Roger (Grey) de Grey (abt. 1300 - 1353)

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Hastings) Grey — married about 1311 in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 6 Mar 1353 at about age 53 in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales [uncertain]

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Roger de Grey, Knt., 1st Lord Grey of Ruthin, was the younger son of John de Grey, Knt., 2nd Lord Grey of Wilton,^[1][2] and Maud de Verdun.^[3][4][5][6] His date of birth is unknown and is estimated at about 1300.^[7] He was likely still a minor in 1311, when his marriage was arranged, and was of age by 1324. This would put his birth sometime between 1290-1303. Roger may have been born in England or in Wales as Roger's father did not inherit lands from his father until 1308 (after Roger's birth) and it was unknown where the family resided prior to John receiving his inheritance.

Life and Lands

In 1307 Roger's father settled property in Debden, Essex and the manor of Syweneston, Buckinghamshire on him. In 1311, Roger had the reversion of 13 additional manors settled on him by his father, and was granted Llandingat, Monmouthshire outright. In 1319 his father settled the castle and lordship of Ruthin on Roger.^[3] These land settlements encompassed about two-thirds of his father's landed estate and included all his lands in Bedfordshire and most of his Buckinghamshire manors.^[7] John's father died in 1323, and his Inquisition Post Mortem followed a writ dated 11 December 1323.^[8] On 11 March 1323/4, the king took Roger's homage for the castle at Ruthin and the cantred of Dyffryn Clwyd and they, along with 31 other manors inherited from his father by fines, were given to Roger.^[1][9] However, in 1328, Roger complained that his brother, Henry, had entered his castle of Ruthin and still occupied the castle and lands. The king took the lands into his hands and, after arbitration, Henry granted the castle to Roger and released all the manors and lands which Roger had been gifted by their father.^[1][3]

During his lifetime, Roger's principal seats were at his father's manor house at Wrest, Bedforshire and the castle at Ruthin in Wales.^[7]

He was summoned for military service from 21 March 1332/3 to 27 March 1335 and to councils from 30 December 1324 to 20 March 1350/1.^[1] He was summoned to Parliament from 10 October 1325 to 15 November 1351, by writs directed Rogero de Grey, whereby he is held to have become Lord Grey.^[1][3]

Roger fought in the wars of Edward II and Edward III, principally in Scotland (1322, 1327, 1334-1335, and 1342) and was at the siege of Berwick in 1319.^[7] He served in Gascony in 1323 and 1325, but did not fight in Edward III's French wars.^[7] In 1327 he accompanied Henry, Earl of Lancaster, on the Scottish campaign,^[3] with letters of protection being issued from 4 June 1327.^[1]

Marriage and Children

Roger married Elizabeth de Hastings, daughter of John de Hastings, Knt.,^[2] 1st Lord Hastings, and his first wife, Isabel de Valence^[3] by 1311^[10] (when the marriage was arranged by his father).^[7] Roger and Elizabeth had two sons and four daughters:

• John, Knt., son and heir apparent, died before his father shortly before 4 May 1450; married Agnes de Montagu and had no issue^[1][3][7]
• Reynold, Knt., 2nd Lord Grey of Ruthin, married Eleanor le Strange and had issue;^[1][2][7] Reynold was born about 1323-1327 and died in 1388^[3]
• Juliane, wife of John Talbot, Knt., of Richard's Castle, Herefordshire;^[3] she died in 1361^[7]
• Mary, wife of John de Burgh, Knt.^[3]
• Joan, wife of William de Pateshulle, Knt.,^[7] of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire^[3]
• Maud, wife of William de la Roche^[3][7]

They may have had another daughter, not recognized by Richardson:

• Elizabeth, who married Philip Okeover, Knt., MP. According to History of Parliament, "No direct evidence of their union survives, but it is interesting to note that in later life he acted as feoffee-to-uses of almost all the Grey estates"^[11]

Death

Roger died 6 March 1352/3.^[1][3][7] He requested burial at St. Peter's Church at Ruthin. His memorial there does not survive, but there is a representation of him on the brass of his wife's half-brother, Hugh Hastings, at Elsing, Norfolk.^[7][12]

The Inquisition Post Mortem of Roger de Grey, knight, followed a writ dated 13 March, 27 Edward III [1353] and named Roger's son Reynold, aged 26-30 years and more, as his heir. Lands listed on the IPM included: Hemmyngford Grey, Huntingdonshire; Canons Assheby, Boseyate and Wylughby, Northamptonshire; Legh, Podyngtone, Wrast and Brockeburgh, Harewold, Flitte, Podyngtone, and Turveie, Bedfordshire; Snellestone, Sewenestone, Waltone, Westblech, Stoke, Great Brichull, and Bollebrichull, Buckinghamshire; Ruthyn, Deffrencloyt, and Englefeld in Shropshire and the adjacent March of Wales.^[13]

Research Notes

Mother Maud

There is some old and conflicting information about the identity of Roger's mother: Maud de Verdun, daughter of Eleanor de Bohun and John de Verdun, Knt., of Alton Staffordshire^[3] or Maud, daughter of Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton.^[2][7] This confusion is caused by the entry for his father, John Grey, in the Complete Peerage, vol. VI: Grey of Wilton. On page 174, it is said that John de Grey married first to Anne, daughter of Sir William Ferrers of Groby by his first wife, Ann, daughter of Hugh le Despenser, and second to Maud, "who is said to have been da. of Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton ... by Margarey, da. of Sir Roger de Somery of Dudley."^[14] Roger Grey's entry in the same volume, pages 151-154: Grey of Ruthin, does not offer his mother's name.

The error likely stems from an incorrect entry in The Visitation of the County of Leicester in the year 1619, published in 1870.^[2] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography follows the Complete Peerage and asserts that Maud Basset was his father's second wife and that Maud Basset was Roger's mother, further stating that Roger was their only son.^[7] Theories about John de Grey's wife/wives are discussed in a series of 2002, 2005^[15] and 2019^[6] soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup posts. In these posts, Douglas Richardson offers proof that John de Grey was married only once to Maud de Verdun. That research is also found in Royal Ancestry, vol. V: Wilton (see footnote).^[4]

Other Children

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography also names two other children: John, a priest and royal clerk (this would be a second son named John) and Mabel, a nun. The ODNB biography does not name the daughter Mary, who married John de Burgh.^[7] More research is needed to find sources for these children.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} G.E. Cokayne and H.A. Doubleday et. al, eds. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. VI: Gordon to Hurstpierpoint, 2nd edition. London: 1926, pp.151-154. FamilySearch: Grey of Ruthin.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} John Fetherston, ed. The Visitation of the County of Leicester in the year 1619. The Publications of the Harleian Society, Vol. II. London: 1870, p. 74. Archive.org: Gray Pedigree (has incorrect mother attached)
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} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013), Vol. III, pages 124-125, GREY 9: Roger de Grey.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry. (2013). Vol. V, pp. 368-369, WILTON 8: Maud de Verdun (see footnote).
5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. II, pages 271-272, GREY 5: Roger de Grey. Google Books.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "C.P. Addition: Maud de Verdun, wife of Sir John de Grey (died 1323), 2nd Lord Grey of Wilton" in soc.genealogy.medieval 2019 newsgroup post.
7. ↑ ^{7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15} R. Grey Jack. "Roger, first Lord Grey of Ruthin (c. 1300–1353), landowner and soldier" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 3 Jan 2008. Online at ODNB($).
8. ↑ J E E S Sharp and A E Stamp, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward II, File 82', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 6, Edward II. London, 1910, pp. 300-314. British History Online.
9. ↑ Great Britain. Public Record Office. Calendar of the close rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. London, H. M. Stationery Office, 1892, pp. 76-78. Archive.org.
10. ↑ George Edward Cokayne and Peter Hammond, eds. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. XIV: Addenda and Corrigenda. 1998, p. 354. FamilySearch: Grey of Ruthin.
11. ↑ J.S. Roskell, et al, eds. "Okeover, Sir Philip (d.c.1400), of Okeover, Staffs. and Snelston, Derbys." in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, 1993. Online at History of Parliament Online.
12. ↑ Julian Luxford. "The Hastings Brass at Elsing: A Contextual Analysis" in Monumental Brass Society, Vol. 18, part 3, 2011. Online in .pdf.
13. ↑ Great Britain. Calender of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol 10, 26-34 Edward III: 1352-1361. London, 1921, pp. 96-97. HathiTrust: IPM of Roger de Grey, knt. #107.
14. ↑ G.E. Cokayne. Complete Peerage, Vol. VI, page 174. FamilySearch: Grey of Wilton.
15. ↑ "John de Grey, 2nd Lord Grey of Wilton (died 1323) and his family" in soc.genealogy.medieval 2005 newsgroup post]

• Wikipedia: Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn.
• Sir Roger de Grey, 1st Lord Grey of Ruthyn in Marlyn Lewis' database Our Royal Titled Noble and Commoner Ancestors.

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project on 18 May 2022 by Thiessen-117 and reviewed for the Project by Michael Cayley on 20 May 2022.

Roger (Grey) de Grey is listed in Magna Carta Ancestry in a badged Richardson-documented trail between Gateway Ancestor John Stratton and Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun (vol. IV, pages 129-132, STRATTON). This trail was badged for the project in June 2022. See this trail in the Magna Carta Trails section of John Stratton's profile.

Roger (Grey) de Grey appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Matthew Clarkson to Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun (vol. I, pages 483-486 CLARKSON). This trail has not yet been developed on WikiTree by the Magna Carta Project. The profiles on the trail can be seen in the Magna Carta Trail section of the Gateway's profile.

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