Thomas (Clifford) de Clifford (abt. 1363 - abt. 1391)

Born about 1363 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 18 Aug 1391 at about age 28 in outside England

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Thomas de Clifford is a descendant of several Magna Carta surety barons (see text below).

Biography

Birth and Parentage

Thomas de Clifford was the son of Roger de Clifford and Maud de Beauchamp.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} He was 26 when his father died in 1389, pointing to a birth date of about 1363.^[2][3][4]

Lands and Inheritance

In 1365 his father granted Thomas King's Meaburn, Westmorland.^[5] Further estates followed, as part of a marriage settlement, 1379, and then Brough, Yorkshire in 1383.^[5]

Thomas inherited the Clifford barony from his father.^[2][3][4][5] He was also hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland.^[2][3][4][5]

Thomas entrusted the castle of Brough to John Crackenthorpe in February 1391.^[6]

Marriage and Children

Thomas married Elizabeth de Ros before 1378/9.^[2][3][7] They had two children:

• John, his main heir^[2][3][4][5]
• Maud^[2][3][5]

Life

In October 1379 his father, who was about to go to Ireland, made an arrangement under which, if war with Scotland broke out, Thomas would be taken to join in the fighting.^[5]

Thomas was an associate of King Richard II, who in 1382 granted him and others of his "kinsmen and young knights" permission to hunt in royal forests.^[5] By December that year Thomas was one of the Knights of the Royal Chamber.^[2][3][4][5] In 1384 he was made Governor of Carlisle Castle for life.^[2][3][4][5] Two years later, in 1386, he became a Warden of the West Marches along the Scottish border.^[5] In 1387 he was made Keeper of the royal forests North of the River Trent.^[5]

When the [Lords Appellant] took control of government in late 1387, Thomas was told to leave the royal court^[2][3][5] but any absence was relatively short, as in September 1388 he was Master of the King's Horse.^[5]

Further confirmation of royal favour was evident in 1389 when Thomas was excused paying the normal fine for entering into his inheritance.^[5]

Thomas took part in several jousts and tournaments.^[5]

In 1390 he may have gone briefly on crusade to North Africa, but he was back in Yorkshire in January 1391.^[5]

Death

In February 1391, Thomas and other nobles went to Prussia with Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, to fight against non-Christians.^[2][3][5] In Köningsberg he killed Sir William Douglas, with whom and with whose family he had a feud.^[5] In a bout of repentance he set off for the Holy Land but died en route.^[5]

Before Thomas left England, he appointed John Crackenthorpe as an attorney if he died abroad.^[6]

Thomas's widow died in 1424.^[2][3][4][5]

Research Notes

Sources disagree as to his exact death date. Douglas Richardson and Cokayne say 18 August 1391.^[2][3][4] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says 4 October 1391.^[5] What seems certain is that it was not 4 October 1493, as stated in older works cited in the original Dictionary of National Biography.^[8]

Some sources say that Thomas died in Prussia. See for instance his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography^[8] and the History of Parliament Online entry for John Crackenthorpe.^[6]

The above death dates come from his Inquisitions Post Mortem which give the 18 August and 4 October as possible death dates. The death place is recorded as beyond seas.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} M. C. B. Dawes, H. C. Johnson, M. M. Condon, C. A. Cook and H. E. Jones, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Richard II, File 71', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 17, Richard II (London, 1988), pp. 12-34. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol17/pp12-34 [accessed 21 November 2020].
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} 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. I, pp. 506-507, CLIFFORD 9, Google Books
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} 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, p. 245
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. III, St Catherine Press, 1913, p. 292
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Clifford, Thomas, sixth Baron Clifford', print and online 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} History of Parliament Online, entry for CRACKENTHORPE, John (d.1436), of Newbiggin, Westmld. and Ousby, Cumb.
7. ↑ His Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry says the marriage took place by 2 November 1372, but that may be the date of a marriage agreement.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 11, p. 77, entry for 'Clifford, Thomas de (d.1391?)', Wikisource

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Clifford, Thomas, sixth Baron Clifford', print and online 2004, revised online 2008, available online via some libraries
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Magna Carta Ancestry.’’
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 11, p. 77, entry for 'Clifford, Thomas de (d.1391?)', Wikisource
• Frederick Lewis Weis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists who came to America before 1700, 8th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004, p. 35, line 26-33
• Frederick Lewis Weis. The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215", 5th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1999, p. 149, line 113-8
• Wikipedia: Thomas de Clifford, 6th Baron de Clifford

See also:

• Brough castle
  • English Heritage
  • CastleXplorer
  • Visit Cumbria
  • Wikipedia
  • Pinterest

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was revised for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 4 March 2020.

Thomas (Clifford) de Clifford appears in a Richardson-documented trail from from the Levis/Need Gateway Ancestors (Samuel Levis, Hannah (Levis) Blunston, Sarah (Levis) Bradshaw, Mary Need and Joseph Need) to Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger le Bigod (vol. II, pages 221-223 NEED). This profile is also in trails identified by the Magna Carta Project from the Levis/Need Gateways to surety barons Saher de Quincy, John de Lacy, Gilbert de Clare and Richard de Clare. These trails were developed as part of the Samuel Levis trail to the Bigods by John Sigh and were badged in February 2020 by Michael Cayley. The trails can be seen in the Magna Carta Trails sections in the profiles of Samuel Levis and Mary Need.

Thomas (Clifford) de Clifford is in a trail badged by the Magna Carta Project in September 2015 from Gateway Ancestor Robert Peyton to Magna Carta Surety Barons Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare, John de Lacy, and Saher de Quincy. These trails are set out 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".