Humphrey Stafford MP (abt. 1400 - 1450)

Born about 1400 in Grafton, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Aylesbury) Stafford — married after 2 Jan 1424 in England

Descendants

Died 7 Jun 1450 at about age 50 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England

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Biography

Humphrey Stafford was born about 1400, the younger son of Humphrey Stafford, Knt. and Elizabeth Burdett, daughter of John Burdett, Knt.^[1][2][3][4]

• His father Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, Worcestershire^[4] (b. c. 1384 - d. 20 Feb 1419).
• His mother Elizabeth Burdett (d. bef. 1419), d. & h. of Sir John Burdet of Huncote, Leicestershire.^[4]

Humphrey's parents were married before 1400. He was heir to his older brother, John Stafford in 1422 (d. 1422), who was still in his minority when their father died.^[1][2]

Marriage

Sir Humphrey Stafford married Eleanor Aylesbury.^[4] Their marriage license is dated 02 January 1424.

Eleanor Aylesbury was the daughter of Sir Thomas Aylesbury^[4] by his second marriage to Katherine Pabenham.^[1][2][3]Eleanor was 17 years old in 1423. This would maker her estimated birth in about the year 1406, at Milton Keynes & Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire, England.^[1][2]

Eleanor's father, Thomas, was born about 1369. He was son and heir by his father's first marriage. He was of Milton Keynes and Drayton Beauchamp, in Buckinghamshire, Pytchley, in Northamptonshire, Aldbury, Tiscot, and Wilstone, in Hertfordshire. He was knight of the shire for Buckinghamshire. He was Sheriff of Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire and died 9 Sep 1418.^[1][2]

Eleanor's mother, Katherine Pabenham, was the daughter of Laurence de Pabenham, Knt. and Elizabeth d'Engaine, and the widow of William Cheyney, Knt.^[3]She was born about 1372, and died 17 Jun 1436.^[1][2]

Children

Eleanor and Humphrey had eight children together, five sons and three daughters.

• Richard Stafford. In 1448, Richard and his father Humphrey were assaulted by Robert Harcourt, Knt., at Coventry, Warwickshire. Richard was killed in the fight and resulted in a continual feud with the Harcourt family. The Staffords raided Stanton Harcourt in Oxford in May 1450, burning the house and church, driving the Harcourts into the church tower.^[1][2]
• Humphrey Stafford, Esq. ^[4]He married Katherine Fray, second daughter of John Fray, Knt. and Agnes Danvers. He was executed after the Lovell- Stafford insurrection on 8 July 1486 at Tyburn, London.^[1][2]
• Thomas Stafford, Esq. On 15 June 1481 the king awarded to both him and his mother, the manor of Dodford, Northamptonshire and ordered to pay £200, plus £50 charges to Edward Wydville Knt, to satisfy his claim to the manor.^[1][2]
• Ralph Stafford.^[1][2]
• John Stafford.^[1][2]
• Elizabeth Stafford, wife of Richard Beauchamp, K.B., 2nd Lord Beauchamp of Powick.^[1][2]
• Anne Stafford. She married 1st to Thomas Skulle of Wigginton, Oxfordshire, and 2nd to William Berkeley, K.B. of Weoley, Worchestershire. She had children from both marriages.^[1][2]
• Joyce Stafford, wife of Sir Marmaduke Constable.^[1][2][5]

Other issue

Humphrey Stafford had two illegitimate children by an unknown mistress,

• William
• Jane who married Guy Wyrley.^[1][2][6][7]

Humphrey possessed lands in Grafton, Broomsgrove, and Kenswick in Worcestershire, and Chebsey in Staffordshire, and Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Grandborough, Learnington, Hastings in Warwickshire, etc.^[1][2]

Career

• He was Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, 1430-31 and 1438-39.
• He was Knight of the Shire (Member of Parliament) for Worcestershire, and Staffordshire.^[1][2][8] He sat for Worcestershire in 1423 and 1426, for Staffordshire in 1427 and for Worcestershire again in 1447 and 1449.^[4]
• Jack Cade Rebellion & Death: Sir Humphrey Stafford was with the small force sent to suppress Jack Cade's rebellion in Kent, and was defeated and killed in an action near Sevenoaks, Kent,^[4] on 7 June 1450.^[1][2] Jack Cade was the leader of rebels against Henry VI’s weak and incompetent government, who in spring 1450 issued The Complaint of the Poor Commons of Kent. The rebels complained bitterly of the government’s financial exactions, corrupt officials and the idea that the king was above the law. They also bemoaned the loss of France, which had severely damaged Kent’s foreign trade. In the first week of June some 20,000 rebels appeared in arms at Blackheath. Most were peasants.^[9]A force was sent to reduce him under Sir Humphrey Stafford.^[10] The Stafford brothers, Sir Humphrey and William were ambushed with forty men at Sevenoaks, and all were killed.^[11]

He was buried at St. John's The Baptist Church in Bromsgrove.^[4]

Eleanor Aylesbury Stafford survived her husband.

Eleanor and her sister Isabel Chaworth were co-heirs to their cousin John Cressy, Knt. and inherited the manors of Dodford in Northamptonshire, and Oxhill in Warwickshire.^[1][2]

In 1478, Eleanor presented to the church of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.^[1][2]

On 15 June 1481, the King awarded the manor of Dodford, Northamptonshire to dame Eleanor Stafford and her son, Thomas, who were then ordered to pay £200, plus £50 charges to Edward Wydeville, Knt, to satisfy his claim to the said manor.^[1][2]

Eleanor died sometime after 15 June 1481.^[1][2] Eleanor and her husband have alabaster tomb monuments still displayed in the St. John the Baptist church in Bromsgrove, England.^[12]

Notes

• Joan Stafford Wyrely. The Visitation of Northampton in 1564 asserts that Joan was a legit daughter of Humphrey & wife. This is in error and was corrected in note in the Visitation of Northampton in 1618/9.^[6]
• Care should be exercised with this family as this Humphrey has an uncle, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon, and a cousin, named Humphrey as well as his father & own son.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21} Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. 1, pages 116-119, Basset #09-10, Thomas & Eleanor Aylesbury. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
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 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21} Douglas Richardson. "Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families", 5 vols., Vol III. ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013). page 239-240, HASTANG 14, Humphrey Stafford. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Marshall, George William. Ed. Visitations of the County of Nottingham, in the years 1569 and 1614. Published 1871, London. Pages 123-128.Aylesbury Pedigree.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8} Williams, William Retlaw. The parliamentary history of the county of Worcester : including the city of Worcester, and the boroughs of Bewdley, Droitwich, Dudley, Evesham, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Pershore, from the earliest times to the present day, 1213-1897, with biographical and genealogical notices of the members. 1897. Hereford, England. Page 29.Humphrey Stafford
5. ↑ Tonge, Thomas. Heraldic visitation of the northern counties in 1530. Published 1863 Whittaker & Co. London.Marmaduke Constable pedigree.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Metcalf, Walter C. Ed. Visitations of Northamptonshire made in 1564 and 1618-19. F.S.A. Published 1887, London. Page 160. [1].
7. ↑ Wyrley of Dodford, (Vis. of Northants., 1564). WikiTree.com. Pedigree. Wyrley of Dodford, (Vis. of Northants., 1618/9). WikiTree.com. Pedigree.
8. ↑ Mentioned in the entry for his father - History of Parliament online. The House of Commons 1422–1461. Part of The History of Parliament. Editor: Linda Clark, History of Parliament Trust. Published: April 2020. Humphrey Stafford MP
9. ↑ Cavendish, Richard. The Killing of Jack Cade. Published in History Today, Vol. 50, 7 July 2000.[2]
10. ↑ Noorthouck, John, 'Book 1, Ch. 6: Cade's Rebellion to Henry VII', in A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark (London, 1773), pp. 94-106. [British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/new-history-london/pp94-106 [accessed 24 May 2021]].
11. ↑ Grant-Duff, Justin. Jack Cade and his rebellion of Kentish Men in the reign of Henry VI, 1450.[3]
12. ↑ St. John the Baptist Church in Bromsgrove, England.[4]

• Foster, Joseph. Pedigrees of the county families of Yorkshire. 1874. Vol 3. Pg. 95-6. Archive.org. [5]
• Dugdale, William, Sir. Dugdale’s Visitation of Yorkshire, with additions. 1899. Vol 2. Pg. 289. Archive.org. [6]
• Flower, William. The visitation of Yorkshire in the years 1563 and 1564. 1881. Vol 16, 18. Pg. 65. Archive.org. [7]
• Marshall, George William. The visitations of the county of Nottingham in the years 1569 and 1614. 1871. Vol 4. Pg. 40 and 126. Archive.org. [8] [9]
• Glover, Robert. The visitation of Yorkshire, made in the years 1584/5. 1875. Pg. 178, 197 and 507. Archive.org. [10] [11] [12]
• Burke, John. A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland. 1835-38. Vol 1. Pg. 328 and 549. Archive.org. [13] [14]
• Tonge, Thomas. Heraldic visitation of the northern counties in 1530. 1863. Pg. 68. Archive.org. [15]
• Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 1893. Vol 12. Pg. 208. Archive.org. [16]
• Williams, William Retlaw. The parliamentary history of the county of Worcester. 1897. Pg. 29. Archive.org. [17]
• Raine, James. Testamenta eboracensia; or, Wills registered at York. 1865. Vol 5. Pg. 88-93. Archive.org. [18]
• Adams, Arthur. The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215. 1955. Pg. 26. babel.hathitrust.org. [19]
• Wright, James. The history and antiquities of the County of Rutland. 1684. Pg. 127. babel.hathitrust.org. [20]
• Richardson, Douglas: Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd edn. (2011), 3 vols, Volume 1, page 559, CONSTABLE 13.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Stafford_(died_1450)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaduke_Constable

See Also:

• Jack Cade's Rebellion at Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Jack Cade's Rebellion
• Find A Grave: Memorial #106489128
• Richardson, D. Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 261, 384-5, 593.
• Richardson, D. (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed, I: 117-8, 185, 336-7, 528, II: 37, 378, III: 393.
• Richardson, D. Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd ed, I, p. 327-328.
• Richardson, D. Royal Ancestry, I: 266, 341, 577, II: 285, 409, 508, III: 237-8, 266, IV: 418.