Hello,
I am not pre-1500 certified, I am currently learning, and creating profiles for pre-1700 people I find interesting. One such person is George Clifford (abt. 1532-1586), who held the manor of Bobbing in Kent. His parents were Richard Clifford (d. bef. 1538) and one Anne (d. sometime aft. 1544) who later married Jasper Culpeper. I found the lacking profile for Anne and updated it with my research.
This Anne was purportedly "Anne daughter of the Lord Stafford Erle of Wiltshire by ye Lord Ferrers sister" (in the 1574 Visitation of Kent [p. 40]), and this is attested by her son George Clifford. Considering the time period in which she was born (before 1510), the Earl of Wiltshire would have been Henry Stafford (abt. 1479-1522/3), who Complete Peerage (vol. 12, part 2, pp. 738-739) has dying s. p.
Many online trees, and even major compilations like History of Parliament Online and Comber's Sussex Genealogies (see my Research Notes on Anne's profile), take the Visitation statement at face value, but it's a very big claim, and I cannot find any other evidence for it. I can't find any inquisitions, rolls, chancery records, etc. directly addressing this.
Does anyone knowledgeable about pre-1500 English aristocracy have any information or idea on what's going on with Anne? The fact her son apparently gave this descent gives me pause. Could there be truth to this? Is her father perhaps a Stafford but not the Earl of Wiltshire?
Who would "Sister of Lord Ferrers" be? (A Devereux?). Is it possible my Anne was illegitimate?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you
