John (Ferrers) de Ferrers (1271 - abt. 1312)

Born 20 Jun 1271 in Cardiff, Wales

Ancestors

Husband of Hawise (Muscegros) de Bures — married before 13 Sep 1300 in England

Descendants

Died about 27 Aug 1312 at about age 41 in Gascony, France

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Biography

Birth

John de Ferrers was the son of Robert de Ferrers, sixth Earl of Derby and Eleanor Bohun.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} He was born at Cardiff, Wales on 20 June 1271.^[1][2][3][5]

Marriage and Children

Between 2 Feb 1297/8 and 13 Sep 1300, John married Hawise de Muscegros, widow of William de Mortimer and heiress of Robert de Muscegros.^[1][2] A papal dispensation for the marriage was granted, at the request of Edward I, after the event by Pope Boniface VIII on 13 September 1300, "notwithstanding that Hawisia was espoused to the late William de Mortuomari, who was related to the said John in the third degree of kindred, the marriage not being consummated."^[3][6]

John and Hawise had two sons and two daughters:

• John^[1][2][4]
• Robert^[1][2][4]
• Perronelle^[1][2][4]
• Eleanor^[1][2][4]

Lands

There is a court case (exact year uncertain) from before John came of age relating to a "messuage and fourteen acres of land in Wytokeshather (Uttoxeter, Staffordshire)": evidence was produced that John's father had granted the property to one Henry Oweyn.^[7]

In 1293 John was granted livery of the lands which he inherited from his grandmother Margaret de Quincy.^[3] These included manors in Huntingdonshire^[5] and the Barony of Leicester.^[8] The next year he inherited a manor in Northamptonshire from a cousin.^[1][2][3][5]

John's father had been dispossessed of most of his lands, leaving John inheriting only Chartley, Staffordshire from him.^[5][9] His mother had successfully safeguarded Chartley during his minority.^[10] In 1294 John was given permission to hand the manor of Chartley over to Robert de Bures for life, in exchange for the manor of Bowers (probably Bures Hamlet, Essex).^[11]

John, though, attempted to recover the other lands that had once been his father's. In about 1301 he sought permission from the Pope to borrow money from prelates and others to enable him to redeem his father's lands by paying £50,000 to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who had possession of them. (Cokayne gives the date as about 1298.)^[1][2][12] The Pope appointed Robert Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, to adjudicate^[5] but Edward I ordered John not to pursue his claims in a church court.^[12] John sued Robert Winchelsey for the then colossal sum of £100,000, but the case was constantly deferred and never adjudicated.^[5]

Through his wife, John held lands in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset.^[5]

Life

In 1294 and 1297 respectively, John attended Edward I's daughters Eleanor and Margaret on journeys overseas, suggesting he had established a closeness to the king.^[5] From 1298 he fought several times in Scotland, and in 1306 he was Constable of the English army there.^[3]

John was granted the wardship of Thomas de Verdun during Thomas's minority, which ended in 1297.^[13]

John was summoned to Parliament a number of times, the first occasion being in 1299, and that is regarded as giving him the rank of Lord Ferrers.^[1][2]

A Close Rolls entry of 26 November 1302 instructed officials to establish what debts John owed the Crown in respect of his wife and her ancestors, with John having respite of the debts in the meantime.^[14]

In 1304 John accompanied his cousin Humphrey de Bohun overseas.^[1][2] He was summoned to be present at the coronation of Edward II on 25 February 1307/8.^[1][2]

A letter by a monk dated 1308 implies that John disliked Edward II's favourite Piers Gaveston, but that may just be ill-founded gossip.^[5] If it is true, he managed to retain royal favour: three years later, in 1311, Edward II entrusted Gloucester Castle to him and in January 1312 appointed him Seneschal of Gascony, where he quickly came into conflict with one of the more powerful of the fractious Gascon barons.^[5][3]

Death

John passed away in Gascony, possibly due to poisoning,^[3][5] about 27 August 1312.^[1][2]

Research Notes

Manor of Ferrers, Bures Hamlet, Essex

Either John or his son John may be the John de Ferrers who is said to have held the manor of Ferrers in Bures Hamlet, Essex during the reign of Edward II.^[15] The widow of the John of this profile subsequently married a John de Bures,^[1] which may give some support for one of the two John de Ferrers holding the manor.

Alleged Daughter Maud

Marlyn Lewis ascribes a fifth child to John de Ferrers and his wife, Maud, born about 1303.^[16] Lewis's only source for this is a pedigree compilation which gives no sources.^[17] Neither Richardson^[1][2] nor Cawley^[4] recognise Maud as a daughter, and there appears to be no good evidence.

Death

The 1st edition of Cokayne's Complete Peerage states that John died in 1324, while admitting that he was not summoned to Parliament after 1311, and says that he was succeeded by his son Robert, 2nd Baron.^[18] The revised edition gives a death date of about August 1312.^[3] This death year of 1312 is generally accepted.^[1][2][4][5] The death date in the original version of the Complete Peerage almost certainly reflects confusion with John's son John, who died that year.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. II, pp. 155-158, FERRERS 5, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. II, pp. 568-570
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. V, London: St. Catherine Press, 1926, pp. 305-310
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6} Charles Cawley. 'Medieval Lands' database, entry for JOHN Ferrers of Chartley, Staffordshire
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Ferrers, John de, first Lord Ferrers of Chartley', print and online 2004
6. ↑ W H Bliss (ed). Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, Vol. I, A.D. 1198-1304, HMSO, 1893, p. 588, Internet Archive
7. ↑ "Plea Rolls for Staffordshire: Diverse counties, 7-12 Ed. I," in Staffordshire Historical Collections, Vol. 6 Part 1, ed. G Wrottesley (London: Staffordshire Record Society, 1885), 138-156, [British History Online, accessed March 23, 2017
8. ↑ I J Sanders. English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and descent 1086-1327, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 62
9. ↑ I J Sanders. English Baronies, p. 33
10. ↑ Petition to the king, probably soon after 1279, The National Archives, ref. SC 8/85/4216, Catalogue entry
11. ↑ William Farrer. Honors and Knight's Fees, Vol. II, Manchester University Press, 1925, p. 269
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} George E Cokayne. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, Vol. IV, London: St. Catherine Press, 1910, p. 202, archive.org
13. ↑ William Farrer. Honors and Knight's Fees, Vo. I, Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co, 1924, p. 117
14. ↑ Calendar of the Close Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. V, HMSO 1908, p. 1, Internet Archive
15. ↑ Thomas Wright. The History and Topography of the County of Essex, Vol. I, George Virtue, London, 1836, p. 477, Google Books
16. ↑ Marlyn Lewis, 'Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors & Cousins', entries for 'Sir John de Ferrers, 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley'and Maud (Matilda) de Ferrers
17. ↑ Vernon M Norr. Some Early English Pedigrees, Arlington, Virginia, 1968, typescript, pp. 27 and 69, viewable on Familysearch
18. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage (original edition), Vol. III, London and Exeter, 1890, p. 330, Internet Archive

See also:

• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for "Magna Carta Ancestry".
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Ferrers, John de, first Lord Ferrers of Chartley' (by Marios Costambeys), print and online 2004, available online by subscription and via some libraries
• Cawley, Charles. 'Medieval Lands' database, entry for JOHN Ferrers of Chartley, Staffordshire
• Cokayne, George E. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. V, London: St. Catherine Press, 1926, pp. 305-310
• Cokayne, George E. Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol. IV, London: St. Catherine Press, 1910, p. 202, archive.org
• Wikipedia: John De Ferrers, 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley
• For additional information about early baronies, see the top-level category page Early English Feudal Baronies. Individual category pages (links below) should include information specific to the category.

Acknowledgements

Click the Changes tab to see the edits to this profile. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Magna Carta Project

This profile was reviewed/approved for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 7 June 2020.

John (Ferrers) de Ferrers is a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy and Henry de Bohun and appears in trails badged by the Magna Carta Project to the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Dannett Abney. See the trail HERE.
• Margaret Domville: does not appear Magna Carta Ancestry, but see this post: soc.genealogy.medieval. Trail was developed and badged in Jul 2020 and can be seen HERE.
• Manwaring Gateways (Oliver and Mary) (MCA III:126-129 MANWARING): badged in Feb 2015 and re-reviewed in February 2024. See the trail HERE.
• Mary Wolseley (MCA IV:362-365 WOLSELEY): badged June 2022. See trail HERE.

John (Ferrers) de Ferrers is also in unbadged trails (needing work) to the following Gateways:

• Humphrey Gateways (Daniel, Benjamin, Rebecca, and Anne) (MCA III:279-281 OWEN): trail has not yet been developed and is set out HERE.
• Owen Gateways (Rebecca, Joshua and Elizabeth) (MCA III:279-281 OWEN): trail has not yet been developed and is set out HERE.

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