Richard Fiennes (abt. 1425 - 1483)

Born about 1425 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Joan (Dacre) Fiennes — married about Jun 1446 in England

Descendants

Died 25 Nov 1483 at about age 58 in England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Richard was the son of Roger Fiennes^[1] and Elizabeth Holand.^[2][3][4] His birth year is uncertain but his parents married before 1422^[2][3] and he was old enough in 1452-3 to be Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex:^[5] he was therefore likely to have been born no later than 1425. His birth county is not known.

Marriage and Children

In June 1446 or soon after Richard married Joan Dacre, daughter of Thomas Dacre^[4] and Elizabeth Bowet.^[2][3][6] They had six children:

• John^[2][3][4][7]
• Thomas,^[2][3][4][7] named in his mother's will^[8]
• Richard^[2][3][7]
• William^[2][3][7]
• Roger^[2][3][7]
• Elizabeth, who married John, 6th Lord Clinton^[2][3][7] and was named in her mother's will^[8]

Life

Richard was Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in 1452-3.^[5]

Following the death of her father in January 1458, Joan held the title Lady Dacre in her own right. As a result, Richard was recognised as Lord Dacre by letters patents of 1458, making him 7th Lord Dacre of the South.^[6] He was summoned to Parliament, as Lord Dacre "chevalier" (knight), from 1459 to 1482.^[2][3]

In 1462 Richard accompanied Edward IV to Scotland.^[7]

Richard served as joint Chamberlain to Edward IV's wife, Elizabeth Woodville.^[6][7] A 1471 Patent Rolls entry describes him as steward of the future Edward V.^[9] In 1473 he was named one of the administrators of Wales, the Duchy of Cornwall and other lands during Edward's minority, and as one of Edward's tutors and counsellors.^[10]

In 1473 Richard obtained the reversion of the position of Constable of the Tower of London, but he predeceased the then Constable and so never benefited from this.^[2][3][6][7]

In 1474 Richard was a member of a commission for the repair of the banks of the Thames east of London.^[7] The next year the Patent Rolls name him as one of the king's councillors, with a grant of 100 marks a year from the customs and subsidies of the city of London.^[11]

Lands

Richard held lands at Herstmonceux and elsewhere in Sussex, and also in Hampshire, Oxfordshire and elsewhere.^[2][3] He and his wife had interests in Dacre properties in Berkshire,^[12] Norfolk and Suffolk.^[2][3]

Richard and his wife had a dispute with her uncle Humphrey Dacre over Dacre lands in northern England: this was settled by royal arbitration in 1473-4, with Richard and Joan being awarded properties in Lancashire and Lincolnshire, and Humphrey being awarded substantial lands in Cumberland.^[13]

Death

Richard died on 25 November 1483 and was buried at Herstmonceux, Sussex.^[2][3][6] His will was dated 20 September 1483.^[6][7] A writ for his Inquisition Post Mortem was issued on 11 December 1483. An Inquisition held in Sussex on 4 November 1484 showed him holding extensive lands in that county. His heir was his grandson Thomas.^[1]

Richard's wife survived him, dying on 8 March 1485/6.^[2][3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1483-1485, Vol. XXXV, The Boydell Press and the National Archives, 2021, pp.128-129, viewable (account required) on VitalSource Bookshelf, accessed 19 April 2021
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. III, pp. 510-511, SAY 9
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. II, pp. 581-582, FIENNES 15
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} W Bruce Bannerman (ed.). The Visitations of the County of Sussex, 1530 and 1633-4, Harleian Society, 1905, pp. 11-12, Internet Archive, and 77-78, Internet Archive
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} List of Sheriffs for England and Wales, PRO Lists and Indices No. 9, HMSO, 1898, and Kraus Reprint Corporation, 1963, p. 136, Internet Archive
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5} G E Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. IV, St Catherine Press, 1916, pp. 8-9, Internet Archive
7. ↑ ^{7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10} Thomas Barrett-Lennard. An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, Spottiswoode & Co, London, 1908, pp. 181-184, Internet Archive
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Testamenta Vetusta, Vol. II, Nichols and Son, 1826, p. 390, Internet Archive
9. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV and Henry VI, A.D. 1467-1477, HMSO, 1900, p. 283, Internet Archive
10. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV and Henry VI, A.D. 1467-1477, p. 366, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV and Henry VI, A.D. 1467-1477, pp. 534, Internet Archive, and 550, Internet Archive
12. ↑ 'Parishes: White Waltham,' in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3, ed. P H Ditchfield and William Page (London: Victoria County History, 1923), pp. 171-177, British History Online, accessed 4 February 2022
13. ↑ Collins's Peerage of England, greatly augments and continued to the present time by Sir Egerton Brydges, Vol. VI, 1812, pp. 561-562, Internet Archive

• Weis, Frederick William, with additions by Walter Lee Sheppard and William R Beall. The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 5th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1999, p. 11, line 8A.12

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 4 February 2022.

Richard Fiennes appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Thomas Lunsford to Magna Carta Surety Baron Geoffrey de Say (vol. III, pages 84-85 LUNSFORD). The trail to Say was badged by the Magna Carta Project in Feb 2015. This profile also appears in a badged trail from Gateway Thomas Lunsford to surety baron Richard de Clare that branches off the Say trail. See both trails in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".