John Darcy (1377 - 1411)

Born 1377 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Grey) Swynford — married after 9 Jul 1397 in England

Descendants

Died 9 Dec 1411 at about age 34 in England

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Biography

John, son and heir of Philip Darcy, Knt., 4th Lord Darcy of Knaith, was born about 1376 or 1377 (aged 22 or 23 in 1399).^[1][2] John's mother, Elizabeth Gray, was the daughter of Thomas Grey of Northumberland.^[1]

Marriage and Children

John Darcy married Margaret Grey, daughter of Henry de Grey, 5th Lord Grey of Wilton, and Elizabeth Talbot,^[3][4][5] shortly after 9 July 1397 (date of recognizances).^[1] There were at least six children from this marriage:

• Philip Darcy, 6th Lord Darcy of Knaith, Knt.; born c1398;^[6] married before 28 Oct 1412 Eleanor FitzHugh;^[2][6][7] died 2 Aug 1418^[2][6]
• John Darcy;^[1] born c1404;^[8][9] married Joan Greystoke;^{[10][11][12][13]} died 1454^[2][14]
• Elizabeth Darcy^[1][2]
• Maud (or Matilda) Darcy^[1][2]
• Margery Darcy^[1][2]
• Joan Darcy; married (1) John Beauchamp, Esq.;^[6][15] married (2) before 1424 Giles Daubeney, Knt.^[15][16]

Life and Lands

On 12 June 1399 orders were given to escheators to give John full seisin of his father's lands, apart from what were due to his mother as her dower. They indicate that the lands were spread across a number of counties in the Midlands and northern counties of England, and that in addition he inherited property in Calais.^[17] He also held lands in Ireland: in 1403^[18] and 1406^[19] he was recorded as appointing attorneys to act for him there while he was in England.

In 1402 John petitioned Parliament over a dispute with the Knights of St John relating to property at Temple Hirst and Temple Newsam, Yorkshire. Parliament referred the issue to the king who asked the Chancellor to advise.^[20] This dispute dated back to before 1380, when the English Prior of the Knights of St John petitioned Richard II and the royal Council for a writ enabling the Knights to recover those manors from John's father.^[21] John seems to have been successful: his Inquisitions Post Mortem show him holding the manors.^[22]

John appears to have been a supporter of Henry IV's assumption of the throne in 1399. He was summoned to Parliament from 19 August 1399 to 21 September 1411.^[1][10] He was a member of a number of official commissions, including one in 1400 to secure for the king lands and castles in Ireland which had been forfeited by rebels.^[23] That year his mother named him as one of her two attorneys to look after her Irish interests.^[24] In 1406-7 he was one of the peers who attached his seal to a copy of Acts concerning the royal succession.^[3]

In 1406 John accused Sir Thomas Chaworth and others of raiding his properties in Derbyshire.^[25] The lands may have been the subject of a property dispute.

In 1411 John was given a licence to go to Ireland "to visit his lands and lordships there, which have been desolated by rebellion and continuance of wars, and put them in better governance".^[26]

Death

John Darcy, Knt;, 5th Lord Darcy of Knaith and 4th Lord Meinell, died 9 December 1411.^[2][22][27] He left a will dated at his manor of Temple Hirst, Yorkshire 2 August 1411,^{[10] [27]} which was proved 18 February 1411/2.^[1][2] His major bequests were to his two sons and his wife, but of special interest were bequests to three of his daughters, about whom very little has been written.^[28] To his daughter Elizabeth he left 400 marks to be given to her when she married; to his daughter Matilda he left the value of the wood from the forest of 'Nottonhawe' to be given to her when she married; and to his daughter Marjory he left money from the sale of (his) silver vessels and the profits from the forest of Buscliff to be given to her when she married.^[28]

John Darcy was buried at Selby Abbey, Yorkshire.^[1][10] His widow remarried (second) by 1421 to Sir Thomas Swynford, Knt, sheriff of Lincoln and governor of Calais.^[1][4][27]

Inquisitions Post Mortem were held in 1412. They show him holding lands in Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (where the bulk of his English properties lay), and two tenements in Calais.^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol.2, pp. 389-391 DARCY 14. John Darcy.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Ord, J.W. The History and Antiquities of Cleveland... London: Simpkin and Marshall (1846), pp. 445-446.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Cokayne, George Edward. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom... London: St Catherine's Press (1910), vol. 4, pp. 63-65.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Verity, Brad. Descendants to the Third Generation of Eleanor, Countess of Ormond (c.1310-1363). Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (2016) 8: pp 75-89, PDF available here.
5. ↑ Poulson, George. History and Antiquities of the seigniory of Holderness. London: W. Pickering (1840), vol. 2, pp. 200-201
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol.2, p. 391 DARCY 15. Philip Darcy.
7. ↑ Thoresby, Ralph. Ducatus Leodiensus. London: Maurice Atkins (1816), pp. 226-228.
8. ↑ University of Winchester/King's College London, 2014. Mapping the Medieval Countryside [online], IPMs for Philip Darcy, Knight, son and heir of John Darcy, deceased, accessed 24 May 2023
9. ↑ Baildon, William Paley (ed). Inquisitions post mortem relating to Yorkshire. (Yorkshire Archaeological Society Records Series #59) (1918), p. 157
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} 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), vol. 2, pp. 26-27, DARCY 8. John Darcy,.Google Books
11. ↑ Jacobus, Donald L. The Darcy Ancestry of Mrs. John Sherman. The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society (2009), vol. 21 (1944), p. 173, available here by subscription.
12. ↑ Flower, William. Visitation of Yorkshire 1563-1564. London: Mitchell and Hughes (1881), pp. 91- 92
13. ↑ Banks, Thomas C. Baronies in Fee. Ripon: Wm. Harrison (1844), vol. 1, pp. 178-179.
14. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol.3, pp. 541-542 LAUNCE 15. John Darcy.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries (1890), vol, 1, p. 242.
16. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol.4, p. 30 MARKHAM 10. Giles Daubeney.
17. ↑ Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Richard II, A.D. 1391-1399, HMSO, 1929, p. 294, Internet Archive
18. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1401-1405, HMSO, 1905, p. 155, Internet Archive
19. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1405-1408, HMSO, 1907, Hathi Trust
20. ↑ The National Archives, ref. SC 8/22/1089, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
21. ↑ The National Archives, ref. SC 8/116/5776, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1 22.2} Kirby, J.L. Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry IV, Entries 952-999' in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 19, Henry IV. London: British History Online (1992), pp 339-362, no. 973.
23. ↑ Calendar of the Fine Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1399-1405, HMSO, 1931, pp. 51-52, Internet Archive
24. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1399-1401, HMSO, 1901, p. 335, Internet Archive
25. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1405-1408, pp. 235-238, Hathi Trust
26. ↑ Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry IV, A.D. 1408-1413, HMSO, 1909, p. 279, HathiTrust
27. ↑ ^{27.0 27.1 27.2} Hodgson, John C. A History of Northumberland. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: A. Reid, Sons, and Co. (1893), vol 5, p. 411.
28. ↑ ^{28.0 28.1} Raine, James (ed). Testamenta Eboracensia. London: J.B. Nichols (1836), vol. 1, pp. 356-357.

See Also:

• Blore, Thomas. History and Antiquities of Rutland. Stanford: R. Newcomb (1811), vol. 1 (pt 2), p. 164 (page view 221), available here. (Grey ped)

• Clay, John William. Extinct and Dormant Peerages of the Northern Counties of England. London: J Nisbet & Co. (1913), pp. 41-42.

• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris. Testamenta Vestuta. London: Nichols & Son (1826), vol. 1, p. 254, fn. 2.

• Page, William (ed). Victoria County History: Hertford. London (1912), vol. 3, p. 451, available at British History Online.

• Page, William (ed). Victoria County History of Yorkshire. London: (1923) British History Online, pp. 309-319.

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Jen Hutton in May 2023, and reviewed for the Project by Michael Cayley on 31 May 2023.

John Darcy is in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestor Mary Launce to Magna Carta Surety Baron Robert de Ros (Magna Carta Ancestry, vol. III, pages 4-10 LAUNCE). This trail, set out HERE, was badged in July 2023.

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".