendon Abbey he gave the land at Heathcote confirmed in the Museum deed. He married Margaret, daughter and eventual heiress of William Peveril of Nottingham. In 1199, their grandson William, the 4th earl, claimed successfully his great-grandfather's lands, in right of his grandmother, and acquired thereby extensive properties including the lands between Mersey and Ribble which were later to become part of the Earldom of Lancaster."^[6]

"Robert de Ferrers, earl of Ferrers and Derby, he stiled himself according to Dugdale, Robertus Comes Junior de Ferrariis, and likewise Comes Junior de Nottingham, (fn. 1) as appears among others by an ancient charter of his bearing date A. D. 1141, in which he confirmed to the church of St. Oswald of Notle, whatsoever Henry de Ferrers his grandfather, Eugenulph de Ferrers his uncle, Robert his father or any of their wives or barons had given before-time to that church: He was a benefactor to the monks of Tutbury in com. Stafford, to the canons of Notle, as has been said, in com. Ebor, to the monks of Geronden, in com. Leicester, and Cumbermere, in com. Chester; moreover he founded the priory of Derby, (which was afterwards translated to Derley in that county) and the abbey of Mereval or Murval in com. Warwick. He died the 12th of Henry II, 1165, and was succeeded by his only son William de Ferrers, earl of Ferrers and Derby." (1165 is the year son William inherited, not the year of death) ^[7]

Robert de Ferrers 2nd Earl of Derby, and his wife Margaret were buried in Merevale Abbey near Atherstone in North Warwickshire. Merevale Abbey was founded by his father, the 1st Earl. Their tomb and effigies can be seen today in the Church of Our Lady, formerly the Gate Chapel, the only building left of the Merevale Abbey complex which is in ruins. ^[8]

The second shield has—Ferrers (ancient), sable, six horse shoes, argent 3.2.1., impaling some arms which have perished with age. The inscription is: “Robert of Ferrers, Earle of Ferrers in Normandy, and Hawis his wife." ^[9]

1157 Higham Ferrers

"In 1157 it was granted, probably for life, to Robert de Ferrers, second Earl of Derby, who had married Margaret, daughter and heir of William Peverel, her brother Henry being then apparently dead. (fn. 80) After the death of Robert in or about 1159, Higham Ferrers was granted in 1161 to William, the King's brother, who died in 1164. (fn. 81)" ^[10]

Tutbury Priory

NUM II: "Robertus comes junior de Ferrariis", "avus meus Henricus" [my grandfather], "Berta uxore sua" [his wife - Henry's], "Egennlfus patruus meus" [my uncle], "Robertus pater meus" [my father], "Amica filia avi mei" (daughter of grandfather, or aunt) ^[11][12]

NUM VII: "Robertus junior, comes de Notingham", "post mortem" [after the death of] "Hauwisiae" "matris meae" [my mother].

"Robert de Ferrars, the last Earl of Derby, confirmed all the benefactions of his ancestors by charter, but by him the priory was pulled down in the year 1260, and was not rebuilt till theyear 1307, no doubt by the Earl of Lancaster." ^[13]

"I find also a confirmation made, per Rob'tum de Ferrariis, filium et haeredem [son and heir] nobilis viri Will'i de Ferrariis, comit. Derbies, Deo, et beatee Mariae, et ecclesie de Tutburie, et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, de omnibus queecunque Hen. de Ferrariis fundator ejusdem ecclesiae, seu Engenulf de Ferrariis, vel Rob. de Ferrariis, vel al. Rob. de Ferrariis, vel Will'us de Ferrariis, vel al. Will'us de Ferrariis, avus suus, vel Will'us de Ferrariis, pater suus, sive aliquis antecessorum suorum dederunt." ^[14]

1160 Death

Robert died before 1160 and was buried at Merevale Abbey. ^[1]

Issue

Earl Robert & his wife had [three] children: ^[1]

1. William, killed in battle at Acre in 1190.^[1]
2. Matilda de Ferrers. The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified. She married Bertram de Verdun, son of Norman de Verdun & his wife Lesceline de Clinton (-[1191]). ^[1]
3. Isolde de Ferrers (-after 1185). The Rotuli de Dominabus of 1185 records property “in Bernewelle…de feodo comitis” held by “Ysowda, que fuit uxor Stephani de Bello-Campo, et filia comitis de Ferrariis”, adding that she has “i filium et v filias”[338]. It is assumed that Isolde was the daughter of Robert Earl of Derby (died before 1160) but it is not impossible that she was the daughter of Robert’s father. m as his second wife, STEPHEN de Beauchamp, son of RICHARD de Beauchamp & his wife --- (-before 1185).] ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, Medieval Lands Database. English Nobility Medieval Robert Ferrers Accessed July 9, 2017. jhd
2. ↑ Complete Peerage IV:191-2, XIV:230, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger) [1]
3. ↑ Calendar of documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol.1. A.D. 918-1206 [2]
4. ↑ Calendar of documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol.1. A.D. 918-1206, p 203 [3]
5. ↑ Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 196, Ferrers, Earl of Derby [4]
6. ↑ A Ferrers Document of the Twelfth Century, By Eleanor Swift, M.A. [5]
7. ↑ Robert Thoroton. "Section V: A brief History of the Noblemen ," in Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire: Volume 2, Republished With Large Additions By John Throsby, ed. John Throsby (Nottingham: J Throsby, 1790), 113-120. British History Online, accessed March 16, 2017, [6].
8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Ferrers,_2nd_Earl_of_Derby
9. ↑ Transactions and Proceedings, Volumes 14-17, By Birmingham Archaeological Society, p 90 [7]
10. ↑ "The borough of Higham Ferrers," in A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1930), 263-279. British History Online, accessed March 16, 2017, [8].
11. ↑ Monasticon Anglicanum: Vol 3 [9]
12. ↑ Monasticon Anglicanum: Vol 5 [10]
13. ↑ An historical description of Tutbury Castle and Priory, with some account of the town and neighbourhood, p 69 [11]
14. ↑ A Survey of Staffordshire: Containing the Antiquities of that County, p 525 [12]

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p15854.htm#i158537 1090-1162 A.D.
• Honors and Knights' Fees: An Attempt to Identify the Component Parts of Certain Honors and to Trace the Descent of the Tenants of the Same who Held by Knight's Service Or Serjeanty from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century, Volume 1, p 202 [13]
• The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 7, p 220 [14]
• History of the Castle, Priory, and Town of Tutbury, in the County of Stafford, p 8 [15]
• Deering, Charles. Nottinghamia Vetus et Nova (George Ayscough & Thomas Willington, Nottingham, 1751) Page 200