Ralph (Vernon) de Vernon (abt. 1205 - 1270)

Born about 1205 in Cheshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Cecilia (Crew) de Vernon — married about 1239 in England

Descendants

Died 1270 at about age 65 in Shipbrook, Cheshire, England

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Biography

Ralph Vernon was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Ralph Vernon, de jure Baron of Shipbrook was the son of Sir Richard de Vernon and brother of Warren (Warin?) Vernon, who died in France and his estates were split between his daughters and his brother Ralph. Ralph at the time was a priest and Rector of Hanwell.

On becoming de jure Baron of Shipbrook, Ralph Vernon set aside his vow of celibacy and produced a son with Cecilia Crew, there was rumoured to be no marriage certificate. He left further issue by Maud Grosvenor. Ralph's son, also Ralph (born 1241), was reputed to have lived to such an extraordinary age that he earned the nickname "The Old Liver."^[1]

Ralph de VERNON held the royal title of Rector of Hanwell, but quietly set aside his vow of celibacy and made a match with Cecilia CREW (Lysons says there was no marriage certificate), and became the father of a son. This Ralph wrested half the baronial estate of Shipbrook from his nieces, children of his brother Warine VERNON, becoming de jure Baron of Shipbrook (magnate, not member of peerage). He died in 1270. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ The Vernon Family.
2. ↑ Tilley, Joseph. Old Halls, Manors, and Families of Derbyshire, Vol. I (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Ltd., London, 1892) p. 5.

• Wikipedia:Vernon family.

• Wrottesley, G. Pedigrees from the plea rolls: collected from the pleadings in the various courts of law, A.D. 1200 to 1500, from the original rolls in the Public Record Office (1905) p. 147.