Individual Details
Henri de Ferrières
(1036 - 1088)
From Palmer, Charles Ferrers Raymund (1819-1900), The History of the Town and Castle of Tamworth, in the Counties of Stafford and Warwick, 1845, p. 363 et seq
Henry, assumed the surname de Ferrariis or Ferrers, from a small town in Gastenois, abounding with iron-mines. In allusion to his name, he bore six horse-shoes for his arms. He came into England with the Conqueror; and had granted to him lands in the cos. of Berks, Derby, Essex, Gloucester, Hereford, Leicester, Northampton, Nottingham, Stafford, Warwick, and Wilts. He seated himself at Tutbury-castle and there, in 1080, he founded a monastery for Cluniac monks. By Bertha, he had issue,
i.-ii. Eugenulph and Wil., d. s.p.
iii. Robert, his successor.
iv. Amice, m. to Nigel de Albini.
v.-vi. Gundreda, and Emmeline.
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From thePeerage.com
Henry de Ferrieres1
M, #158545, b. circa 1036, d. 1088
Last Edited=17 Aug 2005
Henry de Ferrieres was born circa 1036 at Ferrieres, Normandy, France.1 He was the son of Walchelinde de Ferrieres.1 He married Bertha Roberts.1 He died in 1088 at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England.1
Child of Henry de Ferrieres and Bertha Roberts
Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby+1 b. c 1062, d. 1139
Citations
[S125] Richard Glanville-Brown, online, Richard Glanville-Brown (RR 2, Milton, Ontario, Canada), downloaded 17 August 2005.
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Complete Peerage of England, Vol 3, Cokayne (1890), p. 64 et seq.
Cokayne shows the following lineage for the Earls of Derby:
Henry de Ferrariis (1036-1038) & Bertha (no surname)
1138 Robert de Ferrières (1062-1139) & Hawise de Vitre, 1st Earl of Derby
1139 Robert de Ferrariis (1100-1160) & No wife, 2nd Earl of Derby
1162 William de Ferrers (1140-1190) & Sybilla de Braose, 3rd Earl of Derby
1190 William de Ferrers (1172-1247) & Agnes Kevelioc, 4th Earl of Derby
1247 William de Ferrers (1193-1254) & Sybilla Marshall (& Margaret de Quincey), 5th Earl of Derby
1254-1266 Robert's (1239-1274) son John became barons of Chartley, married 1st Marie Le Brun & 2nd Eleanor Basset (disinherited of Derby in 1266 but allowed to keep Chartley)
In footnote (h) p. 65 Cokayne says “The names and succession of these Earls... is most obscure. That given in the text is the one thought most probable by Mr. Eyton...
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From Complete Peerage of England Vol 3 Cokayne 1890, p. 65:
II. 1139. 2. ROBERT (FERRERS), EABL OF DERBY, … he styled himself “Robertus Comes junior de Ferrariis”... He is said by some[g] to have m. Margaret, da. and h. of William Peverel...
Footnote [g]: By (inter alios) Mr. James Doyle in his “Official Baronage” and if any Earl (Ferrers), of Dreby, is to be credited with such a wife (and this wife has been attributed to several), this Earl is as likely to have been her husband, as any. It is, however, far more probable that his Margaret Peverl never had any existence, and that the Peverel estates came to the Ferrers family thro' the match of the 5th Earl with Afnes, sister and coheir of Randolp, Earl of Chester, grandson of Randolph, Earl of Chester, the grantee thereof.
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From MEDIEVAL LANDS, A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, by Charles Cawley
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3D-K.htm#RobertFerrersDerbydied1139
The Ferrers family received grants of estates in Derbyshire after the Norman conquest. Robert de Ferrers was created Earl of Derby in 1138 as a reward for his services fighting the Scots at the battle of the Standard, although he and his immediate successors are referred to in contemporary charters as "comes de Ferrariis"[303]. The Earldom of Derby was forfeited by Robert Earl of Derby in 1266, and was granted to Edmund "Crouchback" Earl of Lancaster, son of King Henry III, who did not use the title[304]. Edmund's grandson, Henry of Lancaster (who succeeded his father as Earl of Lancaster in 1345), was created Earl of Derby 16 Mar 1337. His estates in Derbyshire were inherited by his older daughter Blanche who married (as his first wife) John "of Gaunt" Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III. They were merged with the crown when John's son succeeded as King Henry IV in 1399. King Henry VII revived the earldom in 1485 in favour of Thomas Stanley, his stepfather. The earldom remained in the Stanley family until the present day.
WALKELIN de Ferrières, son of --- (-killed in battle [1035/45]). Guillaume of Jumièges records that “Hugo de Monteforti filius Tustini” and “Walchelino de Ferrariis” [a later passage names him “Henricus de Ferrariis”] fought and killed each other, dated to the early part of the reign of Guillaume II Duke of Normandy from the context of the passage[579].
m ---. The name of Walkelin's wife is not known.
Walkelin & his wife had one child:
1. HENRI de Ferrières (-[before 14 Sep] 1101, bur Tutbury). The Chronique de Normandie, based on le Roman de Rou, names "Henry seigneur de Ferrières" among those who took part in the conquest of England in 1066[580]. Orderic Vitalis records that the king granted “castrum Stutesburie quod Hugo de Abrincis prius tenuerat” to “Henrico Gualchelini de Ferrariis filio”[581]. Sire de Ferrières et de Chambrais, Normandy. King William I awarded him over 200 lordships, half in Derbyshire, together with the castle of Tutbury, Staffordshire (previously held by Hugues d'Avranches) which became his main seat[582]. “…Henrici de Ferrariis…” witnessed the charter dated 1082 under which William I King of England granted land at Covenham to the church of St Calais[583]. “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[584]. Domesday Book records land held by “Henry de Ferrers”, including in Nakedthorn and Sutton Hundreds, in Berkshire; several properties in Buckinghamshire; Lechlade in Gloucestershire; numerous properties in Leicestershire; numerous properties in Derbyshire[585]. m BERTA, daughter of ---. “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[586]. Domesday Descendants speculates that she was a member of the Laigle family based on the couple naming one of their sons Ingenulf[587], although it is not clear that this family used this name exclusively. Henri & his wife had four children:
a) INGENULF [Guillaume] de Ferrers (-after 14 Sep 1101). “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[588].
- see below.
b) ROBERT Ferrers (-1139). “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[589]. He succeeded his father in 1101 in the greater part of his English possessions. “Robertus comes de Ferrariis” donated property to Tutbury Priory by undated charter after succeeding “in hereditatem bonæ memoriæ Henrici patris mei”[590]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Robt de Ferrar" in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire in respect of "Werchesworda"[591]. He was created Earl of Derby in 1138.
- EARLS of DERBY.
c) AMICE de Ferrers (-6 Sep ----[592]). “Robertus comes junior de Ferariis” confirmed donations to Tutbury by “avus meus Henricus…Egenulfus patruus meus…Robertus pater meus”, naming “Nigellus de Albiniaco et Amicia filia avi mei”[593]. m NIGEL de Albini of Cainhoe, son of GUILLAUME Seigneur d'Aubigny & his wife --- (-[1100]).
d) daughter(s) . The fact that Henri had more than one daughter is shown by the charter under which “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[594].
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From Duffield Castle; its History, Site and recently found Remains; with some account of the seven Earls Ferrers who held it, by J. Charles Cox in the Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society: Volume 9, January 1887, p. 118 et seq.
https://books.google.com/books?id=nt84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR4&dq=duffield+castle+cox+ferrers&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs2_Ouxq3PAhVX1WMKHUE0CeoQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=duffield%20castle%20cox%20ferrers&f=false
By J. Charles Cox, LL.D.
I. —The Seven Lords of Duffield Castle.
HENRY DE FERRERS, the son of Walkelyn de Ferrers,
Lord of Ferrieres St. Hilaire, near Bernia, where he had
great ironworks, accompanied the Conqueror on his
triumphant expedition to England. He was one of the chief
favourites of his sovereign, and his ability and integrity caused
great trust to be reposed in him. The Conqueror at once made him
master over a considerable section of the subdued territory, a very
large share of Derbyshire falling to his lot. In the fourteenth
year of his reign, Henry de Ferrers was appointed one of the
Commissioners to make a general survey of the kingdom, an ap
pointment of the greatest importance. From this survey, known
as the Domesday Book, it appears that he at that time (1086-7)
held 114 manors or lordships in Derbyshire, 35 in Leicestershire,
20 in Berkshire, 3 in Wiltshire, 5 in Essex, 7 in Oxfordshire, 6 in
Warwickshire, 2 each in Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Buck
inghamshire, 1 in Gloucestershire, 3 each in Hampshire and Not
tinghamshire, and 7 in Staffordshire, besides the castle and borough
of Tutbury. Having thus become possessed of a great territory in
the Midlands, that had just previously been in the hands of a large
number of semi-independent Saxon lords,it was only natural that De
Ferrers should require some central residence wherein his power
might be focussed, and from whence the territory, that had been won
by the sword, might be retained for himself and his royal master.
Nay, it may be almost positively asserted that it was a condition of
the De Ferrers' tenure from his sovereign that a strong fortress
should be erected and maintained ; for he was the most powerful
Baron in Mercia, and the king absolutely trusted to his loyalty.
It has been assumed that such a centre for his government was
established at Tutbury;* but Tutbury was on the verge of his
possessions rather than in the centre. Moreover, although Henry
de Ferrers did rebuild the ruined Saxon fortress of Tutbury, and
also founded a Priory hard by, still the remains of that which is
Norman about the old castle of Tutbury, as compared with the
recently uncovered remains of the castle of Duffield, show that
the former was almost insignificant in defensive proportions when
compared with the Derbyshire stronghold.
Duffield formed a fairly convenient centre for obtaining access
to all his Derbyshire, nay all his Mercian, manors. It was but a
little distance from that great main thoroughfare of England, the
Rykneld Street, with which it was connected by a well-used cross
road. Duffield commanded a ford over the Denvent, whence
started the road that led from the south to the invaluable lead
mines of Wirksworth, and thence to the upper, or High Peak
district. A knoll, partly natural and partly artificial, that had
been occupied by the Romans throughout the centuries of their
sojourn here, and subsequently utilised by the Saxons as a centre
of colonization and as a strategically important place for an en
trenched fortress, was the very site that would at once suggest itself
to the practical mind of Henry de Ferrers for the erection of an
imposing castle. Not only would such a site be invaluable
to him and to the cause of the conquerors, both from a
military and commercial point of view, but the moral effect in the
neighbourhood, of the holding by one of these fierce Normans of
the very spot whence, as a burh, justice had been administered,
and whereon some of the last victorious struggles of the Anglo-
Saxons against the Danes had taken place, cannot be over-esti
mated. The weighty immensity of the great square stone tower,
History of Tutbury ; by Sir Oswald Mosley, 1832, p. 5.
of a character hitherto undreamt of by the inhabitants, as it rose
course by course, would almost by its very existence on such a
spot crush out all hopes of a successful rising.
The building of the Duffield stronghold seems to have been
begun very soon after the Conquest, Henry de Ferrers, by his
wife Bertha, had three sons, Engenulph, William, and Robert.
This great nobleman was very frequently in attendance on his
sovereign, and towards the end of his life seems to have preferred
to reside at Tutbury, where, in the Priory church of his founding,
his remains were buried on his death in 1089. To his eldest son,
Engenulph he entrusted the charge of Duffield castle,* and there
Engenulph resided until his death, which almost immediately pre
ceded that of his father. The second son, William, accompanied
Robert Duke of Normandy to the Holy Land ; he, too, died in
the lifetime of his father.
Robert de Ferrers, the third and youngest son, succeeded to
the great estates of his father, and was, like his father, a man of
supreme importance in the councils of the nation. He was one
of the witnesses to the laws put forth by Stephen, in the first year
of his reign. In the famous battle fought against the Scotch, on
August 22nd, 1 138, near Northallerton, Robert de Ferrers com
manded a powerful contingent of Derbyshire men, who played no
small part in securing a definite victory to the English. The en
gagement is well known as the Battle of the Standard, from the
remarkable character of the erection round which the troops rallied,
and which was constructed according to the directions of Thurstan,
Archbishop of York. It consisted of the great mast of a vessel
strongly secured to a waggon ; in the centre of the cross which
* Of absolute documentary evidence of this we have no first-hand proof,
having hitherto searched in vain for it ; but the secondary evidence is strong,
and we know of no reason whatever to doubt it. Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, in the
introduction to the Domesday Book of Derbyshire, says : —" Henry de Ferrers
. founded the church of the Holy Mary near the castle at Tutbury, and
built Duffield castle." And again : —" Engenulph had Duffield castle."
That singularly accurate writer, the lale Sir Oswald Mosley, says in his
History of Tutbury, when enumerating the children of Henry de Ferrers,—
" Engenulph, to whom he gave a castle at Duffield." The footnote that he
gives to this statement is unfortunately very vague ; it is merely—" MSS. in
Due. Lane. Off."
rose from its summit, was placed a silver pyx, containing a portion
of the Blessed Sacrament, and below waved the consecrated
banners of SS. Peter, Wilfrid, and John of Beverley, the
three patron saints of Yorkshire, which had been brought for this
purpose from within the walls of their great Minster. The aged
Archbishop, too ill to leave his city, deputed the duty of addressing
the English to his chief suffragan, the Bishop of Durham, who
harangued them from beneath the standard, in glowing language,
to repel the barbarous invaders, promising an eternal inheritance
to all who fell. At the end of his address, the whole of the army
fell upon their knees whilst the Bishop delivered the words of ab
solution. Then, with a shout of " Amen," they rose to receive
the shock of the enemy. To the religious promises made by the
Bishop, Robert de Ferrers added, so far as his Derbyshire contin
gent were concerned, one of temporal value, for he pledged himself
to make a grant of land on the most frequented side of his forest
of Needwood, to that man who should most distinguish himself
by valour and daring. The troops from Derbyshire played a
considerable part in bringing about a complete victory over the
invaders, and one Ralph secured the promised grant at Needwood
from his commander.*
Robert de Ferrers, for his great services in this memorable and
critical battle, was created by the king Earl of Derby, but he did
not live long to enjoy his additional honours, for he died in the
year 1139. By his wife, Hawyse de Vitry, he had three sons;
William, the eldest, was killed at his lodgings in Lombard Street,
London, during the lifetime of his father; Wakelyn, the third son,
accompanied Richard I. to the Holy Land, but afterwards married
and settled at Locksley ; and Robert, the second son, was his
father's heir, and was usually known as Robert, Earl Ferrers the
younger.
This Robert, Earl Ferrers the younger also assumed the title of
Earl of Nottingham, in right of his wife Margaret, who was the
* Hist : Ric : Prioris Hagustald, p. 162 ; Rieval de Bello Standardico ;
Matt : Paris ; MSS. from Duchy of Lancaster, quoted in Mosley's Hist : of
Tutbury, etc., etc.
eldest daughter and co-heiress of William Peverel, Earl of Notting
ham and Derby, who died in 1137. He founded the Priory of
Derby, afterwards translated to Darley, as well as a Cistercian
Abbey at Mirevale, Warwick: at the latter of which religious houses
he was buried in 1162, wrapped in an ox-hide
He was succeeded by his son William. William Earl Ferrers
joined the king's sons in a rebellion against their father, Henry II.,
and was deprived of his Earldoms of Derby and Nottingham. He
plundered and burnt the town of Nottingham, driving out the
king's garrison, but when he found that Tutbury was besieged by
Welshmen, and that the king was advancing against him with con
siderable forces, he submitted himself to the royal clemency at
Northampton. It is at this time that we get further direct mention
of the castle of Duffield. Dugdale* tells us that the Earl
Ferrers, in the 19th year of Henry II. manned his castles of Tut
bury and Duffield against the king, and marched to Nottingham
and burnt it ; but that submitting himself afterwards to the king,
rendering his castles of Tutbury and Duffield, and giving security,
he was pardoned, though '' so little did the king trust him that he
forthwith demolished those forts."
Among the Wolley MSS. at the British Museum, is a small 4to.
volume entitled "Reynolds Derbyshire Collections." Mr. Rey
nolds, a well-known Derbyshire antiquary, resident at Crich, thus
writes of this event, adding a comment as to the site of the old
castle :—
" (Robt) de Ferrariis, Earl of Derby, manned his castles of Tut
bury and Duffield against King Henry the Second, in favour of
his son. But was quickly reduced to such straits, that he went to
the king, and begging his pardon, submitted himself, and surren
dered his castles to him. The king taking security for his future
fidelity pardoned him and gave him his estate ; but not daring to
* Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I., p. 259. The marginal reference is to Rad.
de Diceto, 588, n. 20. Dugdale, following an error of the chronicler Roger de
Hoveden, mistakes the Christian name, and calls this Earl of Ferrers Robert
instead of William. Mr. LI. Jewitt has made the same error in his introduc
tion to the Domesday Book of Derbyshire, making it Robert instead of William
who sacked Nottingham.
trust him any more, demolished his castles, anno regni sui 19°,
Annoque Domini 1 1 73. Atlas Geogr., vol. v., p. 9.
" Duffield Castle stood upon an eminence of ground betwixt
ye upper end of the town of Duffield, and the River Derwent
(partly over against Makeney), the scite whereof is still called The
Castle Orchard, but no visible ruins are now left" (written in
1769).*
In Lyson's Derbyshire^ it is stated that : —" Duffield castle is
said to have been garrisoned by (Robert) Earl Ferrers, junior,
when he took up arms on behalf of Prince Henry against his father,
King Henry II. It is probable that it was one of those castles
which were spon afterwards demolished by the king's command."
As a reference to this statement, a note at the bottom of the page
says—"See J. Bromton"—a note which puzzled us not a little for
some time. Eventually it was found to refer to the seldom cited
chronicle of John Brampton, Abbot of Jervaulx, which extends
from 588 to 1 198. It is printed in the large folio edition of
Twysden's Histories Anglicance Scriptores. The chronicler recites
that on July 25th, 11 73, the king with his army proceeded to the
castle of Fremyngham, which was yielded to him by Hugh Bigott,
and at the same time submission was made of the castles of Leices
ter, Groby, and Mountsorrel ; he then continues : —" et eadem die
venit ad eum Rogerus de Moubray et reddidit castrum suum de
Thresk, et ibidem etiam Comes de Ferers ad eum veniens castra
sua de Tuttesbery et de Duffelde suae tradidit ditioni."J But it
will be noticed that this statement says nothing as to the demoli
tion of the Ferrers' castles. It is possible that some order may
have been issued hastily for their destruction by the distrustful
monarch, and afterwards countermanded,§ or that the order merely
* Add. MSS. 67071, f. 116. After every possible search, the reference
" Atlas, etc.," cannot be identified ; but the statement is clearly derived, though
perhaps at second hand, from Dugdale.
t Magna Britannia, Vol. V., p. 136.
X Twysden's Scriptores, Vol. I., p. 1095.
§ There are many instances of the issue of orders of this nature and their
subsequent repeal. Powys castle was ordered by the Commonwealth to be
demolished, but a counter order was afterwards issued, which, however, pro
vided for a sufficient breach to be made in the walls so as to make it far easier
of capture.
involved their being deprived of troops. At all events, so far as
Duffield castle was concerned, the order of demolition by Henry
II. if ever issued, was certainly never carried out, for it stood for
another century. Perhaps the most reasonable conjecture is that
Dugdale and others confused this rebellion in the time of Henry
II., with the rebellion in the time of Henry III., and attributed
the demolition carried out at the latter date to the former event.
After this, Earl Ferrers seems to have regained the confidence
of his sovereign ; he was one of the witnesses, in 1177, to King
Henry's decision as arbitrator in the dispute between Alphonsus,
King of Castile, and Sanctius, King of Navarre.* On King
Richard's arrival in England on the death of Henry, .he is said to
have received the powerful baron with disfavour, and he conferred
the Earldom of Derby on his brother John ; but soon after they
were reconciled, and William Earl Ferrers accompanied the king
to the Holy Land, and died at the siege of Acre, 11 90. He was
married to Sibilla, daughter of William de Braose, lord of Aber
gavenny and Brecknock. By her he had six children, the eldest
being named after his father.
William Earl Ferrers was thoroughly loyal to Richard. When
John Earl of Morton, during his brother's captivity, on his return
from the Holy Land, spread a report of his death and laid claim to
the crown, Earl Ferrers united with the Earl of Chester in raising the
standard of their absent monarch, and leading the Derbyshire men
against Nottingham castle, which was being held by John's con
federates, successfully besieged it. On Richard's return, Earl Ferrers
was, for his fidelity, appointed a member of his Great or Privy Coun
cil, and was one of the four who carried the canopy over the king's
head on the occasion of his second coronation.-r But on John's
accession the Earl readily gave him his allegiance, and was present
at the coronation in Westminster Abbey on Ascension Day.
Recognising the value of retaining the aid of this sturdy baron,
King John, on the 8th of June of the same year, when at North-
• Rymers' Fadera, Vol. I., p. 23.
t K. Hoveden, pp. 418-420, etc., elc.
ampton, restored to the representative of the Ferrers' family the
title of Earl of Derby, girding the Earl with a sword with his own
hands, which was the first precedent of such an investiture.* Nor
was this any mere barren honour, for it was accompanied by a
charter conveying the lucrative grant of every third penny arising
out of all the pleas made before the Sheriff of the county of Derby.
By another charter, of Julv nth, he received from the Crown the
manors of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, together with the whole of
that Wapentake, upon an annual payment to the Exchequer of
£,To. He also received many other royal favours and grants, the
most singular of which was one granted by John in the 15th year
of his reign. By this charter the king gave to the Earl and his
heirs a house in the parish of St. Margaret, within the city of Lon
don, which had been forfeited by one Isaac, a Jew of Norwich, to
be held by the service of waiting upon the king at dinner, on all
festivals yearly, with head uncovered, save for a garland of the
breadth of the little finger. t The Earl was very constantly with
the king, and accompanied him on many of his itineraries ; his
name appears as a witness to upwards of one hundred and twenty
of the important royal charters of this reign.
He was one of the four chief men of the realm who were bound
in 1 2 13 for the king's keeping the articles of agreement made with
the Pope for all matters for which he stood excommunicated, and
on the performance of which the sentence of excommunication
was to be void. In the same year, he was one of the witnesses to
that memorable instrument signed by King John in St. Paul's
Cathedral, on October 3rd, and sealed with a golden seal, whereby
he resigned to the Papal See the kingdoms of England and Ireland
for pardon of his sins, agreeing to hold the same in fee of the Pope
at the yearly tenure of 1000 marks. Moreover, Earl Ferrers, by
his bond dated June 17th, 12 14, became one of the king's securi
ties for the due payment of this yearly tribute.
In 1 2 14 the king granted to him the royal castle of Harestan
* Selden's Titles of Honour, p. 653.
t Rotuli Chartarum, 15 John, mem. 6 4 ; Rotuli Lit. Claus., 15 John, 1st
part, mcmb. 5.
(Horsley), Derbyshire, reciting that it was granted to him for the
purpose of placing his wife there.* The wife of William, Earl
Ferrers, was Agnes de Bohun, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Chester,
and sister and co-heiress of Ralph de Blundeville ; she brought to
her husband the manor and castle of Chartley, as well as the
seigniory of all the lands between the rivers Ribble and Mersey.
The reason for this assignment of his wife to the stronghold of
Horsley (not noticed by any previous chronicler of the Ferrers
family), seems to us to have been from his desire, in those troublous
times, of leaving his wife in a place of special security during his
absence in the Holy Land, for which he was then preparing in order
to accompany the king. But an armed rising of the barons prevented
their departure, and then William de Ferrers, putting himself at
the head of the royalist forces, wrested the castles of Peak and
Bolsover, by assault, from the rebels, and was thereupon (121 6)
made governor of both of those royal fortresses,+ so that he then
held every Derbyshire stronghold of any importance.
When Henry III. came to the throne, a few months after these
grants, William Earl Ferrers was for a third time present at a
coronation, the ceremony taking place at Gloucester, on the eve
of SS. Simon and Jude. He was immediately engaged under his
new monarch in suppressing rebellious barons in Leicestershire
and Lincoln, and received new patents for the custody of the
castles of Bolsover and the Peak, holding the government of them
for six years.J He was again made governor of Bolsover later on
in the same reign. § Throughout the first half of Henry III.'s
reign, there is not a single State document of importance for which
this sturdy zealous Earl Ferrers was not either a witness or a
bondsman ; but his loyalty was not indiscriminating, for in the
1 ith year of Henry he threatened, and with success, to take up
* Rotuli Lit. Pat. 16 John, memb. 2.
t Rotuli Lit. Pat. 18 John, memb. 5. John, a Canon of Beauchief, was
sent by the king with letters patent to Gerald de Furnivall, to whom he had
granted a temporary tenancy of Bolsover castle for the security of his wife and
children, ordering that he should at once make way for the Earl of Ferrers.
t Rot. Lit. Pat. I Henry III., m. 6 and 15.
§ Rot. Lit. Pat. 19 Henry III., m. 13.
arms unless the king abided by the charter pertaining to the
Liberties of the Forest, which he had suddenly cancelled at Ox
ford. And ten years later, we find that the Earl was one of the
three counsellors recommended by the barons to the king for
reconciling their discontent with reference to the royal violation
of the Magna Charta.* At length the Earl succumbed to frequent
attacks of the gout, dying in 31st Henry III., 1247, and was fol
lowed to the grave in a few months by his wife Agnes.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, being the third Earl
Ferrers who bore the name of William. He inherited not only
the vast estates of his father and mother, but also the former's
tendency to gout. This disease assumed so bad a form, that,
when quite a youth, he was quite unable to use his feet, and was
conveyed about, after a very unusual way for those days, in a two-
wheeled chariot or horse-litter. As he was passing over the bridge
of St. Neot's, Huntingdonshire, through the carelessness of the
drivers, the carriage was upset and the earl thrown into the water.
The accident, though not immediately fatal, bruised him con
siderably; he never recovered the shock, but died at Evington,
near Leicester, on April 5th, 1254, and was buried on the 11th at
Mirevale Abbey.t Matthew Paris speaks highly of the Count,
and describes him as " vir discretus et legum terrse peritus "
He was married twice ; firstly to Sibilla, daughter and co-heiress
of William Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, by whom he had seven
daughters ; and secondly to Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of
Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, by whom he had two sons,
Robert and William.
Robert de Ferrers was only fifteen years old when his father
died. When but nine years of age, he had been betrothed at
Westminster to Mary, infant daughter of Hugh le Brun, Earl of
Angouleme, and hence niece to King Henry III. On the 15th
of May following his father's death, we find the Queen and Peter
de Savoy covenanting to pay the king 6000 marks for the custody
of the lands of Robert, son and heir of William de Ferrers, Earl of
* Rymer's Fcedera, Vol. I., p. 373.
t Matthew Paris' Hist. Angli., p. 884 ; and Annals of Burton Abbey.
Derby, until he is of legal age.* No sooner had Robert Earl Ferrers
come of age, and the restraints of guardianship removed, than his
strangely wayward and violent disposition asserted itself with much
impetuosity, and he began a career that soon involved him in uni
versal reprobation and distrust. Matthew Paris sums up his politi
cal character most tersely, as " fidus nee Regi nee Baronibus."t
In 1263, when civil war broke out between the king and some of
the discontented barons, Earl Ferrers, forgetful of the fine example
of loyalty set him by his father, and oblivious of the claims of
near kinship by marriage to the Crown, collected his Derbyshire
men-at-arms and marched upon Worcester. He sacked the city,
destroyed the Jewry, plundered both religious and private houses,
and overthrew the fences of the royal parks in the neighbourhood.
On the news reaching London, the king sent an army, under the
command of his son Edward, into Derbyshire to lay waste his lands.
His castle of Tutbury was demolished, and it is reasonable to
assume, as we know the army marched over the Derbyshire manors,
that Duffield castle was attacked, but was found to be too strong
for any sudden capture.
We next find him acting in union with Montford, Earl of
Leicester, and Clare, Earl of Gloucester and the other rebellious
barons, who were in arms against the king. He took part in the
battle of Lewes, when the king and his son were taken prisoners.
Then came the dispute between Montfort and Clare ; Earl Ferrers
siding with the latter, was captured by Simon de Montfort, but
speedily escaped. This was soon followed by the battle of Evesham,
August 14th, 1265, when the Earl of Gloucester rescued the king
from his detention by the Earl of Leicester ; but, with the extra
ordinary fickleness that seems to have been so peculiarly his own,
Earl Ferrers refused all assistance to Clare, and though not at the
battle, was waging war against the royalists in another part of the
kingdom.
The king seems to have acted with much clemency towards the
* Rot. Lit. Pat. 41 Henry III., memb. 9. Add. MSS. 15663, f. 152.
t Matt. Paris Hist. Angl., p. 992.
rebellious lords, but two were exempted by name from the royal
pardon, Simon de Montfort and the youthful Robert de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby. On the 23rd of October, 1265, Earl Ferrers was
formally charged with high crimes and misdemeanours, and a day
fixed for his trial ; but his conscience telling him of the certainty
of a conviction, and having no longer courage to resist, on the 23rd
of the following February, at Westminster, he threw himself upon
the king's mercy, with abject terms of submission—" de vita et
membris terris et tenementis suis gratiae Regis se totaliter
apposuit."* Whereupon the king, in consideration of a cup of
gold set with precious stones (to obtain which he mortgaged his
manor of Piry, Northamptonshire), and on his undertaking to pay
a further fine of 1500 marks, to be paid within a year by four
several payments, granted him a full pardon t Moreover, the king
undertook to secure him against Prince Edward and all others whom
he might have wronged, during the year of payment, and for the
rest of his life when the payment was made. But, as though even
then distrusting him, it was further expressly stated, that if the
Earl again took up arms against the king, that he should be at
once disinherited without any hope of favour. The Earl, appa
rently with the view of dispelling this distrust, voluntarily sealed a
special charter for a strict adherence to the performance of the
agreement, and, at his own request, took formal solemn oath that
he would faithfully observe its provisions.
The infatuation and treachery of Robert de Ferrers seem almost
unparalleled, for, notwithstanding the solemn character of his en
gagements, no sooner did he find himself back again among his
own tenantry of Derbyshire, than he instantly returned to the
occupation of a plotter and a rebel. He speedily armed his men,
and, in conjunction with Baldwin de Wake, at the head of a contin
gent from Lincolnshire, and with John d'Ayville, a turbulent York
shire baron, laid plans for assembling a considerable force of rebels
in Derbyshire. The king immediately dispatched his nephew, Prince
* Rot. Lit. Pat. 49 Henry III, memb. 22, No. 96.
t Rot. Lit. Pat. 50 Henry III., memb. 40, No. 109.
Henry, with a large body of troops to chastise the daring insurgents.
On the approach of the royalists, Earl Ferrers collected his forces
round his castle of Uuffield,* raising forced contributions from the
neighbourhood, and especially from the town of Derby, apparently
hoping that he might be attacked with Duffield castle as his base.
But Prince Henry proceeded first to Tutbury, and to the Earl's
possessions in the south of Derbyshire ; when hearing that a body
of Yorkshire rebels, under d'Ayville, were on the march to join
de Ferrers, he advanced across the ridges of the Lower Peak to
the north of Wirksworth, thus avoiding Duffield, with the inten
tion of intercepting the junction of the two insurgent forces. Earl
Ferrers was therefore compelled to draw off his troops from the
neighbourhood of Duffield, and, gaining the great road to the
north, marched hurriedly for Chesterfield, where he arrived on
May 15th (1266), just as the royalists were attacking the Yorkshire
forces that had arrived there from Dronfield. Thereupon ensued
the fiercely fought battle of Chesterfield; the conflict lasted till
evening, and resulted in the complete defeat of the rebels. The
remnant of the Yorkshiremen made their way across country to
join Simon de Montfort the younger, at Axholm, but the Earl and
others took refuge within the walls of Chesterfield. Shortly after
midnight, Prince Henry, having rested and refreshed his forces,
approached the gates and demanded the surrender of Robert de
Ferrers, under pain of the destruction of the town. The inhabi
tants were mostly favourable to the royal cause, and he soon
gained admittance. The soldiers quickly dispersed themselves
over the borough, but the Earl could nowhere be found, when at
length his hiding-place was revealed by a young woman, whose
lover had been compelled to fight on the rebels' side, and who
had fallen in the battle. He had concealed himself among some
bags of wool in the nave of the parish church, which had been
deposited there for safety, according to a not infrequent custom of
* In the historical introduction to Glover's Derbyshire, it is said that this
Robert de Ferrers had rebuilt Duffield castle ; but the assertion is unsupported,
and the ruins prove the contrary. The historical introduction in question,
though well written, is full of inaccuracies and quite untrustworthy. Glover's
History of Derbyshire, Vol. I., p. 393.
those troublous times, by the traders at the Whitsuntide fair. The
perfidious Earl was soon dragged forth from his hiding-place, and
under a strong escort, was conveyed to London, and thence to
Windsor Castle, where he was first imprisoned.
Within a few weeks, Earl Ferrers was formally attainted of high
treason, and, though his life was spared, his lands were confiscated
to the Crown, and bestowed, by two grants, bearing date June
28th and August 5th, upon Prince Edmund, afterwards created
Earl of Lancaster. By the first of these, the king granted to his
son Edmund all goods and chattels of which Robert de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby, had been possessed on the day of the battle of
Chesterfield. By the second grant he conveys to his son all castles,
lands, and tenements formerly pertaining to Robert de Ferrers,
and assigns them to the custody of William Bagod.*
In that splendid two-volumed chartulary, containing such beauti
fully written copies of all the early charters and evidences pertain
ing to the Duchy of Lancaster, now kept at the Public Record
Office, and called the Great Cowcher, these royal grants to Edmund
* As these grants, from the Patent Roll 50 Henry III., membs. 12 and 9,
have never yet been printed or quoted in full, it will be interesting to give
them verbatim : —
Pro Edmundo filio Regis.
Rex omnibus &c. salutem. Sciatis quod de gracia nostra speciali concessi-
mus Edmundo filio nostro karissimo omnia bona et catalla que fuerunt Roberti
de Ferf Comitis Der15 die conflictus apud Cestrefeud. Ita quod de eisdem nobis
respondeat ad mandatum nostrum. In cujus &c. Teste ut supra (Rege apud
Kenilwortn xxviii die Jun).
Pro Edmundo filio Regis.
Rex omnibus &c. salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus Edmundo filio nostro
karissimo castra et omnes terras et tenementa Roberti de Ferraf cum omnibus
pertineutiis suis. Habend quamdiu nobis placuerit. In cujus &c. Teste Rege
apud Kenilwortti v. die Aug.
De castris et terris Comitis de Ferar Commissis.
Rex militibus liberis tenentibus et omnibus aliis tenentibus de castris terris
et tenementis Roberti de Ferr salutem. Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto et
fideli nostro Willelmo Bagod castra et omnes terras et tenementa predicta cum
omnibus pertinencus suis custodiend' quamdiu nobis placuerit. Et ideo vobis
mandamus quod eidem Willelmo tanquam custodi eorumdem in omnibus que
ab custodiam illam pertinent intendentes sitis et respondentes sicut predictum
est. In cujus &c. Teste ut supra.
Et mandatum est Ade de Gesemuth quod castra terras et tenementa predicta
prefato Willelmo liberet custod sicut predictum est. Ita quod de exitibus inde
provenientibus Kegi respondeat ad Scaccarium Regis. In cujus &c. Teste ut
supra.
of the confiscated Ferrers' estates are given in full ; the original
Kenilworth charter, with a fragment of the royal seal still appended,
is also preserved at the same place. The exact terms of the grant
of the king are—" Castra et omnes terras et tenementa cum perti-
nentiis que fuerunt Roberti de Ferrariis quondam Comitis Derbye,
qui Simoni de Monteforte quondam Comiti Leycestrie inimico et
feloni Regis et imprisiis suis adhesit tempore guerre que super in
Regno mota fuit per ipsum Simonem et dictos iinprisios suos ad
exhereditatiohem Regis et destructionem Corone sue," etc. From
the same source, we find that there was an intermediary grant
between those of June and August, not entered on the Patent
Rolls; it is dated July 12, Kenilworth, and conveys to Edmund
the Honor of Derby forfeited by Robert de Ferrers, and the Honor
of Leicester forfeited by Simon de Montfort.*
In the second volume of the Great Cowcher there is the copy
of an interesting deed whereby Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby,
grants to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford,
the castle and honor of Tutbury, the castle and honor of
Chartley, the castle and honor of Duffield, the castle of Liverpool,
with all the land between the Ribble and the Mersey, the Wapen
take of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, and all the lands which he
holds, or will descend to him after his mother's death, in the realm
of England, with all franchises and free customs, as devised by
King William the Bastard, and confirmed by his successors.t
The charter bears no date, but it seems most probable that it was
drawn up by Robert de Ferrers during the brief period that he
was on friendly terms with Gilbert de Clare, shortly before the
battle of Chesterfield, with some vague idea that, by thus putting
his great inheritance into a kind of trust, through the operation
of this sham conveyance, he might be able to evade an antici
pated attainder, if the worst came to the worst But be this as
* Great Cowcher, Vol. I., f. 3, No. 12.
t Great Cowcher, vol. ii., f. 98, No. 41. The document is in Norman-
French, and speaks of " Le Chastel de Duffeld." The witnesses are—
Williame de Mouchens de Edwardeston, Wauter de la Hyde, Henri de Boner,
Henri de Humfraumule, Phelipe de Colevile, David de Offinton, and Johan
de Sechevile.
it ma)', the grant is of much interest to us, inasmuch as it affords
proof positive, if any was needed, of the existence of Duffield
Castle at this period, notwithstanding its alleged demolition a
century earlier.
Robert de Ferrers,' did not remain long in confinement at
Windsor. An old MS. thus tells us of the successive places of
his custody : —" Robert Erie Ferrers was by mightie hand taken
of the kyngs soldyers at Chesterfeild, and committed forthwith to
strayte prison, first in the castell of Wyndsore, then Chippenham,
a place within two myles thereof now ruynated, and lastly from
thence lede still prisoner to Wallingford Castell.''*
After he had been imprisoned for nearly three years, at the
intercession of several of the most powerful of the barons, Robert
de Ferrers was set free on the ist of May, 1269, and the grant of
his lands to Prince Edmund repealedt on the payment of a fine of
^50,000 to Edmund in lieu thereof, within 15 days of the feast
of St. John the Baptist next ensuing. He obtained as sureties
for the payment of this bond Prince Henry (who had defeated
him at Chesterfield), the Earls of Pembroke, Surrey, and Warwick,
Roger de Somery, Thomas de Clare, Robert Walraund, Roger de
Clifford, Hamor le Strange, Bartholomew de Sudley, and Robert
de Briwer, granting to them, as counter security, all his lands,
excepting Chartley in Staffordshire, and Holbrook in Derbyshire.!
* Lansdowne MSS. 205, f. 158. " Heraldic and Historical Collections."
t The following is a copy of the writ to Edmund, directing him to deliver to
Robert de Ferrers seisin of his lands because he had found pledges to satisfy
the king for his transgressions : —
PATENT ROLL 53 HENRY III., M. l6.
P R h ) ^" Edmundo filio suo salutem Quia Robertus de Ferar'
, ^ .. Mnvenit nobis salvos plegios de satisfaciendo nobis de omnibus
) transgressionibus sibi impositis tempore turbacionis nuper
habite in regno nostro per quod ei terras suas reddidimus et ipsum a prisona
liberavimus vobis mandamus quod eidem Roberto vel ejus attornato de
omnibus terris et tenementis suis in manu vestra occasione transgressionum
predictarum existentibus plenam seisinam sine dilacione habere faciatis. In
cujus &c. Teste Rege apud Windes primo die Maii.
PER IPSUM REGEM EDWARDUM.
R. WALERAUND ET TOTUM CONSILIUM.
J Full transcipts of all the documents relative to this transfer of property,
and of the security given by the bondsmen, are printed in Mosley's History of
Tutbury, pp. 20-27.
The raising of so enormous a sum within the given time was not,
however, accomplished, and the sureties, therefore, in consequence
of such default, conveyed the estates once more to Edmund, Earl
of Lancaster, and his heirs for ever.
Notwithstanding this forfeiture, Robert de Ferrers exhibited his
bill in the Court of King's Bench, in the year of his release, and
again at the beginning of the reign of Edward I., complaining that
his estates were unjustly withheld from him. He could not get
behind the various bonds that he had signed before so many wit
nesses at the time of his release, but his chief argument was that
he had signed them through fear when in custody at Chippenham,
" in quadam camera ubi jacuit sub stricta custodia," and that
therefore they were not binding. He seemed to forget that if it
had not been for his signatures and assurances, the question of
restoring to him his lands forfeited for repeated rebellion would
never have been even entertained. The judges dismissed the
suit, and amerced the complainant for a false claim.*
In the year of his release, 1269, Robert de Ferrers married,
for his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Ralph Lord Bassett, by
whom he had a son, John. Robert died in 1278, whereupon his
widow instituted a futile suit for a third part of the forfeited lands
of her late husband as dowry. But as he was not possessed of
them at the time of his second marriage, the Court did not enter
tain the question.t
John de Ferrers eventually received again from the king the
castle and honor of Chartley. He was summoned to Parliament
in 1299 as Baron Ferrers of Chartley. From him were descended
the Ferrers of Chartley, who became extinct in the time of
Henry VI.J
• Placita coram Rege, 53 Henry III., and f Edw. I., rot. 6.
+ Placita coram Rege, 7 Edw. I., rot. 49.
J In putting together these notes. Dugdale's Baronage, the first edition of
Collins' Peerage, Mosley's History of Tutbury, and the chronicles of Matthew
Paris, Hoveden, Brompton, Knighton, etc., have been freely consulted, but
no statement that could possibly be tested by consulting the original docu
mentary authority has been accepted without going to the original source.
Every roll or document mentioned in the previous notes has been consulted
at first hand.
II.—Subsequent History ; the Ruins Discovered.
Meanwhile, what became of Duffield Castle on the forfeiture of
the last Earl Ferrers? Tradition says that it was demolished,
and though as yet we have failed to find any order for its
demolition, there is little or no doubt that tradition is in this
respect accurate. We believe that the work of demolition was
carried out by the royal forces immediately after the battle of
Chesterfield, so as to leave no strong centre for future disaffection
in the county. The troops set out on their march back to London
immediately after their victory. They would proceed by the
great road to the south that passed so near to Duffield, and whilst
a portion of them hurried on with their important prisoner,
the bulk of the forces would turn aside to lay siege to the
powerful stronghold of Duffield. The garrison that Robert de
Ferrers had left behind him would most likely immediately yield
when they knew the fate of their lord, and the troops would
simply have the work of demolition to accomplish.
At all events there is plenty of negative evidence to prove that
the castle of Duffield was non-existent shortly after the time of
Robert de Ferrers. Among the possessions of Edmund, Earl of
Lancaster, at the time of his death, 1297, were the manor, forest,
and advowson of Duffield, but there is no record of the castle ;
and it is impossible but that it would have been specifically
mentioned if it had been existent* Again, on the 21st of June
following, the king grants to Blanche, Queen of Navarre,
widow of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, Duffield manor, and its
members as assignment of dower, but no mention is made of
the castle.
There are several rent rolls of the Duchy of Lancaster at the
Public Record Office that include Duffield of the 14th and 15th
centuries; they prove that there was in those times only the
site of the castle remaining. For instance, in the year 1401,
among the Duffield tenants for that year in a list of rentals
* Inquisitio post mortem, 25 Edw. I., No. 51.
and knights' fees, in the Cowcher of the Honor of Tutbury,
occurs the following : —
" Nicholas Jakson 1 acre in Castelfeld ad finem ville id "
In the year 1588, Anthony Bradshawe, of Duffield, wrote a
most interesting local poem, entitled—" A Frends due Comen-
dacon of Duffeld Frith."* It opens thus—
" O auntient prety Duffeld ffrith my love & commendacon
Of due defect I yeld to thee for pleasant habitation
The stately honor of Tutbury includeth thee as part
And of the Duchy of Lancast' a member fine thou art."
The eighth stanza runs as follows, and shows how entirely, in
Elizabeth's days, the castle was a thing of the past : —
"At Duffeld Placehead, placed was a statlye Castly & Cortyard
Whereof the seyte yet beareth name now called Castly Orchard.
The Duke there had great royalties of fforest p'ks of warren
And wards and pleines of waters store, of grounds not very barren."
In 1769, as has been already stated, the careful eye of
Mr. Reynolds, so used to antiquarian observation, could detect no
visible ruins of the castle above the sod. But there, beneath the
ground, where cattle had grazed for more than six centuries, lay
silently concealed the massive remnants of this great Norman
fortress.
....
************************
From Wikipedia
Henry de Ferrers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Domesday records over 200 manors given to Henry de Ferrers"[1]
Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrières) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.
His elder brother William (French: Guillaume) fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Vauquelin de Ferrers (d. ca. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in Upper Normandy.[2] The Ferrers family holding at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony.[3]
Contents
1 The landholdings
2 Henry's Family
3 Undertenants
4 References
The landholdings
Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire[4][5] and Leicestershire,[4] by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings.
He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire.
Following this, in 1070 was the Wapentake of Appletree, which covered a large part of south Derbyshire, granted to Henry on the promotion of Hugh d'Avranches to become Earl of Chester. At the centre of this was Tutbury Castle[6] where he rebuilt and founded the priory in 1080.
His major landholdings, however, were those of the Anglo-Saxon Siward Barn,[7] following a revolt in 1071, including more land in Berkshire and Essex and also Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
These included part of the wapentakes of Litchurch and Morleyston, which contained an area later to be known as Duffield Frith. To command an important crossing over the Derwent he built Duffield Castle. In the wapentake of Hamston was the west bank of the River Dove, where he built Pilsbury Castle. Both these were of typical Norman timber motte and bailey construction. The latter history of Pilsbury is unknown, but Duffield was rebuilt as a stone fortress sometime in the Twelfth century.[8]
He was a key administrator in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and among the most powerful Anglo‑Norman magnates. In 1086 he was a legatus ('commissioner’) on the West Midland circuit of the Domesday survey.
Henry's Family
Henry had by his wife, Bertha, three sons - Enguenulf, William and Robert. A daughter, Amicia, married Nigel d'Aubigny, probably the brother of Henry I's butler. Henry had built Duffield Castle to protect and administer the Frith, and he placed it in the charge of Enguenulf.[9] Meanwhile William inherited the family's Norman estates. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai.
The date of Henry de Ferrers' death is uncertain, but it would seem to be between 1093 and 1100. He was buried in Tutbury Priory.
Enguenulf died shortly afterwards and the English estate passed to Robert, whom King Stephen later made the first Earl of Derby.
His family tree is well researched and various people are said to be descended from this line.[10] These include George the First, Lady Diana, George Washington, and Winston Churchill, and likely the actress Mia Farrow, a daughter of the Australian film director John Farrow, a descendant of the Farrows of Norfolk, England.
St. Mary's Priory Church, Tutbury, 11th century
Undertenants
As a leading Norman magnate, Henry de Ferrers was followed to England by a coterie of lesser lords, or vassals, who were part of the feudal structure of Normandy and who owed their allegiance to their overlord. Among the underlords who followed Henry de Ferrers were three families who were lords of villages within the original Ferrers barony in Normandy: the Curzons (Notre-Dame-de-Courson),[11] the Baskervilles (Boscherville)[12] and the Levetts (Livet-en-Ouche).[13]
All three families were from villages close by Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire. In the case of the de Livets, the village under their control was approximately four miles from the caput of the Ferrers family barony at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire.
His grandson, Earl Robert de Ferrers the younger, produced a charter confirming land grants originally made by Henry de Ferrers to his vassals including: Alfinus de Breleford, Nigellus de Albiniaco, Robert fitz Sarle, William de Rolleston, Robert de Dun, Hugh le Arbalaster, Anscelin de Heginton, Robert de St. Quintin.[14]
References
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons accessed May 2007
Marios Costambeys, ‛Ferrers, Henry de (d. 1093x1100)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 61, accessed 28 Oct 2007
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951, Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975
Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 656-7 744-9 ISBN 0-14-143994-7
A listing of Henry's manors in Derbyshire
Marios Costambeys, 'Ferrers, Henry de (d. 1093x1100)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [ 61, accessed 28 Oct 2007]
Siward Barn fought beside Hereward the Wake at Ely. He held many estates in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and further north. Some literature refers to him as Earl of Northumbria. However the Siward who was Earl of Northumbria had died in 1055. The earl at that time was Morcar. There were a number of Siwards at that time. Among the literature there is a reference to Siward Barn the Red and Siward Barn the White, the sons of Osberne Bulax, who could have been the eldest son of the first Siward
Turbutt, G., (1999) A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire, Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
Tree of Henry de Ferrers Roottsweb.com accessed June 2007
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951, Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1971
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, 1951
The Victoria History of the County of Derby, William Page, Ed., volume one, 1905, Archibald Constable and Co. Ltd.
*********************
From FindAGrave
Birth: 1036
Death: 1088
Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrieres) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.
His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Walkeline de Ferrers (d.c. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in upper Normandy. The Ferrers family holding at Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony.
Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings.
He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire.
Following this in 1070 was the Wapentake of Appletree, which covered a large part of south Derbyshire, granted to Henry on the promotion of Hugh d'Avranches to become Earl of Chester. At the center of this was Tutbury Castle where he rebuilt and founded the priory in 1080.
His major landholdings, however, were those of the Anglo-Saxon Siward Barn, following a revolt in 1071, including more land in Berkshire and Essex and also Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
These included part of the wapentakes of Litchurch and Morleyston, which contained an area later to be known as Duffield Frith. To command an important crossing over the Derwent he built Duffield Castle. In the wapentake of Hamston was the west bank of the River Dove, where he built Pilsbury Castle. Both these were of typical Norman timber motte and bailey construction. The latter history of Pilsbury is unknown, but Duffield was rebuilt as a stone fortress sometime in the Twelfth century.
He was a key administrator in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and among the most powerful Anglo-Norman magnates. In 1086 he was a legatus ('commissioner') on the West Midland circuit of the Domesday survey.
Henry had by his wife, Bertha, three sons - Enguenulf, William and Robert. A daughter, Amicia, married Nigel d'Aubigny, probably the brother of Henry I's butler. Henry had built Duffield Castle to protect and administer the Frith, and he placed it in the charge of Enguenulf. Meanwhile William inherited the family's Norman estates. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai.
The date of Henry de Ferrers' death is uncertain, but it would seem to be between 1093 and 1100. He was buried in Tutbury Priory.
Enguenulf died shortly afterwards and the English estate passed to Robert, who King Stephen later made the first Earl of Derby.
His family tree is well researched and various people are said to be descended from this line. These include, George the First, Lady Diana, George Washington and Winston Churchill, and likely the actress Mia Farrow, a daughter of the Australian film director John Farrow, a descendant of the Farrows of Norfolk, England.
As a leading Norman magnate, Henry de Ferrers was followed to England by a coterie of lesser lords, or vassals, who were part of the feudal structure of Normandy and who owed their allegiance to their overlord. Among the underlords who followed Henry de Ferrers were three families who were lords of villages within the original Ferrers barony in Normandy: the Curzons (Notre-Dame-de-Courson), the Baskervilles (Boscherville) and the Levetts (Livet-en-Ouche).
All three families were from villages close by Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire. In the case of the de Livets, the village under their control was approximately four miles from the caput of the Ferrers family barony at Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire.
His grandson, Earl Robert de Ferrers the younger, produced a charter confirming land grants originally made by Henry de Ferrers to his vassals including: Alfinus de Breleford, Nigellus de Albiniaco, Robert Fitz Sarle, William de Rolleston, Robert de Dun, Hugh le Arbalester, Anscelin de Heginton, Robert de St. Quintin. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)
Family links:
Spouse:
Bertha d'Aigle de Ferrers (1040 - ____)
Children:
Melisende de Ferrers de Mortimer (1055 - 1088)*
Robert de Ferrers (1062 - 1139)*
*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Tutbury Priory
Burton-on-Trent
East Staffordshire Borough
Staffordshire, England
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Jerry Ferren
Record added: Jan 29, 2012
Henry, assumed the surname de Ferrariis or Ferrers, from a small town in Gastenois, abounding with iron-mines. In allusion to his name, he bore six horse-shoes for his arms. He came into England with the Conqueror; and had granted to him lands in the cos. of Berks, Derby, Essex, Gloucester, Hereford, Leicester, Northampton, Nottingham, Stafford, Warwick, and Wilts. He seated himself at Tutbury-castle and there, in 1080, he founded a monastery for Cluniac monks. By Bertha, he had issue,
i.-ii. Eugenulph and Wil., d. s.p.
iii. Robert, his successor.
iv. Amice, m. to Nigel de Albini.
v.-vi. Gundreda, and Emmeline.
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From thePeerage.com
Henry de Ferrieres1
M, #158545, b. circa 1036, d. 1088
Last Edited=17 Aug 2005
Henry de Ferrieres was born circa 1036 at Ferrieres, Normandy, France.1 He was the son of Walchelinde de Ferrieres.1 He married Bertha Roberts.1 He died in 1088 at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England.1
Child of Henry de Ferrieres and Bertha Roberts
Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby+1 b. c 1062, d. 1139
Citations
[S125] Richard Glanville-Brown, online
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Complete Peerage of England, Vol 3, Cokayne (1890), p. 64 et seq.
Cokayne shows the following lineage for the Earls of Derby:
Henry de Ferrariis (1036-1038) & Bertha (no surname)
1138 Robert de Ferrières (1062-1139) & Hawise de Vitre, 1st Earl of Derby
1139 Robert de Ferrariis (1100-1160) & No wife, 2nd Earl of Derby
1162 William de Ferrers (1140-1190) & Sybilla de Braose, 3rd Earl of Derby
1190 William de Ferrers (1172-1247) & Agnes Kevelioc, 4th Earl of Derby
1247 William de Ferrers (1193-1254) & Sybilla Marshall (& Margaret de Quincey), 5th Earl of Derby
1254-1266 Robert's (1239-1274) son John became barons of Chartley, married 1st Marie Le Brun & 2nd Eleanor Basset (disinherited of Derby in 1266 but allowed to keep Chartley)
In footnote (h) p. 65 Cokayne says “The names and succession of these Earls... is most obscure. That given in the text is the one thought most probable by Mr. Eyton...
**********************
From Complete Peerage of England Vol 3 Cokayne 1890, p. 65:
II. 1139. 2. ROBERT (FERRERS), EABL OF DERBY, … he styled himself “Robertus Comes junior de Ferrariis”... He is said by some[g] to have m. Margaret, da. and h. of William Peverel...
Footnote [g]: By (inter alios) Mr. James Doyle in his “Official Baronage” and if any Earl (Ferrers), of Dreby, is to be credited with such a wife (and this wife has been attributed to several), this Earl is as likely to have been her husband, as any. It is, however, far more probable that his Margaret Peverl never had any existence, and that the Peverel estates came to the Ferrers family thro' the match of the 5th Earl with Afnes, sister and coheir of Randolp, Earl of Chester, grandson of Randolph, Earl of Chester, the grantee thereof.
**********************
From MEDIEVAL LANDS, A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, by Charles Cawley
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3D-K.htm#RobertFerrersDerbydied1139
The Ferrers family received grants of estates in Derbyshire after the Norman conquest. Robert de Ferrers was created Earl of Derby in 1138 as a reward for his services fighting the Scots at the battle of the Standard, although he and his immediate successors are referred to in contemporary charters as "comes de Ferrariis"[303]. The Earldom of Derby was forfeited by Robert Earl of Derby in 1266, and was granted to Edmund "Crouchback" Earl of Lancaster, son of King Henry III, who did not use the title[304]. Edmund's grandson, Henry of Lancaster (who succeeded his father as Earl of Lancaster in 1345), was created Earl of Derby 16 Mar 1337. His estates in Derbyshire were inherited by his older daughter Blanche who married (as his first wife) John "of Gaunt" Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III. They were merged with the crown when John's son succeeded as King Henry IV in 1399. King Henry VII revived the earldom in 1485 in favour of Thomas Stanley, his stepfather. The earldom remained in the Stanley family until the present day.
WALKELIN de Ferrières, son of --- (-killed in battle [1035/45]). Guillaume of Jumièges records that “Hugo de Monteforti filius Tustini” and “Walchelino de Ferrariis” [a later passage names him “Henricus de Ferrariis”] fought and killed each other, dated to the early part of the reign of Guillaume II Duke of Normandy from the context of the passage[579].
m ---. The name of Walkelin's wife is not known.
Walkelin & his wife had one child:
1. HENRI de Ferrières (-[before 14 Sep] 1101, bur Tutbury). The Chronique de Normandie, based on le Roman de Rou, names "Henry seigneur de Ferrières" among those who took part in the conquest of England in 1066[580]. Orderic Vitalis records that the king granted “castrum Stutesburie quod Hugo de Abrincis prius tenuerat” to “Henrico Gualchelini de Ferrariis filio”[581]. Sire de Ferrières et de Chambrais, Normandy. King William I awarded him over 200 lordships, half in Derbyshire, together with the castle of Tutbury, Staffordshire (previously held by Hugues d'Avranches) which became his main seat[582]. “…Henrici de Ferrariis…” witnessed the charter dated 1082 under which William I King of England granted land at Covenham to the church of St Calais[583]. “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[584]. Domesday Book records land held by “Henry de Ferrers”, including in Nakedthorn and Sutton Hundreds, in Berkshire; several properties in Buckinghamshire; Lechlade in Gloucestershire; numerous properties in Leicestershire; numerous properties in Derbyshire[585]. m BERTA, daughter of ---. “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[586]. Domesday Descendants speculates that she was a member of the Laigle family based on the couple naming one of their sons Ingenulf[587], although it is not clear that this family used this name exclusively. Henri & his wife had four children:
a) INGENULF [Guillaume] de Ferrers (-after 14 Sep 1101). “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[588].
- see below.
b) ROBERT Ferrers (-1139). “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[589]. He succeeded his father in 1101 in the greater part of his English possessions. “Robertus comes de Ferrariis” donated property to Tutbury Priory by undated charter after succeeding “in hereditatem bonæ memoriæ Henrici patris mei”[590]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Robt de Ferrar" in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire in respect of "Werchesworda"[591]. He was created Earl of Derby in 1138.
- EARLS of DERBY.
c) AMICE de Ferrers (-6 Sep ----[592]). “Robertus comes junior de Ferariis” confirmed donations to Tutbury by “avus meus Henricus…Egenulfus patruus meus…Robertus pater meus”, naming “Nigellus de Albiniaco et Amicia filia avi mei”[593]. m NIGEL de Albini of Cainhoe, son of GUILLAUME Seigneur d'Aubigny & his wife --- (-[1100]).
d) daughter(s) . The fact that Henri had more than one daughter is shown by the charter under which “Henricus de Ferrariis” founded a church “apud castellum meum Tuttesbury”, for the souls of “…uxoris mee Berte et filiorum meorum Engenulphi W, Roberti ac filiarum mearum…”[594].
***********************
From Duffield Castle; its History, Site and recently found Remains; with some account of the seven Earls Ferrers who held it, by J. Charles Cox in the Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society: Volume 9, January 1887, p. 118 et seq.
https://books.google.com/books?id=nt84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR4&dq=duffield+castle+cox+ferrers&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs2_Ouxq3PAhVX1WMKHUE0CeoQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=duffield%20castle%20cox%20ferrers&f=false
By J. Charles Cox, LL.D.
I. —The Seven Lords of Duffield Castle.
HENRY DE FERRERS, the son of Walkelyn de Ferrers,
Lord of Ferrieres St. Hilaire, near Bernia, where he had
great ironworks, accompanied the Conqueror on his
triumphant expedition to England. He was one of the chief
favourites of his sovereign, and his ability and integrity caused
great trust to be reposed in him. The Conqueror at once made him
master over a considerable section of the subdued territory, a very
large share of Derbyshire falling to his lot. In the fourteenth
year of his reign, Henry de Ferrers was appointed one of the
Commissioners to make a general survey of the kingdom, an ap
pointment of the greatest importance. From this survey, known
as the Domesday Book, it appears that he at that time (1086-7)
held 114 manors or lordships in Derbyshire, 35 in Leicestershire,
20 in Berkshire, 3 in Wiltshire, 5 in Essex, 7 in Oxfordshire, 6 in
Warwickshire, 2 each in Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Buck
inghamshire, 1 in Gloucestershire, 3 each in Hampshire and Not
tinghamshire, and 7 in Staffordshire, besides the castle and borough
of Tutbury. Having thus become possessed of a great territory in
the Midlands, that had just previously been in the hands of a large
number of semi-independent Saxon lords,it was only natural that De
Ferrers should require some central residence wherein his power
might be focussed, and from whence the territory, that had been won
by the sword, might be retained for himself and his royal master.
Nay, it may be almost positively asserted that it was a condition of
the De Ferrers' tenure from his sovereign that a strong fortress
should be erected and maintained ; for he was the most powerful
Baron in Mercia, and the king absolutely trusted to his loyalty.
It has been assumed that such a centre for his government was
established at Tutbury;* but Tutbury was on the verge of his
possessions rather than in the centre. Moreover, although Henry
de Ferrers did rebuild the ruined Saxon fortress of Tutbury, and
also founded a Priory hard by, still the remains of that which is
Norman about the old castle of Tutbury, as compared with the
recently uncovered remains of the castle of Duffield, show that
the former was almost insignificant in defensive proportions when
compared with the Derbyshire stronghold.
Duffield formed a fairly convenient centre for obtaining access
to all his Derbyshire, nay all his Mercian, manors. It was but a
little distance from that great main thoroughfare of England, the
Rykneld Street, with which it was connected by a well-used cross
road. Duffield commanded a ford over the Denvent, whence
started the road that led from the south to the invaluable lead
mines of Wirksworth, and thence to the upper, or High Peak
district. A knoll, partly natural and partly artificial, that had
been occupied by the Romans throughout the centuries of their
sojourn here, and subsequently utilised by the Saxons as a centre
of colonization and as a strategically important place for an en
trenched fortress, was the very site that would at once suggest itself
to the practical mind of Henry de Ferrers for the erection of an
imposing castle. Not only would such a site be invaluable
to him and to the cause of the conquerors, both from a
military and commercial point of view, but the moral effect in the
neighbourhood, of the holding by one of these fierce Normans of
the very spot whence, as a burh, justice had been administered,
and whereon some of the last victorious struggles of the Anglo-
Saxons against the Danes had taken place, cannot be over-esti
mated. The weighty immensity of the great square stone tower,
History of Tutbury ; by Sir Oswald Mosley, 1832, p. 5.
of a character hitherto undreamt of by the inhabitants, as it rose
course by course, would almost by its very existence on such a
spot crush out all hopes of a successful rising.
The building of the Duffield stronghold seems to have been
begun very soon after the Conquest, Henry de Ferrers, by his
wife Bertha, had three sons, Engenulph, William, and Robert.
This great nobleman was very frequently in attendance on his
sovereign, and towards the end of his life seems to have preferred
to reside at Tutbury, where, in the Priory church of his founding,
his remains were buried on his death in 1089. To his eldest son,
Engenulph he entrusted the charge of Duffield castle,* and there
Engenulph resided until his death, which almost immediately pre
ceded that of his father. The second son, William, accompanied
Robert Duke of Normandy to the Holy Land ; he, too, died in
the lifetime of his father.
Robert de Ferrers, the third and youngest son, succeeded to
the great estates of his father, and was, like his father, a man of
supreme importance in the councils of the nation. He was one
of the witnesses to the laws put forth by Stephen, in the first year
of his reign. In the famous battle fought against the Scotch, on
August 22nd, 1 138, near Northallerton, Robert de Ferrers com
manded a powerful contingent of Derbyshire men, who played no
small part in securing a definite victory to the English. The en
gagement is well known as the Battle of the Standard, from the
remarkable character of the erection round which the troops rallied,
and which was constructed according to the directions of Thurstan,
Archbishop of York. It consisted of the great mast of a vessel
strongly secured to a waggon ; in the centre of the cross which
* Of absolute documentary evidence of this we have no first-hand proof,
having hitherto searched in vain for it ; but the secondary evidence is strong,
and we know of no reason whatever to doubt it. Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, in the
introduction to the Domesday Book of Derbyshire, says : —" Henry de Ferrers
. founded the church of the Holy Mary near the castle at Tutbury, and
built Duffield castle." And again : —" Engenulph had Duffield castle."
That singularly accurate writer, the lale Sir Oswald Mosley, says in his
History of Tutbury, when enumerating the children of Henry de Ferrers,—
" Engenulph, to whom he gave a castle at Duffield." The footnote that he
gives to this statement is unfortunately very vague ; it is merely—" MSS. in
Due. Lane. Off."
rose from its summit, was placed a silver pyx, containing a portion
of the Blessed Sacrament, and below waved the consecrated
banners of SS. Peter, Wilfrid, and John of Beverley, the
three patron saints of Yorkshire, which had been brought for this
purpose from within the walls of their great Minster. The aged
Archbishop, too ill to leave his city, deputed the duty of addressing
the English to his chief suffragan, the Bishop of Durham, who
harangued them from beneath the standard, in glowing language,
to repel the barbarous invaders, promising an eternal inheritance
to all who fell. At the end of his address, the whole of the army
fell upon their knees whilst the Bishop delivered the words of ab
solution. Then, with a shout of " Amen," they rose to receive
the shock of the enemy. To the religious promises made by the
Bishop, Robert de Ferrers added, so far as his Derbyshire contin
gent were concerned, one of temporal value, for he pledged himself
to make a grant of land on the most frequented side of his forest
of Needwood, to that man who should most distinguish himself
by valour and daring. The troops from Derbyshire played a
considerable part in bringing about a complete victory over the
invaders, and one Ralph secured the promised grant at Needwood
from his commander.*
Robert de Ferrers, for his great services in this memorable and
critical battle, was created by the king Earl of Derby, but he did
not live long to enjoy his additional honours, for he died in the
year 1139. By his wife, Hawyse de Vitry, he had three sons;
William, the eldest, was killed at his lodgings in Lombard Street,
London, during the lifetime of his father; Wakelyn, the third son,
accompanied Richard I. to the Holy Land, but afterwards married
and settled at Locksley ; and Robert, the second son, was his
father's heir, and was usually known as Robert, Earl Ferrers the
younger.
This Robert, Earl Ferrers the younger also assumed the title of
Earl of Nottingham, in right of his wife Margaret, who was the
* Hist : Ric : Prioris Hagustald, p. 162 ; Rieval de Bello Standardico ;
Matt : Paris ; MSS. from Duchy of Lancaster, quoted in Mosley's Hist : of
Tutbury, etc., etc.
eldest daughter and co-heiress of William Peverel, Earl of Notting
ham and Derby, who died in 1137. He founded the Priory of
Derby, afterwards translated to Darley, as well as a Cistercian
Abbey at Mirevale, Warwick: at the latter of which religious houses
he was buried in 1162, wrapped in an ox-hide
He was succeeded by his son William. William Earl Ferrers
joined the king's sons in a rebellion against their father, Henry II.,
and was deprived of his Earldoms of Derby and Nottingham. He
plundered and burnt the town of Nottingham, driving out the
king's garrison, but when he found that Tutbury was besieged by
Welshmen, and that the king was advancing against him with con
siderable forces, he submitted himself to the royal clemency at
Northampton. It is at this time that we get further direct mention
of the castle of Duffield. Dugdale* tells us that the Earl
Ferrers, in the 19th year of Henry II. manned his castles of Tut
bury and Duffield against the king, and marched to Nottingham
and burnt it ; but that submitting himself afterwards to the king,
rendering his castles of Tutbury and Duffield, and giving security,
he was pardoned, though '' so little did the king trust him that he
forthwith demolished those forts."
Among the Wolley MSS. at the British Museum, is a small 4to.
volume entitled "Reynolds Derbyshire Collections." Mr. Rey
nolds, a well-known Derbyshire antiquary, resident at Crich, thus
writes of this event, adding a comment as to the site of the old
castle :—
" (Robt) de Ferrariis, Earl of Derby, manned his castles of Tut
bury and Duffield against King Henry the Second, in favour of
his son. But was quickly reduced to such straits, that he went to
the king, and begging his pardon, submitted himself, and surren
dered his castles to him. The king taking security for his future
fidelity pardoned him and gave him his estate ; but not daring to
* Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I., p. 259. The marginal reference is to Rad.
de Diceto, 588, n. 20. Dugdale, following an error of the chronicler Roger de
Hoveden, mistakes the Christian name, and calls this Earl of Ferrers Robert
instead of William. Mr. LI. Jewitt has made the same error in his introduc
tion to the Domesday Book of Derbyshire, making it Robert instead of William
who sacked Nottingham.
trust him any more, demolished his castles, anno regni sui 19°,
Annoque Domini 1 1 73. Atlas Geogr., vol. v., p. 9.
" Duffield Castle stood upon an eminence of ground betwixt
ye upper end of the town of Duffield, and the River Derwent
(partly over against Makeney), the scite whereof is still called The
Castle Orchard, but no visible ruins are now left" (written in
1769).*
In Lyson's Derbyshire^ it is stated that : —" Duffield castle is
said to have been garrisoned by (Robert) Earl Ferrers, junior,
when he took up arms on behalf of Prince Henry against his father,
King Henry II. It is probable that it was one of those castles
which were spon afterwards demolished by the king's command."
As a reference to this statement, a note at the bottom of the page
says—"See J. Bromton"—a note which puzzled us not a little for
some time. Eventually it was found to refer to the seldom cited
chronicle of John Brampton, Abbot of Jervaulx, which extends
from 588 to 1 198. It is printed in the large folio edition of
Twysden's Histories Anglicance Scriptores. The chronicler recites
that on July 25th, 11 73, the king with his army proceeded to the
castle of Fremyngham, which was yielded to him by Hugh Bigott,
and at the same time submission was made of the castles of Leices
ter, Groby, and Mountsorrel ; he then continues : —" et eadem die
venit ad eum Rogerus de Moubray et reddidit castrum suum de
Thresk, et ibidem etiam Comes de Ferers ad eum veniens castra
sua de Tuttesbery et de Duffelde suae tradidit ditioni."J But it
will be noticed that this statement says nothing as to the demoli
tion of the Ferrers' castles. It is possible that some order may
have been issued hastily for their destruction by the distrustful
monarch, and afterwards countermanded,§ or that the order merely
* Add. MSS. 67071, f. 116. After every possible search, the reference
" Atlas, etc.," cannot be identified ; but the statement is clearly derived, though
perhaps at second hand, from Dugdale.
t Magna Britannia, Vol. V., p. 136.
X Twysden's Scriptores, Vol. I., p. 1095.
§ There are many instances of the issue of orders of this nature and their
subsequent repeal. Powys castle was ordered by the Commonwealth to be
demolished, but a counter order was afterwards issued, which, however, pro
vided for a sufficient breach to be made in the walls so as to make it far easier
of capture.
involved their being deprived of troops. At all events, so far as
Duffield castle was concerned, the order of demolition by Henry
II. if ever issued, was certainly never carried out, for it stood for
another century. Perhaps the most reasonable conjecture is that
Dugdale and others confused this rebellion in the time of Henry
II., with the rebellion in the time of Henry III., and attributed
the demolition carried out at the latter date to the former event.
After this, Earl Ferrers seems to have regained the confidence
of his sovereign ; he was one of the witnesses, in 1177, to King
Henry's decision as arbitrator in the dispute between Alphonsus,
King of Castile, and Sanctius, King of Navarre.* On King
Richard's arrival in England on the death of Henry, .he is said to
have received the powerful baron with disfavour, and he conferred
the Earldom of Derby on his brother John ; but soon after they
were reconciled, and William Earl Ferrers accompanied the king
to the Holy Land, and died at the siege of Acre, 11 90. He was
married to Sibilla, daughter of William de Braose, lord of Aber
gavenny and Brecknock. By her he had six children, the eldest
being named after his father.
William Earl Ferrers was thoroughly loyal to Richard. When
John Earl of Morton, during his brother's captivity, on his return
from the Holy Land, spread a report of his death and laid claim to
the crown, Earl Ferrers united with the Earl of Chester in raising the
standard of their absent monarch, and leading the Derbyshire men
against Nottingham castle, which was being held by John's con
federates, successfully besieged it. On Richard's return, Earl Ferrers
was, for his fidelity, appointed a member of his Great or Privy Coun
cil, and was one of the four who carried the canopy over the king's
head on the occasion of his second coronation.-r But on John's
accession the Earl readily gave him his allegiance, and was present
at the coronation in Westminster Abbey on Ascension Day.
Recognising the value of retaining the aid of this sturdy baron,
King John, on the 8th of June of the same year, when at North-
• Rymers' Fadera, Vol. I., p. 23.
t K. Hoveden, pp. 418-420, etc., elc.
ampton, restored to the representative of the Ferrers' family the
title of Earl of Derby, girding the Earl with a sword with his own
hands, which was the first precedent of such an investiture.* Nor
was this any mere barren honour, for it was accompanied by a
charter conveying the lucrative grant of every third penny arising
out of all the pleas made before the Sheriff of the county of Derby.
By another charter, of Julv nth, he received from the Crown the
manors of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, together with the whole of
that Wapentake, upon an annual payment to the Exchequer of
£,To. He also received many other royal favours and grants, the
most singular of which was one granted by John in the 15th year
of his reign. By this charter the king gave to the Earl and his
heirs a house in the parish of St. Margaret, within the city of Lon
don, which had been forfeited by one Isaac, a Jew of Norwich, to
be held by the service of waiting upon the king at dinner, on all
festivals yearly, with head uncovered, save for a garland of the
breadth of the little finger. t The Earl was very constantly with
the king, and accompanied him on many of his itineraries ; his
name appears as a witness to upwards of one hundred and twenty
of the important royal charters of this reign.
He was one of the four chief men of the realm who were bound
in 1 2 13 for the king's keeping the articles of agreement made with
the Pope for all matters for which he stood excommunicated, and
on the performance of which the sentence of excommunication
was to be void. In the same year, he was one of the witnesses to
that memorable instrument signed by King John in St. Paul's
Cathedral, on October 3rd, and sealed with a golden seal, whereby
he resigned to the Papal See the kingdoms of England and Ireland
for pardon of his sins, agreeing to hold the same in fee of the Pope
at the yearly tenure of 1000 marks. Moreover, Earl Ferrers, by
his bond dated June 17th, 12 14, became one of the king's securi
ties for the due payment of this yearly tribute.
In 1 2 14 the king granted to him the royal castle of Harestan
* Selden's Titles of Honour, p. 653.
t Rotuli Chartarum, 15 John, mem. 6 4 ; Rotuli Lit. Claus., 15 John, 1st
part, mcmb. 5.
(Horsley), Derbyshire, reciting that it was granted to him for the
purpose of placing his wife there.* The wife of William, Earl
Ferrers, was Agnes de Bohun, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Chester,
and sister and co-heiress of Ralph de Blundeville ; she brought to
her husband the manor and castle of Chartley, as well as the
seigniory of all the lands between the rivers Ribble and Mersey.
The reason for this assignment of his wife to the stronghold of
Horsley (not noticed by any previous chronicler of the Ferrers
family), seems to us to have been from his desire, in those troublous
times, of leaving his wife in a place of special security during his
absence in the Holy Land, for which he was then preparing in order
to accompany the king. But an armed rising of the barons prevented
their departure, and then William de Ferrers, putting himself at
the head of the royalist forces, wrested the castles of Peak and
Bolsover, by assault, from the rebels, and was thereupon (121 6)
made governor of both of those royal fortresses,+ so that he then
held every Derbyshire stronghold of any importance.
When Henry III. came to the throne, a few months after these
grants, William Earl Ferrers was for a third time present at a
coronation, the ceremony taking place at Gloucester, on the eve
of SS. Simon and Jude. He was immediately engaged under his
new monarch in suppressing rebellious barons in Leicestershire
and Lincoln, and received new patents for the custody of the
castles of Bolsover and the Peak, holding the government of them
for six years.J He was again made governor of Bolsover later on
in the same reign. § Throughout the first half of Henry III.'s
reign, there is not a single State document of importance for which
this sturdy zealous Earl Ferrers was not either a witness or a
bondsman ; but his loyalty was not indiscriminating, for in the
1 ith year of Henry he threatened, and with success, to take up
* Rotuli Lit. Pat. 16 John, memb. 2.
t Rotuli Lit. Pat. 18 John, memb. 5. John, a Canon of Beauchief, was
sent by the king with letters patent to Gerald de Furnivall, to whom he had
granted a temporary tenancy of Bolsover castle for the security of his wife and
children, ordering that he should at once make way for the Earl of Ferrers.
t Rot. Lit. Pat. I Henry III., m. 6 and 15.
§ Rot. Lit. Pat. 19 Henry III., m. 13.
arms unless the king abided by the charter pertaining to the
Liberties of the Forest, which he had suddenly cancelled at Ox
ford. And ten years later, we find that the Earl was one of the
three counsellors recommended by the barons to the king for
reconciling their discontent with reference to the royal violation
of the Magna Charta.* At length the Earl succumbed to frequent
attacks of the gout, dying in 31st Henry III., 1247, and was fol
lowed to the grave in a few months by his wife Agnes.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, being the third Earl
Ferrers who bore the name of William. He inherited not only
the vast estates of his father and mother, but also the former's
tendency to gout. This disease assumed so bad a form, that,
when quite a youth, he was quite unable to use his feet, and was
conveyed about, after a very unusual way for those days, in a two-
wheeled chariot or horse-litter. As he was passing over the bridge
of St. Neot's, Huntingdonshire, through the carelessness of the
drivers, the carriage was upset and the earl thrown into the water.
The accident, though not immediately fatal, bruised him con
siderably; he never recovered the shock, but died at Evington,
near Leicester, on April 5th, 1254, and was buried on the 11th at
Mirevale Abbey.t Matthew Paris speaks highly of the Count,
and describes him as " vir discretus et legum terrse peritus "
He was married twice ; firstly to Sibilla, daughter and co-heiress
of William Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, by whom he had seven
daughters ; and secondly to Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of
Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, by whom he had two sons,
Robert and William.
Robert de Ferrers was only fifteen years old when his father
died. When but nine years of age, he had been betrothed at
Westminster to Mary, infant daughter of Hugh le Brun, Earl of
Angouleme, and hence niece to King Henry III. On the 15th
of May following his father's death, we find the Queen and Peter
de Savoy covenanting to pay the king 6000 marks for the custody
of the lands of Robert, son and heir of William de Ferrers, Earl of
* Rymer's Fcedera, Vol. I., p. 373.
t Matthew Paris' Hist. Angli., p. 884 ; and Annals of Burton Abbey.
Derby, until he is of legal age.* No sooner had Robert Earl Ferrers
come of age, and the restraints of guardianship removed, than his
strangely wayward and violent disposition asserted itself with much
impetuosity, and he began a career that soon involved him in uni
versal reprobation and distrust. Matthew Paris sums up his politi
cal character most tersely, as " fidus nee Regi nee Baronibus."t
In 1263, when civil war broke out between the king and some of
the discontented barons, Earl Ferrers, forgetful of the fine example
of loyalty set him by his father, and oblivious of the claims of
near kinship by marriage to the Crown, collected his Derbyshire
men-at-arms and marched upon Worcester. He sacked the city,
destroyed the Jewry, plundered both religious and private houses,
and overthrew the fences of the royal parks in the neighbourhood.
On the news reaching London, the king sent an army, under the
command of his son Edward, into Derbyshire to lay waste his lands.
His castle of Tutbury was demolished, and it is reasonable to
assume, as we know the army marched over the Derbyshire manors,
that Duffield castle was attacked, but was found to be too strong
for any sudden capture.
We next find him acting in union with Montford, Earl of
Leicester, and Clare, Earl of Gloucester and the other rebellious
barons, who were in arms against the king. He took part in the
battle of Lewes, when the king and his son were taken prisoners.
Then came the dispute between Montfort and Clare ; Earl Ferrers
siding with the latter, was captured by Simon de Montfort, but
speedily escaped. This was soon followed by the battle of Evesham,
August 14th, 1265, when the Earl of Gloucester rescued the king
from his detention by the Earl of Leicester ; but, with the extra
ordinary fickleness that seems to have been so peculiarly his own,
Earl Ferrers refused all assistance to Clare, and though not at the
battle, was waging war against the royalists in another part of the
kingdom.
The king seems to have acted with much clemency towards the
* Rot. Lit. Pat. 41 Henry III., memb. 9. Add. MSS. 15663, f. 152.
t Matt. Paris Hist. Angl., p. 992.
rebellious lords, but two were exempted by name from the royal
pardon, Simon de Montfort and the youthful Robert de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby. On the 23rd of October, 1265, Earl Ferrers was
formally charged with high crimes and misdemeanours, and a day
fixed for his trial ; but his conscience telling him of the certainty
of a conviction, and having no longer courage to resist, on the 23rd
of the following February, at Westminster, he threw himself upon
the king's mercy, with abject terms of submission—" de vita et
membris terris et tenementis suis gratiae Regis se totaliter
apposuit."* Whereupon the king, in consideration of a cup of
gold set with precious stones (to obtain which he mortgaged his
manor of Piry, Northamptonshire), and on his undertaking to pay
a further fine of 1500 marks, to be paid within a year by four
several payments, granted him a full pardon t Moreover, the king
undertook to secure him against Prince Edward and all others whom
he might have wronged, during the year of payment, and for the
rest of his life when the payment was made. But, as though even
then distrusting him, it was further expressly stated, that if the
Earl again took up arms against the king, that he should be at
once disinherited without any hope of favour. The Earl, appa
rently with the view of dispelling this distrust, voluntarily sealed a
special charter for a strict adherence to the performance of the
agreement, and, at his own request, took formal solemn oath that
he would faithfully observe its provisions.
The infatuation and treachery of Robert de Ferrers seem almost
unparalleled, for, notwithstanding the solemn character of his en
gagements, no sooner did he find himself back again among his
own tenantry of Derbyshire, than he instantly returned to the
occupation of a plotter and a rebel. He speedily armed his men,
and, in conjunction with Baldwin de Wake, at the head of a contin
gent from Lincolnshire, and with John d'Ayville, a turbulent York
shire baron, laid plans for assembling a considerable force of rebels
in Derbyshire. The king immediately dispatched his nephew, Prince
* Rot. Lit. Pat. 49 Henry III, memb. 22, No. 96.
t Rot. Lit. Pat. 50 Henry III., memb. 40, No. 109.
Henry, with a large body of troops to chastise the daring insurgents.
On the approach of the royalists, Earl Ferrers collected his forces
round his castle of Uuffield,* raising forced contributions from the
neighbourhood, and especially from the town of Derby, apparently
hoping that he might be attacked with Duffield castle as his base.
But Prince Henry proceeded first to Tutbury, and to the Earl's
possessions in the south of Derbyshire ; when hearing that a body
of Yorkshire rebels, under d'Ayville, were on the march to join
de Ferrers, he advanced across the ridges of the Lower Peak to
the north of Wirksworth, thus avoiding Duffield, with the inten
tion of intercepting the junction of the two insurgent forces. Earl
Ferrers was therefore compelled to draw off his troops from the
neighbourhood of Duffield, and, gaining the great road to the
north, marched hurriedly for Chesterfield, where he arrived on
May 15th (1266), just as the royalists were attacking the Yorkshire
forces that had arrived there from Dronfield. Thereupon ensued
the fiercely fought battle of Chesterfield; the conflict lasted till
evening, and resulted in the complete defeat of the rebels. The
remnant of the Yorkshiremen made their way across country to
join Simon de Montfort the younger, at Axholm, but the Earl and
others took refuge within the walls of Chesterfield. Shortly after
midnight, Prince Henry, having rested and refreshed his forces,
approached the gates and demanded the surrender of Robert de
Ferrers, under pain of the destruction of the town. The inhabi
tants were mostly favourable to the royal cause, and he soon
gained admittance. The soldiers quickly dispersed themselves
over the borough, but the Earl could nowhere be found, when at
length his hiding-place was revealed by a young woman, whose
lover had been compelled to fight on the rebels' side, and who
had fallen in the battle. He had concealed himself among some
bags of wool in the nave of the parish church, which had been
deposited there for safety, according to a not infrequent custom of
* In the historical introduction to Glover's Derbyshire, it is said that this
Robert de Ferrers had rebuilt Duffield castle ; but the assertion is unsupported,
and the ruins prove the contrary. The historical introduction in question,
though well written, is full of inaccuracies and quite untrustworthy. Glover's
History of Derbyshire, Vol. I., p. 393.
those troublous times, by the traders at the Whitsuntide fair. The
perfidious Earl was soon dragged forth from his hiding-place, and
under a strong escort, was conveyed to London, and thence to
Windsor Castle, where he was first imprisoned.
Within a few weeks, Earl Ferrers was formally attainted of high
treason, and, though his life was spared, his lands were confiscated
to the Crown, and bestowed, by two grants, bearing date June
28th and August 5th, upon Prince Edmund, afterwards created
Earl of Lancaster. By the first of these, the king granted to his
son Edmund all goods and chattels of which Robert de Ferrers,
Earl of Derby, had been possessed on the day of the battle of
Chesterfield. By the second grant he conveys to his son all castles,
lands, and tenements formerly pertaining to Robert de Ferrers,
and assigns them to the custody of William Bagod.*
In that splendid two-volumed chartulary, containing such beauti
fully written copies of all the early charters and evidences pertain
ing to the Duchy of Lancaster, now kept at the Public Record
Office, and called the Great Cowcher, these royal grants to Edmund
* As these grants, from the Patent Roll 50 Henry III., membs. 12 and 9,
have never yet been printed or quoted in full, it will be interesting to give
them verbatim : —
Pro Edmundo filio Regis.
Rex omnibus &c. salutem. Sciatis quod de gracia nostra speciali concessi-
mus Edmundo filio nostro karissimo omnia bona et catalla que fuerunt Roberti
de Ferf Comitis Der15 die conflictus apud Cestrefeud. Ita quod de eisdem nobis
respondeat ad mandatum nostrum. In cujus &c. Teste ut supra (Rege apud
Kenilwortn xxviii die Jun).
Pro Edmundo filio Regis.
Rex omnibus &c. salutem. Sciatis quod concessimus Edmundo filio nostro
karissimo castra et omnes terras et tenementa Roberti de Ferraf cum omnibus
pertineutiis suis. Habend quamdiu nobis placuerit. In cujus &c. Teste Rege
apud Kenilwortti v. die Aug.
De castris et terris Comitis de Ferar Commissis.
Rex militibus liberis tenentibus et omnibus aliis tenentibus de castris terris
et tenementis Roberti de Ferr salutem. Sciatis quod commisimus dilecto et
fideli nostro Willelmo Bagod castra et omnes terras et tenementa predicta cum
omnibus pertinencus suis custodiend' quamdiu nobis placuerit. Et ideo vobis
mandamus quod eidem Willelmo tanquam custodi eorumdem in omnibus que
ab custodiam illam pertinent intendentes sitis et respondentes sicut predictum
est. In cujus &c. Teste ut supra.
Et mandatum est Ade de Gesemuth quod castra terras et tenementa predicta
prefato Willelmo liberet custod sicut predictum est. Ita quod de exitibus inde
provenientibus Kegi respondeat ad Scaccarium Regis. In cujus &c. Teste ut
supra.
of the confiscated Ferrers' estates are given in full ; the original
Kenilworth charter, with a fragment of the royal seal still appended,
is also preserved at the same place. The exact terms of the grant
of the king are—" Castra et omnes terras et tenementa cum perti-
nentiis que fuerunt Roberti de Ferrariis quondam Comitis Derbye,
qui Simoni de Monteforte quondam Comiti Leycestrie inimico et
feloni Regis et imprisiis suis adhesit tempore guerre que super in
Regno mota fuit per ipsum Simonem et dictos iinprisios suos ad
exhereditatiohem Regis et destructionem Corone sue," etc. From
the same source, we find that there was an intermediary grant
between those of June and August, not entered on the Patent
Rolls; it is dated July 12, Kenilworth, and conveys to Edmund
the Honor of Derby forfeited by Robert de Ferrers, and the Honor
of Leicester forfeited by Simon de Montfort.*
In the second volume of the Great Cowcher there is the copy
of an interesting deed whereby Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby,
grants to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford,
the castle and honor of Tutbury, the castle and honor of
Chartley, the castle and honor of Duffield, the castle of Liverpool,
with all the land between the Ribble and the Mersey, the Wapen
take of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, and all the lands which he
holds, or will descend to him after his mother's death, in the realm
of England, with all franchises and free customs, as devised by
King William the Bastard, and confirmed by his successors.t
The charter bears no date, but it seems most probable that it was
drawn up by Robert de Ferrers during the brief period that he
was on friendly terms with Gilbert de Clare, shortly before the
battle of Chesterfield, with some vague idea that, by thus putting
his great inheritance into a kind of trust, through the operation
of this sham conveyance, he might be able to evade an antici
pated attainder, if the worst came to the worst But be this as
* Great Cowcher, Vol. I., f. 3, No. 12.
t Great Cowcher, vol. ii., f. 98, No. 41. The document is in Norman-
French, and speaks of " Le Chastel de Duffeld." The witnesses are—
Williame de Mouchens de Edwardeston, Wauter de la Hyde, Henri de Boner,
Henri de Humfraumule, Phelipe de Colevile, David de Offinton, and Johan
de Sechevile.
it ma)', the grant is of much interest to us, inasmuch as it affords
proof positive, if any was needed, of the existence of Duffield
Castle at this period, notwithstanding its alleged demolition a
century earlier.
Robert de Ferrers,' did not remain long in confinement at
Windsor. An old MS. thus tells us of the successive places of
his custody : —" Robert Erie Ferrers was by mightie hand taken
of the kyngs soldyers at Chesterfeild, and committed forthwith to
strayte prison, first in the castell of Wyndsore, then Chippenham,
a place within two myles thereof now ruynated, and lastly from
thence lede still prisoner to Wallingford Castell.''*
After he had been imprisoned for nearly three years, at the
intercession of several of the most powerful of the barons, Robert
de Ferrers was set free on the ist of May, 1269, and the grant of
his lands to Prince Edmund repealedt on the payment of a fine of
^50,000 to Edmund in lieu thereof, within 15 days of the feast
of St. John the Baptist next ensuing. He obtained as sureties
for the payment of this bond Prince Henry (who had defeated
him at Chesterfield), the Earls of Pembroke, Surrey, and Warwick,
Roger de Somery, Thomas de Clare, Robert Walraund, Roger de
Clifford, Hamor le Strange, Bartholomew de Sudley, and Robert
de Briwer, granting to them, as counter security, all his lands,
excepting Chartley in Staffordshire, and Holbrook in Derbyshire.!
* Lansdowne MSS. 205, f. 158. " Heraldic and Historical Collections."
t The following is a copy of the writ to Edmund, directing him to deliver to
Robert de Ferrers seisin of his lands because he had found pledges to satisfy
the king for his transgressions : —
PATENT ROLL 53 HENRY III., M. l6.
P R h ) ^" Edmundo filio suo salutem Quia Robertus de Ferar'
, ^ .. Mnvenit nobis salvos plegios de satisfaciendo nobis de omnibus
) transgressionibus sibi impositis tempore turbacionis nuper
habite in regno nostro per quod ei terras suas reddidimus et ipsum a prisona
liberavimus vobis mandamus quod eidem Roberto vel ejus attornato de
omnibus terris et tenementis suis in manu vestra occasione transgressionum
predictarum existentibus plenam seisinam sine dilacione habere faciatis. In
cujus &c. Teste Rege apud Windes primo die Maii.
PER IPSUM REGEM EDWARDUM.
R. WALERAUND ET TOTUM CONSILIUM.
J Full transcipts of all the documents relative to this transfer of property,
and of the security given by the bondsmen, are printed in Mosley's History of
Tutbury, pp. 20-27.
The raising of so enormous a sum within the given time was not,
however, accomplished, and the sureties, therefore, in consequence
of such default, conveyed the estates once more to Edmund, Earl
of Lancaster, and his heirs for ever.
Notwithstanding this forfeiture, Robert de Ferrers exhibited his
bill in the Court of King's Bench, in the year of his release, and
again at the beginning of the reign of Edward I., complaining that
his estates were unjustly withheld from him. He could not get
behind the various bonds that he had signed before so many wit
nesses at the time of his release, but his chief argument was that
he had signed them through fear when in custody at Chippenham,
" in quadam camera ubi jacuit sub stricta custodia," and that
therefore they were not binding. He seemed to forget that if it
had not been for his signatures and assurances, the question of
restoring to him his lands forfeited for repeated rebellion would
never have been even entertained. The judges dismissed the
suit, and amerced the complainant for a false claim.*
In the year of his release, 1269, Robert de Ferrers married,
for his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Ralph Lord Bassett, by
whom he had a son, John. Robert died in 1278, whereupon his
widow instituted a futile suit for a third part of the forfeited lands
of her late husband as dowry. But as he was not possessed of
them at the time of his second marriage, the Court did not enter
tain the question.t
John de Ferrers eventually received again from the king the
castle and honor of Chartley. He was summoned to Parliament
in 1299 as Baron Ferrers of Chartley. From him were descended
the Ferrers of Chartley, who became extinct in the time of
Henry VI.J
• Placita coram Rege, 53 Henry III., and f Edw. I., rot. 6.
+ Placita coram Rege, 7 Edw. I., rot. 49.
J In putting together these notes. Dugdale's Baronage, the first edition of
Collins' Peerage, Mosley's History of Tutbury, and the chronicles of Matthew
Paris, Hoveden, Brompton, Knighton, etc., have been freely consulted, but
no statement that could possibly be tested by consulting the original docu
mentary authority has been accepted without going to the original source.
Every roll or document mentioned in the previous notes has been consulted
at first hand.
II.—Subsequent History ; the Ruins Discovered.
Meanwhile, what became of Duffield Castle on the forfeiture of
the last Earl Ferrers? Tradition says that it was demolished,
and though as yet we have failed to find any order for its
demolition, there is little or no doubt that tradition is in this
respect accurate. We believe that the work of demolition was
carried out by the royal forces immediately after the battle of
Chesterfield, so as to leave no strong centre for future disaffection
in the county. The troops set out on their march back to London
immediately after their victory. They would proceed by the
great road to the south that passed so near to Duffield, and whilst
a portion of them hurried on with their important prisoner,
the bulk of the forces would turn aside to lay siege to the
powerful stronghold of Duffield. The garrison that Robert de
Ferrers had left behind him would most likely immediately yield
when they knew the fate of their lord, and the troops would
simply have the work of demolition to accomplish.
At all events there is plenty of negative evidence to prove that
the castle of Duffield was non-existent shortly after the time of
Robert de Ferrers. Among the possessions of Edmund, Earl of
Lancaster, at the time of his death, 1297, were the manor, forest,
and advowson of Duffield, but there is no record of the castle ;
and it is impossible but that it would have been specifically
mentioned if it had been existent* Again, on the 21st of June
following, the king grants to Blanche, Queen of Navarre,
widow of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, Duffield manor, and its
members as assignment of dower, but no mention is made of
the castle.
There are several rent rolls of the Duchy of Lancaster at the
Public Record Office that include Duffield of the 14th and 15th
centuries; they prove that there was in those times only the
site of the castle remaining. For instance, in the year 1401,
among the Duffield tenants for that year in a list of rentals
* Inquisitio post mortem, 25 Edw. I., No. 51.
and knights' fees, in the Cowcher of the Honor of Tutbury,
occurs the following : —
" Nicholas Jakson 1 acre in Castelfeld ad finem ville id "
In the year 1588, Anthony Bradshawe, of Duffield, wrote a
most interesting local poem, entitled—" A Frends due Comen-
dacon of Duffeld Frith."* It opens thus—
" O auntient prety Duffeld ffrith my love & commendacon
Of due defect I yeld to thee for pleasant habitation
The stately honor of Tutbury includeth thee as part
And of the Duchy of Lancast' a member fine thou art."
The eighth stanza runs as follows, and shows how entirely, in
Elizabeth's days, the castle was a thing of the past : —
"At Duffeld Placehead, placed was a statlye Castly & Cortyard
Whereof the seyte yet beareth name now called Castly Orchard.
The Duke there had great royalties of fforest p'ks of warren
And wards and pleines of waters store, of grounds not very barren."
In 1769, as has been already stated, the careful eye of
Mr. Reynolds, so used to antiquarian observation, could detect no
visible ruins of the castle above the sod. But there, beneath the
ground, where cattle had grazed for more than six centuries, lay
silently concealed the massive remnants of this great Norman
fortress.
....
************************
From Wikipedia
Henry de Ferrers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Domesday records over 200 manors given to Henry de Ferrers"[1]
Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrières) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.
His elder brother William (French: Guillaume) fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Vauquelin de Ferrers (d. ca. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in Upper Normandy.[2] The Ferrers family holding at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony.[3]
Contents
1 The landholdings
2 Henry's Family
3 Undertenants
4 References
The landholdings
Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire[4][5] and Leicestershire,[4] by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings.
He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire.
Following this, in 1070 was the Wapentake of Appletree, which covered a large part of south Derbyshire, granted to Henry on the promotion of Hugh d'Avranches to become Earl of Chester. At the centre of this was Tutbury Castle[6] where he rebuilt and founded the priory in 1080.
His major landholdings, however, were those of the Anglo-Saxon Siward Barn,[7] following a revolt in 1071, including more land in Berkshire and Essex and also Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
These included part of the wapentakes of Litchurch and Morleyston, which contained an area later to be known as Duffield Frith. To command an important crossing over the Derwent he built Duffield Castle. In the wapentake of Hamston was the west bank of the River Dove, where he built Pilsbury Castle. Both these were of typical Norman timber motte and bailey construction. The latter history of Pilsbury is unknown, but Duffield was rebuilt as a stone fortress sometime in the Twelfth century.[8]
He was a key administrator in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and among the most powerful Anglo‑Norman magnates. In 1086 he was a legatus ('commissioner’) on the West Midland circuit of the Domesday survey.
Henry's Family
Henry had by his wife, Bertha, three sons - Enguenulf, William and Robert. A daughter, Amicia, married Nigel d'Aubigny, probably the brother of Henry I's butler. Henry had built Duffield Castle to protect and administer the Frith, and he placed it in the charge of Enguenulf.[9] Meanwhile William inherited the family's Norman estates. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai.
The date of Henry de Ferrers' death is uncertain, but it would seem to be between 1093 and 1100. He was buried in Tutbury Priory.
Enguenulf died shortly afterwards and the English estate passed to Robert, whom King Stephen later made the first Earl of Derby.
His family tree is well researched and various people are said to be descended from this line.[10] These include George the First, Lady Diana, George Washington, and Winston Churchill, and likely the actress Mia Farrow, a daughter of the Australian film director John Farrow, a descendant of the Farrows of Norfolk, England.
St. Mary's Priory Church, Tutbury, 11th century
Undertenants
As a leading Norman magnate, Henry de Ferrers was followed to England by a coterie of lesser lords, or vassals, who were part of the feudal structure of Normandy and who owed their allegiance to their overlord. Among the underlords who followed Henry de Ferrers were three families who were lords of villages within the original Ferrers barony in Normandy: the Curzons (Notre-Dame-de-Courson),[11] the Baskervilles (Boscherville)[12] and the Levetts (Livet-en-Ouche).[13]
All three families were from villages close by Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire. In the case of the de Livets, the village under their control was approximately four miles from the caput of the Ferrers family barony at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire.
His grandson, Earl Robert de Ferrers the younger, produced a charter confirming land grants originally made by Henry de Ferrers to his vassals including: Alfinus de Breleford, Nigellus de Albiniaco, Robert fitz Sarle, William de Rolleston, Robert de Dun, Hugh le Arbalaster, Anscelin de Heginton, Robert de St. Quintin.[14]
References
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons accessed May 2007
Marios Costambeys, ‛Ferrers, Henry de (d. 1093x1100)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 61, accessed 28 Oct 2007
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951, Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975
Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 656-7 744-9 ISBN 0-14-143994-7
A listing of Henry's manors in Derbyshire
Marios Costambeys, 'Ferrers, Henry de (d. 1093x1100)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 [ 61, accessed 28 Oct 2007]
Siward Barn fought beside Hereward the Wake at Ely. He held many estates in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and further north. Some literature refers to him as Earl of Northumbria. However the Siward who was Earl of Northumbria had died in 1055. The earl at that time was Morcar. There were a number of Siwards at that time. Among the literature there is a reference to Siward Barn the Red and Siward Barn the White, the sons of Osberne Bulax, who could have been the eldest son of the first Siward
Turbutt, G., (1999) A History of Derbyshire. Volume 2: Medieval Derbyshire, Cardiff: Merton Priory Press
Bland, W., 1887 Duffield Castle: A lecture at the Temperance Hall, Wirksworth Derbyshire Advertiser
Tree of Henry de Ferrers Roottsweb.com accessed June 2007
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951, Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1971
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, The Harleian Society, Leeds, 1951
The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families, David C. Douglas, Lewis C. Loyd, 1951
The Victoria History of the County of Derby, William Page, Ed., volume one, 1905, Archibald Constable and Co. Ltd.
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From FindAGrave
Birth: 1036
Death: 1088
Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrieres) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.
His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Walkeline de Ferrers (d.c. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in upper Normandy. The Ferrers family holding at Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony.
Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings.
He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire.
Following this in 1070 was the Wapentake of Appletree, which covered a large part of south Derbyshire, granted to Henry on the promotion of Hugh d'Avranches to become Earl of Chester. At the center of this was Tutbury Castle where he rebuilt and founded the priory in 1080.
His major landholdings, however, were those of the Anglo-Saxon Siward Barn, following a revolt in 1071, including more land in Berkshire and Essex and also Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
These included part of the wapentakes of Litchurch and Morleyston, which contained an area later to be known as Duffield Frith. To command an important crossing over the Derwent he built Duffield Castle. In the wapentake of Hamston was the west bank of the River Dove, where he built Pilsbury Castle. Both these were of typical Norman timber motte and bailey construction. The latter history of Pilsbury is unknown, but Duffield was rebuilt as a stone fortress sometime in the Twelfth century.
He was a key administrator in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and among the most powerful Anglo-Norman magnates. In 1086 he was a legatus ('commissioner') on the West Midland circuit of the Domesday survey.
Henry had by his wife, Bertha, three sons - Enguenulf, William and Robert. A daughter, Amicia, married Nigel d'Aubigny, probably the brother of Henry I's butler. Henry had built Duffield Castle to protect and administer the Frith, and he placed it in the charge of Enguenulf. Meanwhile William inherited the family's Norman estates. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai.
The date of Henry de Ferrers' death is uncertain, but it would seem to be between 1093 and 1100. He was buried in Tutbury Priory.
Enguenulf died shortly afterwards and the English estate passed to Robert, who King Stephen later made the first Earl of Derby.
His family tree is well researched and various people are said to be descended from this line. These include, George the First, Lady Diana, George Washington and Winston Churchill, and likely the actress Mia Farrow, a daughter of the Australian film director John Farrow, a descendant of the Farrows of Norfolk, England.
As a leading Norman magnate, Henry de Ferrers was followed to England by a coterie of lesser lords, or vassals, who were part of the feudal structure of Normandy and who owed their allegiance to their overlord. Among the underlords who followed Henry de Ferrers were three families who were lords of villages within the original Ferrers barony in Normandy: the Curzons (Notre-Dame-de-Courson), the Baskervilles (Boscherville) and the Levetts (Livet-en-Ouche).
All three families were from villages close by Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire. In the case of the de Livets, the village under their control was approximately four miles from the caput of the Ferrers family barony at Ferrieres-Saint-Hilaire.
His grandson, Earl Robert de Ferrers the younger, produced a charter confirming land grants originally made by Henry de Ferrers to his vassals including: Alfinus de Breleford, Nigellus de Albiniaco, Robert Fitz Sarle, William de Rolleston, Robert de Dun, Hugh le Arbalester, Anscelin de Heginton, Robert de St. Quintin. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)
Family links:
Spouse:
Bertha d'Aigle de Ferrers (1040 - ____)
Children:
Melisende de Ferrers de Mortimer (1055 - 1088)*
Robert de Ferrers (1062 - 1139)*
*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Tutbury Priory
Burton-on-Trent
East Staffordshire Borough
Staffordshire, England
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Jerry Ferren
Record added: Jan 29, 2012
Events
| Birth | 1036 | Ferrieres, Normandy, France | |||
| Military | 1066 | Battle of Hastings | |||
| Death | 1088 | Tutbury, Staffordshire, England | |||
| Alt name | Henry de Ferrariis | ||||
| Alt name | Henri de Ferrers |  | |||
| Burial | Tutbury Priory, Burton-on-Trent, East Staffordshire Borough, Staffordshire, England | ||||
| Title (Nobility) | First Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire |
Families
| Spouse | Bertha de L'Aigle (1040 - ) |
| Child | Enguenulf de Ferrières ( - 1088) |
| Child | William de Ferrières ( - ) |
| Child | Robert de Ferrières (1062 - 1139) |
| Child | Amicia de Ferrières ( - ) |
| Child | Melisende de Ferrières (1055 - 1088) |
| Child | Gundreda de Ferrières ( - ) |
| Child | Emmeline de Ferrières ( - ) |
| Father | Walkeline de Ferrières (1010 - 1040) |
| Sibling | William de Ferrers ( - 1066) |
| Sibling | Gundella? de Ferrers (1036 - ) |
| Sibling | Isbel de Ferrers (1040 - ) |
| Sibling | Hughes de Ferrers (1038 - 1104) |
Endnotes
1. Wikipedia, The Howard Family (see family tree) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_family.