Ralph Ferrers

• Preferred Name: Ralph Ferrers^{[1] [2]}
  
• Alternate Name: Ralph De Ferrers
  
• Gender: M
  
• Death: ABT 1391
  
• FSID: GVSP-DNN
  
• Birth: ABT 1315 in England with note: Information obtained from Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd edition, Volume 2, by Douglas Richardson.
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
  “WILLIAM DE HARCOURT Knt., of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, Pleasley, Derbyshire, Magna Sheepy and Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, Ellenhall, Staffordshire, Baxterley, Warwickshire, Bingley, Yorkshire, etc., son and heir by his father's 1st marriage, born about 1300 (aged 30 in 1330). He married before 1324 JOAN DE GREY, daughter of Richard de Grey, Knt., 2nd Lord Grey of Codnor, by Joan, daughter of Robert Fitz Payn, 1st Lord Fitz Payn [see CODNOR 11 for her ancestry]. They had two sons, Richard, Knt, and Thomas, Knt. He presented to the church of Pleasley, Derbyshire in 1331. In 1344 he and his wife, Joan, and Joan's brother, John de Grey, of Codnor, and Alice his wife were granted a papal indult for plenary remission. SIR WILLIAM DE HARCOURT died of the plague 6 June 1349. His widow, Joan, married (2nd) before 1350 (as his 2nd wife) RALPH DE FERRERS, Knt., of Bikon, Warwickshire, Captain of Calais, 1358-61, Admiral of the King's Fleet towards the north, 1370, Warden of the Western Marches of Scotland, Captain of the King's Barges, Trier of Petitions in Parliament, younger son of William de Ferrers, Knt., 1st Lord Ferrers of Groby, by his 1st wife, [?Margaret], daughter of John de Segrave, Knt., 2nd Lord Segrave [see GROBY 9 for his ancestry]. He was born about 1313-18 (aged 72 in 1385-90). He was one of the founders of the Corpus Christ Guild in Leicester, Leicestershire in 1343. He was present at the Siege of Calais in 1346. In 1350 William de Shareshull, Knt, conveyed the manor of Ellenhall, Staffordshire to Ralph and his wife, Joan, for life; with remainder to Joan's granddaughters, Katherine and Elizabeth, daughters of Richard de Harcourt. The same year he was sent by the king with some lords and 40 other knights to Bordeaux for the relief of the town of St. John de Angely, which was then besieged by the French. He returned to England in August 1351. He was present at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. He presented to the church of Pleasley, Derbyshire in 1361. His wife, Joan, died at Ellenhall, Staffordshire 22 July 1369. In 1370 Thomas de Astley and his wife, Elizabeth, granted the manor of Ellenhall, Staffordshire to Ralph de Ferrers, Knt, for life, and to revert after his death to Thomas and Elizabeth and the heirs of Elizabeth. In 1370 he served as Admiral of the Fleet which conducted Robert de Knolles, Knt. and his army to France. In 1371 he was appointed Admiral of the King's Fleet towards the north. He was a legatee in the 1375 will of his nephew, Edward le Despenser, K.G., 4th Lord le Despenser. He was appointed a Conservator of the truce with France in 1376. In 1376 he was one of the mainpernors in Parliament of William le Latimer, K.G., 4th Lord Latimer. In 1378 he was a commissioner to receive the Castle of Brest, which was surrendered by the Duke of Brittany. The same year he was ordered to muster the men-at-arms and archers, who were about to serve under John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1378 Thomas de Asdey and his wife Elizabeth granted the manor of Ellenhall, Staffordshire to Ralph de Ferrers, Knt., for life; with remainder to Thomas de Harcourt, Knt., for life; and to revert after his death to Thomas and Elizabeth and the heirs of Elizabeth. In 1380 he was arrested on a charge of conducting traitorous correspondence with the French. He subsequently appeared in Parliament in the custody of the Earl Marshal; he denied the charge and was declared innocent by the Lords in Parliament. He gave evidence in the Scrope-Grosvenor controversy in the period, 1385-90. SIR RALPH DE FERRERS died between 24 Sept. 1391 and 7 July 1392.
  Brydges Collins' Peerage of England 4 (1812): 428-453 (sub Harcourt Earl Harcourt). Nichols Hist. & Antiqs. of Leicester 4(2) (1811): *519—*520. Baker Hist & Antiqs. of Northampton 1 (1822-30): 103-104, 658-659. Nicolas Testamenta Vetusta 1 (1826): 99-100 (will of Edward, Lord Despenser). Nicolas Controversy between Scrape & Grosvenor 2 (1832): 361-366 (biog. of Sir Ralph Ferrers). Banks Baronies in Fee 1 (1844): 227-230 (sub Grey of Codnor). Champollion-Figeac Lettres de Rois, Reines et autres Personnages 2 (1847): 117-118 (letter of King Edward III of England to Ralph de Ferrers, Captain of Calais). Lipscomb Hist. & Antiqs. of Buckiagham 4 (1847): 590. Cox Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire 4 (1879): 474. Ronton Chartulary (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 4(1)) (1883): 271-272 (Harcourt ped.: "De dicto Johanne [Harcourt] descendit jus et hereditas cuidam Willielmo de Harecurt tanquam filio et heredi, qui desponsavit Johannam, filiam Domini Ricardi de Grey de Codenore."). Boyd & Wrottesley Final Concords (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 11) (1890): 164, 178, 193. Year Books of Edward III: Year XVI 7 (Rolls Ser. 31b) (1896): 209-213. Papal Regs.: Letters 3 (1897): 110. Wrottesley Crecy & Calais (1898): 200. Bateson Recs. of the Borough of Leicester 2 (1901): lvii, 70, 154. List of Inqs. Ad Quad Damnum 1 (PRO Lists and Indexes 17) (1904): 228, 254. Wrottesley Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 92-93, 101, 132, 201, 342. Cal. IPM 7 (1909): 221-222; 13 (1954): 60. C.F.R. 4 (1913): 180. Wedgwood Harcourt of Ellenhall (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 3rd Ser. 1914) (1914): 196-197. Unwin Finance & Trade under Edward III (1918): 349-350. Farnham Leicestershire Medieval Peds. (1925): 55 (Harcourt ped.). C.P. 5 (1926): 352 footnote a (sub Ferrers). Rpt. on the MSS of Reginald Rawdon Hastings, Esq. 1 (Hist. MSS Comm. 78) (1928): 79. Stokes et al. Warwickshire Feet of Fines 3 (Dugdale Soc. 18) (1943): 82. VCH Warwick 4 (1947): 25; 6 (1951): 32. Paget Baronage of England (1957) 271: 2. Ellis Cat. Seals in the P.R.O. 1(1978): 31 (seal of William de Harecourt dated 1339— A shield of arms, couche: two bars [HARCOURT], the field hatched; helm above with stylized mantling on both sides and crest: a peacock. A scroll on right. No legend but a band of running ornament). VCH Oxford 12 (1990): 274-275. Schumer Oxfordshire Forests 1246-1609 (Oxfordshire Rec. Soc. 64) (2004): 129, 132, 134. National Archives, SC 8/245/12202 (available at www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp).
  Children of William de Harcourt, Knt., by Joan de Grey:
  i. RICHARD DE HARCOURT, Knt., of Ellenhall, Staffordshire, son and heir, born about 1328 (aged 21 in 1349). He married JOAN DE SHARESHULL (or SHARESHILL), daughter of William de Shareshull, Knt., Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. They had two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth. He was granted letters of protections about June 1346, he then about to set out for France in the retinue of Maurice de Berkeley. He subsequently fought at the Battle of Crecy 26 August 1346. SIR RICHARD DE HARCOURT died before 1350, probably of the plague. Shaw Hist. & Antiqs. of Staffordshire. Nichols Hist. & Antiqs. of Leicester 4(2) (1811): *519—*520. Ronton Chartulary (Colls. Hist Staffs. 4(1)) (1883): 271-272 (Harcourt ped.: "De dicto Willielmo [de Harcourt] descendit jus et hereditas cuidam Ricardo de Harecourt tanquam filio et heredi, qui desponsavit Johannam, filiam Domini Willielmi de Shareshull."). Boyd & Wrottesley Final Concords (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 11) (1890): 160-169. Wrottesley Crecy & Calais (1898): 35, 37, 89. Genealogist n.s. 17 (1901): 175. Wrottesley Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 92-93, 101, 132, 201, 342. Wedgwood Revs. of Rec. Office Pubs. (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 3rd Ser. 1913) (1913): 342. Wedgwood Harcourt of Ellenhall (Colls. Hist. Staffs. 3.1 Ser. 1914) (1914): 196 ("Sir Richard's wife is called Jane, daughter of Sir William de Shareshull, the chief justice. But Sir William had a son; two generations of Sir Williams succeeded him at Patshull; and how Jane became, in her issue, heiress to Patshull in 1439 I do not understand"). Farnham Leicestershire Medieval Peds. (1925): 55 (Harcourt ped.). Putnam Place in Legal Hist. of Sir William Shareshull (1950). Booth Account of Master John de Burnham the Younger (Lanc. & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 125) (1991): 171-172 (biog. of William de Shareshull). Sainty Judges of England (Selden Soc. Supp. Ser. 10) (1993): 7, 24, 25, 63, 92 (re. William Shareshull).
  Child of Richard de Harcourt, by Joan de Shareshull:
  a. ELIZABETH DE HARCOURT, married THOMAS DE ASTLEY, Knt., of Hillmorton, Warwickshire [see ASTLEY 12].
  ii. THOMAS HARCOURT, Knt. [see next].”
  
  === 3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby. ===
  3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby.

1. Title: Inquisition Post Mortem (IPM) for Joan late the wife of Ralph de Ferrers
   Author: A. E. Stamp, J. B. W. Chapman, M. C. B. Dawes and D. B. Wardle, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 218', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 13, Edward III (London, 1954), pp. 44-65. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol13/pp44-65 [accessed 14 January 2020].
   Publication: Name: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol13/pp44-65;
   Note: 79. JOAN LATE THE WIFE OF RALPH DE FERRERS. Writ of mandamus, 10 November, 44 Edward III [1370]. LEICESTER. Inq. (indented) taken at Boseworth, Tuesday before St. Valentine, 45 Edward III. Boseworth. The manor, held of the heir of Bello Monte, a minor in the king’s wardship, as of the honor of Winchester, services not known. Schepeye. 16s. 6d. rent and the advowson of a mediety of the church, held of Richard de Stafford, knight, as of the fee of Caunvill, services not known. She held the above in fee tail by a joint feoffment made to her and William de Harecourt, knight, then her husband, and the heirs male of their bodies, by gift of Nicholas de Harecourt, formerly rector of the said mediety. She died on 22 July, 43 Edward III [1369]; and after her death William de Catesby, late escheator, had possession of the manor, and of the rent and mediety as parcel thereof, and levied the issues for the king’s use, until by the king’s writ he delivered the same to Thomas de Harecourt, knight, son and heir male of William and Joan. During the king’s seisin the mediety fell void, and Thomas son of Thomas de Astleye, knight, and Elizabeth his wife presented Philip de Drayton, clerk, thereto. The said Thomas de Harecourt, aged 28 years and more, is son and heir male of the said William and Joan; and the said Elizabeth, daughter of Richard de Harecourt, aged 21 years, is their kinswoman and heir general. C. Edw. III. File 218. (22.)
   Page: Mentioned in this source.
   
2. Title: Ancestral File (R)
   Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998, Family History Library, 35 N West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA.
   Note: [PFT:AQ] [S:Titl] Ancestral File (R) [S:Auth] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [S:Publ] Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998 [R:Name] Family History Library [R:Addr] 35 N West Temple Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 USA [/PFT]