Robert Morley (abt. 1230 - 1288)

Ancestors

Descendants

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Biography

Described as Sir Robert of Morley, the son and heir of Sir Matthew de Morley, he made a grant of land in Roydon, Norfolk, in about 1250.^[1] (His father also appeared in a record of 1250, and so presumably died soon after.)

On 27 August 1254 he obtained a charter granting him and his heirs free warren in all his demesne lands in Roydon and Morley in Norfolk.^[2] The document was dated at Bordeaux and witnessed there inter alia by John de Plessetis, the Earl of Warwick, and so Complete Peerage suggests that Morley was serving in Gascony at that time.

He served as coroner, and according to Complete Peerage it was probably the same Robert who was a surety in 1276,^[3] and commissioner of gaol delivery in 1279, 1287 and 1288.^[4]

According to a much later document from the time of Richard III, concerning a dispute between between John, Lord Lovel of Titchmarsh, and Thomas, Lord Morley, this Robert died on crusade sometime after 1288 and was buried in Prussia, though his heart was brought back to England and buried at Roydon Church, where the arms of Sir Robert were still to be seen.

Sources

1. ↑ Complete Peerage cites Harleian Charter 53, E 33, and states that the seal attached shows a coat of arms barry of 8, [?] and legend "+ S’ ROD'TI' DE MORLEI."
2. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1247-58, p. 323.
3. ↑ Ancient Deed A 7204
4. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1272-81, pp. 341, etc.

• Cockayne et al., Complete Peerage, 2nd ed., vol. 9, p. 210.
• John O. Morley, "The Origins of the Morleys in England and their Early Appearance in Wales", Annals of Genealogical Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2013), 1-61; at [1]. (This source is based on Complete Peerage for this generation.)