Parentage of Isabel the Wife of Sir Nicholas de Stapleton of Haddesley

Complete Peerage, vol. 12, part 1, p. 264, states that Sir Nicholas de Stapleton of Haddesley and Carlton, Yorkshire, married before Hilary Term 1300/1, Isabel, daughter of John de Richmond of Constable Burton. Footnote (c) on this page gives the source of this statement as Baildon and the Baildons, pp. 330-33, citing a settlement made upon him by his father. However, CP also says that “Isabel’s parentage is perhaps not fully proven.” The family of Richmond of Constable Burton apparently died out in the fourteenth century, having given away all their lands, so even if Isabel was an heiress, there was probably nothing for her to inherit.

The settlement confirming the marriage of Nicholas de Stapleton and Isabel quoted by Baildon and CP, occurs in the feet of fines for Yorkshire:

20 January 1301, Octave of Hilary, Miles de Stapleton, querent, and William de la Haye, deforciant, of the manor of Stapleton, a messuage, 3 carucates of land and a rent of 10 marks 6s. 8d. in Austwyk' and Wykyngthorp'. Covenant. William's right. For this William has granted the same to Miles to hold for life of the chief lords, etc. Remainder to Nicholas son of Miles and Isabel his wife and Nicholas's heirs of Isabel's body to hold of the chief lords, etc. Further remainder to Nicholas's right heirs to hold of the chief lords.

Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/268/74, number 3.

However, this fine says nothing about Isabel’s parentage. So I decided to look at the genealogy of the Richmond family of Constable Burton for any contemporary records of John de Richmond and his daughter Isabel. I must say at the outset that I have found none and Isabel’s parentage is still not proven.

Early Yorkshire Charters, vol. 5: The Honour of Richmond, Part II (1936), pp. 89-94 covers the early members of the family, and there is a sketchy outline of their genealogy in VCH North Riding, vol. 1, p. 234. Below is a brief outline of their genealogy, mostly from contemporary sources. 

Roald son of Alan (c. 1180 – 1247)

Roald son of Alan the constable of Richmond was of age in late 1201 when he paid relief for the 6-1/2 knight’s fees that he held of the honour of Richmond [1]. He married firstly Sibyl [2], and married secondly Sarra [3]. He was living in March 1240 [4] but dead before 10 November 1247 when his grandson and heir, Roald son of Alan granted the manor of Aldborough in Richmondshire to Peter of Savoy [5]. Sarra survived him and married secondly Jocelyn Deiville [6].

Presumably by his first wife Sibyl, he had three sons:

• Alan, son and heir who was a hostage in June 1215 [7] and who predeceased his father, probably dying about 1240. His wife’s name is unknown. He had one son Roald.
• Roald, to whom his father granted the manors of Bolton and Croft and who married Maud daughter of Robert de la Mare of Yafforth. He was still living on 30 April 1267 when as Roald de Croft he gave half a mark for an assize [8].
• Henry to whom his father granted the manor of Caldwell (in Stanwick St. John) and who married Julian. He died before November 1251, when his brother Roald claimed the manor of Caldwell from his nephew Roald son of Alan [9].

Roald son of Alan (c. 1225 – 1264)

He succeeded his grandfather, Roald son of Alan, before November 1247 when he granted the manor of Aldborough to Peter de Savoy [5]. He married before 1252, Isabel, daughter and sole heiress of Robert de Corkeby of Corby and Tercrosset, Cumberland [10]. He was living on 20 June 1263 when Roald de Richmond, was witness to a Lanercost charter [11], but dead before 13 February 1265 when Isabel his widow was married to Alan de Lascelles [12]. Alan de Lascelles died before 1283-4, when Isabel his widow, lady of Corkeby, granted land in Warwick, Cumberland to her cousin Robert (de Warwick) [13]. 

He and Isabel had one son, Roald.

Roald son of Roald de Richmond (c. 1250 – 1294)

He was underage at the death of his father. In 1266, the abbot of St. Agatha's, Easby sued Peter de Savoy, guardian of the lands of Roald son of Roald fitz Alan, and against Maud [de Vaux], wife of Thomas de Multon [of Gilsland], guardian of the body of the said heir, to warrant one third of 13 acres of wood and 300 acres of pasture in Hudswell, which Alan de Lascelles and Isabel his wife were claiming in dower [14]. He married Hawise, daughter of Thomas de Multon of Gilsland [15]. He appears to have been dead before July 1294, when Thomas, his son and heir, lord of Constable Burton, quitclaimed the manors of Croft and Jolby to Henry le Scrope [16].

He and Hawise had two sons:

• Thomas, son and heir
• Richard, executor of his brother’s will, was still alive in January 1332, when he claimed money from the crown owing to his brother Thomas [17].

Sir Thomas de Richmond (c. 1270 – 1316)

In July 1294, Thomas son and heir of Roald de Richmond, lord of Constable Burton, quitclaimed the manors of Croft and Jolby to Henry le Scrope [16]. He married Joan. He was a soldier on the Scottish borders for most of his life, at the siege of Carlaverock in 1300 and constable of Norham in 1310. In July 1314, he was granted the castle and honour of Cockermouth, Cumberland, for life [18]. He apparently died in a border clash late in 1316 [19].

Thomas and Joan had two sons:

• Roald, son and heir.
• Thomas. On 9 February 1329, Thomas de Richmond, son of Sir Thomas de Richmond, released to Sir Geoffrey le Scrope, knight, all his rights in the manor of Constable Burton [20].

Sir Roald de Richmond (c. 1290 – aft. 1338)

Roald is the last of the family of whom there is any record. He was married to Isabel before 10 February 1301 [21]. In June 1321 he released all his rights in the manor of Constable Burton to Geoffrey le Scrope [22] and in September 1321 quitclaimed his rights in the manor of Corby, Cumberland to Sir Andrew de Harcla [23]. He apparently married secondly Margaret, one of the three daughters of Robert de Mulcaster, of Newland and Uckmanby, Cumberland (died 2 November 1324) [24]. In October 1333, he was granted the custody of the castle of Carrickfergus, Ireland [25]. He was still holding the castle on 24 March 1337, when he was ordered to surrender the custody, which was restored to him on 1 June, which order was revoked on 10 November, but the custody of the castle was restored to him on 18 December 1337 [26] and on 30 April 1338, he was granted custody of the castle for 12 years [27].

So there is no record of a John de Richmond of Constable Burton. In order for him to have a daughter who was married in or before 1301, he must have been a son of Roald de Richmond (died c 1294) or his son Sir Thomas de Richmond (d. 1316). However, there is no sign of a quitclaim from him of the family lands which came into the possession of the Scrope or Harcla families. If Isabel was of this family, then she is most likely on chronological grounds to have been a daughter of Sir Thomas de Richmond (d. 1316).

Sources:

1. Thomas Duffus Hardy, ed., Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus in Turri Londinensi Asservati Tempore Regis Johannes (London, 1835), 253. 

2. William Farrer & C. T. Clay, eds., Early Yorkshire Charters, vol. 5: The Honour of Richmond, Part II (1936), 145, No. 249.

3. Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/265/46, number 164.

4. Brigette Vale, Thesis; The Scropes of Bolton and Masham, vol. 2 (University of York, 1987), 7, No. 15.

5. Calendar of Charter Rolls, vol. 1, Henry III: 1226-1257 (1903), 327.

6. Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/265/44, number 83.

7. Thomas Duffus Hardy, ed., Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londoniensi Asservati, vol. 1 (London, 1835), 143b.

8. Calendar of Fine Rolls 51 Henry III, No. 403.

9. JUST1/1046, m. 21d. http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT4/JUST1/JUST1no1046/bJUST1no1046dorses/IMG_1866.htm

10. John M. Todd, The Lanerscost Cartulary, An Edition of MS DZ/1 in the Cumbria County Record Office, vol. 2, Ph.D Thesis (Lancaster, 1991), 362.

11. John M. Todd, The Lanerscost Cartulary, An Edition of MS DZ/1 in the Cumbria County Record Office, vol. 2, Ph.D Thesis (Lancaster, 1991), 261.

12. Charles Roberts, ed., Excerpta è Rotulis Finium in Turri Londinensi Asservatis, Henrico Tertio Rege, A.D. 1216-72, vol. 1 (London: Record Commission, 1835), 420.

13. William Hutchinson, The History of the County of Cumberland, vol. 1 (1794), 171.

14. William Paley Baildon, ed., Notes on the Religious and Secular Houses of Yorkshire, vol. 1, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series 17, 1895, 45.

15. 'Parishes: Fingall', in A History of the County of York North Riding, vol. 1 (1914), 234 

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp232-236

16. William Brown, ed., Yorkshire Deeds Vol. 2, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series 50, 1914, 57.

17. Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 2, 1330-1333 (1898), 432.

18. Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 2, Edward II: 1307-1319 (1912), 203.

19. Joseph Bain, ed., Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1881), xxv.

20. Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 1: 1327-1330 (1896), 517.

21. Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/268/74, number 10.

22. Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II, vol. 3, 1318-1323 (1895), 382.

23. Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle, Howard Family of Corby, D HC 2/2/3.

24. Special Collections: Ancient Petitions, SC 8/8/382.

25. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 2: 1330-1334 (1893), 472.

26. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 3: 1334-1338 (1895), 404, 458, 547, 560.

27. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol.4: 1338-1340 (1898), 53.

Sir Saier de Rochford and his two sons named John

Recently I have been trying to improve my pedigree of the Rochford family of Boston, Lincolnshire. The published sources and pedigrees do not appear to match up with primary documents such as Patent Rolls, Close Rolls, etc. in many cases.

The starting point of my researches was to determine, who Saier de Rochford was? was he one man or two, as some sources suggest, who were his children and who were his heirs.

The results of my researches are summarized below:

Sir Saier de Rochford

Saier de Rochford, knight, of Fenn near Boston, Lincolnshire was the son and heir of Sir Ralph de Rochford, knight, by Agnes daughter of Sir Richard de Draycote (d. c. 1268) of Draycote, Staffordshire by his second unknown wife. He was born before 1295 as he was an adult in 1316. He had two brothers, John and Thomas who were alive in 1335. He married firstly, before November 1320, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter de Limesy, heiress of the manor of Arley in Warwickshire. He married secondly before May 1348, Joan, daughter of Sir Roger Hillary, knight, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. By his first wife Elizabeth, he had two sons; John and Ralph, and by his second wife he had another son John and a son Edmund who occurs in 1368. He died at a great age after August 1372.

On 16 April 1316, an inquisition after the death of Theobald de Gayton, to clarify the ownership of two-thirds of the manor of La Grave (Grove Park) in Budbrooke, Warwickshire, found that Theobald held it for life, and it ought to remain to Saier son and heir of Ralph de Rochford by virtue of a fine levied at Lincoln in 1284 between Theobald de Neville and Ralph de Rochford, Saier’s father.[1] In June 1316 the escheator was ordered to give Saier possession of the manor.[2] In November 1320, Saier de Rochford and Elizabeth his wife were ordered to be present in Chancery for a further inquisition into the manor of La Grave. This inquisition in April 1322, found that the manor should belong to Scholastica, widow of Godfrey de Meaux, sister of Theobald de Gayton.[3] On 12 May 1354, Saier son and heir of Ralph de Rocheford, knight released to John de Hastang, knight, of all his right and claim in the manor of la Grave with its appurtenances, in the county of Warwick.[4]

In Michaelmas Term 1335, Thomas son of Ralph de Rochford, brother of John de Rochford, sued Saier de Rochford, knight, his brother, for a third of the manor of Fenn in Boston, Skirbeck and Fishtoft, near Freiston, as his share of the inheritance of Ralph de Rocheford, as the manor was held of the honour of Richmond and the other lands partly of the soke of Richmond, which were divisible amongst male heirs (under Breton law).[5]

Saier de Rochford married secondly, before May 1348, Joan, daughter of Sir Roger Hillary, knight, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. On 18 May 1348, Saier de Rochford and Joan his wife were parties to a fine concerning land and rents in Benington, Fishtoft, Skirbeck and Boston, Lincolnshire, Walpole, Norfolk and Braunston in Rutland.[7] In 1349-50 Saier de Rochford and Joan his wife bought property in Walpole, Norfolk from William Ivet of Walpole and Agnes his wife.[8] In 1355, Sir Saier de Rochford granted land in Walpole, and other places in Norfolk, to his son Sir Ralph de Rochford and Maud his wife.[9] On 6 October 1368, by a fine at Westminster, Saier de Rochford and Edmund his son purchased land in North and South Stoke, Lincolnshire (Stoke Rochford).[10]

As a young man, Saier de Rochford was evidently a rebel. In May 1320, Roger de Swinnerton complained that Saier de Rochford, with others, had attacked him at his manor of Acton in Staffordshire.[11] In January 1322, the sheriff of Warwickshire was ordered to take into the king’s hand, the land, goods and chattels of Saier de Rochford and others. [12] Saier de Rochford evidently supported the rebels who fought against Edward II at the battle of Boroughbridge in March 1322, although there is no evidence that he fought there. In July 1322, he made a fine of 200 marks to have restoration of his lands. [13] On 10 June 1323, his lands in Warwickshire and Lincolnshire were restored to him.[14] He was knighted, with many others, on 20 January 1327, shortly before the coronation of king Edward III. [15] On 4 June 1327, he was going to Scotland in the company of John de Hotham, bishop of Ely, who was at that time Chancellor.[16]

On 8 October 1337, Saier de Rochford was appointed as one of the collectors of a tenth and a fifteenth in the parts of Holand, Lincolnshire.[17] On 25 February 1339, Saier de Rocheford was keeper of the king's peace in Holand, Lincolnshire.[18] On 3 April 1339 he had respite from the accounts which he was bound to render at the Exchequer for the time when he was appointed collector of the tenth and fifteenth and scutage in the parts of Holand, Lincolnshire, and for the time when he was appointed to take wool for the king's use in that county and for other accounts, as he was about to set out in the king's service at sea in the company of William Trussell, admiral of the fleet, for the defence of the realm.[19] On 22 November 1343, Saier de Rochford was appointed sheriff of Lincolnshire and escheator in Lincolnshire and Rutland, until November 1345.[20] On 22 January 1347, he was a collector of an aid in Holand, Lincolnshire.[21] In June 1347 he was with Laurence de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke’s forces at the siege of Calais.[22] On 1 October 1348, he was again appointed as sheriff of Lincolnshire and escheator in Lincolnshire and Rutland.[23] He retained these offices until February 1355, when he was already over 60 years old.[24]

On 27 July 1359, he was one of those appointed to escort John, king of France, who had been captured at the battle of Poitiers, from Hereford castle and imprison him in Somerton castle in Lincolnshire.[25] On 2 March 1360, he was one of those ordered to move the king of France from Somerton castle to Berkhamstead castle in Hertfordshire.[26]

Saier de Rochford last occurs in official records on 25 August 1372, when he was appointed to a commission of the peace and of oyer and terminer in the parts of Kesteven, Lincolnshire.[27]

---

[1] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 5, Edward II (1908), 382, No. 602.

[2] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II, vol. 2: 1313-1318 (1893), 296.

[3] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. 6, Edward II (1910), 169-71, No. 287.

[4] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 10: 1354-1360 (1908), 69.

[5] G. Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls (London, 1905), 27.

[7] Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/287/43, number 418.

[8] Walter Rye, ed., A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk, part 2 (1886), 322, No. 809.

[9] Walter Rye, ed., A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk, part 2 (1886), 328, No. 917.

[10] Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/141/131, number 13.

[11] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward II, vol. 3: 1317-1321 (1903), 484.

[12] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 3, 1319-1327 (1912), 90.

[13] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 3 1319-1327 (1912), 157.

[14] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II, vol. 3: 1318-1323 (1895), 657.

[15] William A. Shaw, The Knights of England : A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Knights Bachelors, vol. 1, 1906, 124.

[16] Simpson and Galbraith, Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, 5 (Supplementary):370.

[17] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 5, Edward III: 1337-1347 (1915), 51.

[18] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 5: 1339-1341 (1901), 101.

[19] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 5: 1339-1341 (1901), 112.

[20] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 5, Edward III: 1337-1347 (1915), 349, 351, 445-6.

[21] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 5, Edward III: 1337-1347 (1915), 493.

[22] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 6, Edward III: 1347-1356 (1921), 22.

[23] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 6, Edward III: 1347-1356 (1921), 84-5.

[24] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 6, Edward III: 1347-1356 (1921), 419.

[25] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 10, 1354-1360 (1908), 634.

[26] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 11, 1360-1364 (1909), 11.

[27] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 15: 1370-1374 (1914), 240.

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Sir John Rochford the Elder

Sir John de Rochford, knight, of Lincolnshire, eldest son of Sir Saier de Rochford, knight, of Fenn near Boston, Lincolnshire by his first wife Elizabeth de Limesy, was probably born about 1325. He was knighted before 1350. The name of his first wife is unknown. He married secondly after 1366, Beatrice, who was probably Beatrice de Hotham, daughter of Sir John de Hotham of Scorborough (d. c. 1370) and widow of Sir Robert Hansard (d. 1366), He died in 1392 or 1393. He was succeeded by his son Sir Ralph Rochford, knight, who died shortly before 19 May 1440.

Sir John de Rochford and his brother Sir Ralph were both knighted before 1350 when they were members of the guild of Corpus Christi in Boston.[1] John was the eldest son, since he inherited his father’s property in Lincolnshire and his mother’s manor of Arley in Warwickshire.

By a fine at Westminster dated 13 October 1358, he purchased property in Fishtoft (Toft) in Lincolnshire.[2] On 18 January 1368, a commission of oyer and terminer was ordered to investigate the complaint by John de Rocheford, knight, that when he was under the king’s protection, malefactors had broken his close at Skirbeck, Lincolnshire, burned his houses there, taken his goods, and assaulted, wounded and imprisoned his men and servants.[3]

On 13 June 1373, Sir John de Rocheford and Beatrice his wife, were holding the manor of South Kelsey in Lincolnshire with reversion to Robert Hansard and his heirs after the death of Beatrice.[4] Beatrice was probably the widow of Sir Robert Hansard of Walworth, Durham, Blacktoft, Yorkshire and South Kelsey, Lincolnshire, who died before May 1366.

He was one of the knights of the shire for Lincolnshire at the last Parliament of Edward III, held in Westminster between January and March 1377.[5] In March 1377, he was appointed to commissions of wallis et fossatis and a commission of the peace in Holand, Lincolnshire.[6] In July 1377, he was a commissioner of array in Holand.[7] In March 1382, he was on a commission of the peace in Lincolnshire.[8] In the same month he was on a commission to investigate a shipwreck together with his younger brother John.[9]

John de Rochford appears on numerous commissions in Lincolnshire between 1382 and 1392, and it is not easy to distinguish him from his younger brother, but as his brother was not knighted until late 1399, some records can be identified with certainty. He was on a commission in 29 May 1392 to investigate negligent chantry priests, together with John de Rochford the younger.[10] He appears in no further official records, so he probably died in 1392 or 1393. He was definitely dead before May 1396, when the inquisition post mortem for Warwickshire of Sir Roger Corbet of Leigh, Shropshire found that he died on 2 March 1381, holding one third of the manor of Arley, Warwickshire of John Rochford, knight. After Roger’s death, Sir John Rochford and Ralph his son and heir, had taken the issues of the property by reason of the minority of Roger Corbet’s heir. [11]

Sources:

[1] Pishey Thompson, The History and Antiquities of Boston (Boston, 1856), 117.

[2] Feet of Fines: CP 25/1/140/122, number 32.

[3] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 14: 1367-1370 (1913), 67.

[4] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 13, 1369-1374 (1911), 580.

[5] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III, vol. 14: 1374-1377 (1913), 536.

[6] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 16: 1374-1377 (11916), 485, 490.

[7] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 1: 1377-1381 (1895), 38.

[8] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 140.

[9] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 136.

[10] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 87.

[11] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 17, Richard II (1988), No. 617.

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Sir John Rochford, the Younger

Sir John de Rochford, knight, of Boston, Lincolnshire, younger son of Sir Saier de Rochford, knight, of Fenn (or Rochford Tower in Boston), Lincolnshire by his third wife Joan, daughter of Roger Hillary, knight, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was probably born about 1352. In 1375 or 1376 he married Alice. He was knighted in October or November 1399. [1] He died on 13 December 1410,[2] leaving three daughters as his heirs.

There were two Sir John de Rochfords, an elder and a younger. The elder, who died about 1392 or 1393 was the eldest son of Sir Saier de Rochford by his first wife, Elizabeth.  Both Johns appear on commissions in Lincolnshire, starting early in the reign of Richard II, but it is difficult to tell them apart. The younger John is usually referred to as “junior,” “the younger,” or “of Boston (St. Botolph).” The first definite record for the younger John is on 10 November 1379 when “John son of Saier de Rocheford the younger” was a member of a commission to enquire into a robbery at the house of the Friars Preachers in Boston. [3]

In 1376-7, John Rochford, junior and Alice his wife were members of the guild of Corpus Christi in Boston. [4] In 1381-2, John son of Saier de Rochford, junior, and Alice his wife, were granted the manor of Bergholt in Suffolk by his uncle, Roger Hillary and Margaret his wife. [5]  In February 1388, Alice wife of John de Rochford was executrix of the will of Richard de Neuton of Boston, who may have been a relative. [6] In September 1403, John Rochford (John son of Saier, son of Joan, sister of Roger) was found to be one of the heirs of his uncle Roger Hillary who died without heirs of his body on 13 June 1400. [7] He inherited land in Snarestone and Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, the manor of Stretton on Fosse, Warwickshire and land in Staffordshire.

John de Rochford was Alderman of the Corpus Christi guild in Boston from 1381 to 1386, 1391 to 1394, 1397 to 1399, and in 1409. [8] In February 1390, with others, he alienated land to the abbey of Barlings, where he and his wife were later buried. [9] In 1392, John de Rochford, with others was given licence to found another religious guild in Boston, which was to be dedicated to God and the Virgin and be supported out of a landed income of £10 annually. [10] In April 1397, John Rochford, donsel, nobleman, and Alice his wife, noble woman had Papal indulgences to choose a confessor and to have a portable altar. [11]

John de Rochford the younger appears on numerous commissions in Lincolnshire and elsewhere during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV:

8 March 1382 (commission of peace) [12], 15 March 1382 (shipwreck) [13], 20 December 1382 (commission of peace) [14], 21 December 1382 (commission of peace) [15], 23 November 1383 (robbery at Fillingham) [16], 26 April 1385 (commission of array) [17], 24 November 1385 (to arrest goods of Prussian merchants) [18], 27 July 1386, (commission de wallis et fossatis) [19], 26 November 1386 (boundary commission) [20], 2 December 1387 (commission of peace) [21], 24 May 1388 (dispute concerning the manor of Denver, Norfolk) [22], 16 February 1390 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [23], 10 February 1392 (counterfeiting of the great seal) [24], 29 May 1392 (negligent chantry priests) [25], 27 July 1393 (weights and measures) [26], 29 May 1394 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [27], 14 December 1397 (attack on the bishop of Lincoln’s men) [28], 6 February 1398 (custody of the goods of the vicar of Sibsey) [29], 12 November 1399, (commission de wallis et fossatis) [30], 18 November 1399 (commission of the peace) [31], 18 December 1399 (commission of array) [32], 12 February 1400 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [33], 25 November 1400 (commission of oyer and terminer) [34], 16 May 1401 (commission of the peace) [35], 11 May 1402 (commission to proclaim the King’s intention to rule justly) [36], 7 August 1402 (commission of array) [37], 8 November 1402 (market and fair at Burgh-le-Marsh) [38], 27 July 1403 (commission of array) [39], 9 September 1403 (commission of array) [40], 24 March 1404 (collector of a tax in the Isle of Ely) [41], 31 March 1405 (commissioner to raise a loan in Lincolnshire) [42], 14 June 1405 (to provide supplies to the king’s army) [43], 21 November 1405 (inspect indictments) [44], 3 July 1409 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [45], 8 March 1410 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [46], 1 November 1410 (commission de wallis et fossatis) [47],

John de Rochford, presumably the younger, was elected as Mayor of Boston on 26 July 1386.[48] He was appointed sheriff of Lincolnshire on 20 October 1391 [49] until 18 October 1392. He was one of the knights of the shire for Lincolnshire at the Parliament held at Westminster in November and December 1390, [50] the Parliament held at Westminster in January and February 1394, [51] and the Parliament which started at Westminster in September 1397.[52] He was also knight of the shire for Lincolnshire in the first Parliament of Henry IV in October-November 1399.[53] On 18 February 1400, he was granted, for life, the stewardship of the forfeited lands of the Earl of Kent in Lincolnshire. [54] He was sheriff of Lincolnshire on 24 November 1400[55] until 8 November 1401. In July 1401, he was summoned to a meeting of the Privy Council as one of six knights and esquires from Lincolnshire.[56] On 17 August 1401, he was appointed, for life, by the Bishop of Ely, as his constable of Wisbech castle in Cambridgeshire.[57] On 30 March 1403, with his nephew Sir Ralph Rochford, he was granted the keeping of the lands of Sir James Roos until the full age of his heir Robert.[58] He was one of the knights of the shire for Cambridgeshire in the Parliament of October 1407.[59] He was again appointed sheriff of Lincolnshire on 4 November 1409[60]  until 29 November 1410.

In his will, drawn up on 20 October 1410 at Lincoln, John Rochford desired burial at Barlings Abbey, Lincolnshire, beside his wife Alice; he left numerous bequests to Lincoln Cathedral and other churches, but there is no mention of descendants. His executor John Southam, archdeacon of Oxford, was entrusted with his personal legacies. The will was proved on 14 December 1410.[61]

Sir John Rochford was succeeded by three daughters:

-     - Margaret, (died after 1443) married, before September 1394, Frederick son of Sir Philip Tilney (died before 1412). On 29 September 1394, John de Rochford of St. Botolph was granted the manor of Thetford, Cambridgeshire at a rental of 40 marks per year for 8 years, by feoffees of Sir Philip Tilney. The rent was to be reduced by £10 yearly if John de Rochford maintained Frederick, son of Sir Philip Tilney and Margaret his wife, John’s daughter.[62] Margaret was still living on 10 February 1443 when she granted the manor of Thetford to Frederick, son of Philip Tilney, clerk, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Laurence Cheyne, esquire, and the heirs of their bodies.[63]

-    - Joan, (died before 1422) first wife of Sir Robert Roos of Gedney (died 30 September 1441). Their only daughter Margaret, born about 1413, was co-heir of her father in 1441.[64]

-     -  Alice, married William Gibthorpe, esquire of Thorpe, Lincolnshire, son of Sir William Gibthorpe (died before 1422). They had one son John, who died before 1421, leaving an infant daughter Elizabeth. Alice may have been living in November 1437.[65]

     Sources:

[1] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 164.

[2] Pishey Thompson, The History and Antiquities of Boston (Boston, 1856), 123.

[3] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 1: 1377-1381 (1895), 421.

[4] Pishey Thompson, The History and Antiquities of Boston (Boston, 1856), 117.

[5] Walter Rye, ed., A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Suffolk (1900), 255.

[6] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 418.

[7] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 18, Henry IV (1987), Nos. 772-774.

[8] Pishey Thompson, The History and Antiquities of Boston (Boston, 1856), 117-8.

[9] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 4: 1388-1392 (1902), 193.

[10] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 192.

[11] Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 5, 1398-1404 (1904), 127, 140.

[12] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 140.

[13] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 136.

[14] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 254.

[15] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 245.

[16] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 357.

[17] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 2: 1381-1385 (1897), 591.

[18] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 61.

[19] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 257.

[20] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 263.

[21] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 385.

[22] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 3: 1385-1389 (1900), 473.

[23] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 4: 1388-1392 (1902), 215.

[24] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 85.

[25] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 87.

[26] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 356.

[27] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5: 1391-1396 (1905), 430.

[28] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, vol. 6: 1396-1399 (1909), 310.

[29] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 11, Richard II: 1391-1399 (1929), 249.

[30] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 164.

[31] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 560.

[32] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 210.

[33] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 216.

[34] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 414.

[35] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 560.

[36] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 2: 1401-1405 (1905), 129.

[37] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 2: 1401-1405 (1905), 138.

[38] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 2: 1401-1405 (1905), 198.

[39] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 2: 1401-1405 (1905), 293.

[40] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 2: 1401-1405 (1905), 289.

[41] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 12, Henry IV: 1399-1405 (1931), 259.

[42] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 12, Henry IV: 1399-1405 (1931), 319.

[43] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 3: 1405-1408 (1907), 30.

[44] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 3: 1405-1408 (1907), 148.

[45] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 4: 1408-1413 (1909), 66.

[46] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 4: 1408-1413 (1909), 181.

[47] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 4: 1408-1413 (1909), 310.

[48] Chancery: Certificates of Statute Merchant and Statute Staple, C 241/175/61A.

[49] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 11, Richard II: 1391-1399 (1929), 13.

[50] Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, vol. 4: 1389-1392 (1922), 305.

[51] Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, vol. 5, 1392-1396 (1925), 277.

[52] Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, vol. 6, 1396-1399 (1927), 302.

[53] Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1, 1399-1402 (1927), 107.

[54] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 201.

[55] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 12, Henry IV: 1399-1405 (1931), 94.

[56] Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, vol. 1 (London, 1834), 160.

[57] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 1: 1399-1401 (1903), 534.

[58] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 12, Henry IV: 1399-1405 (1931), 204.

[59] Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry IV, vol. 3, 1405-1409 (1931), 398.

[60] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 13, Henry IV: 1405-1413 (1933), 167.

[61] Margaret Archer, ed., The Register of Philip Repingdon, vol. 2, Lincoln Record Society, 58 (1963), 212.

[62] Nottinghamshire Archives, Portland of Welbeck (4th Deposit): Estate Papers, DD/4P/4/15.

[63] Nottinghamshire Archives, Portland of Welbeck (4th Deposit): Estate Papers, DD/4P/4/21.

[64] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 25, 16-20 Henry VI:1437-1442 (2009), No. 590.

[65] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 24, 11-15 Henry VI: 1432-1437 (2010), No. 545.

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