1. Margaret Stafford, who married her cousin,
John de Stafford,
Knight, of Bramshall. See below.
This marriage above is not shown in all the
referenced genealogical records. Thus, there is some question
of its authenticity. All the references show other marriage below.
He married (2) Margaret Audley, only
daughter and heiress of Hugh de Audley, Baron Audley, 8th Earl
of Gloucester in right of his wife, Margaret Clare, daughter of
Gilbert de Clare and his wife, Joane Plantaganet, daughter of
King Edward I. He acquired the Barony
of Audley which is presumed to have merged in that of Stafford.
They had the following children:
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1. Ralph Stafford, who died without issue
during his father's lifetime, having married Maud Ferrers(?),
daughter of Henry Ferrers(?), Earl of Derby.
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2. Hugh Stafford , 3rd Baron Stafford and
2nd Earl of Stafford, followed in the footsteps of his father
in those martial times, and came very early into action, for at
the age of seventeen he was in the wars of France, and again when
he attained majority, being then in the retinue of the Black Prince.
At the period he succeeded to the honors of his family, he was
twenty-eight years of age, and he was distinguished in the wars
of Edward III., and in those at the beginning of King Richard
II.'s time. In the 9th year of the latter monarch, he undertook
a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, and on his return died at
Rhodes, in October 1386. He married Philippa Beauchamp daughter
of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, descendant of the Sureties
Roger and Hugh Bigod. They had the following children:
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1. Ralph de Stafford, who was murdered in
1385 by John Holland (Holand), half-brother of King Richard II.,
d.s.p.
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2. Thomas de Stafford, 4th Baron Stafford,
and 3rd Earl of Stafford, in the 14th year of King Richard II.,
making proof of his age, and doing his homage, had livery of his
lands, and about the same time, at the decease of Ralph Basset,
the last Lord Basset, of Drayton, was found to be one of his co-heirs.
Thus, Margaret Basset, great aunt of the above mentioned Ralph,
Lord Basset, was the wife of Edmund, 1st Lord Stafford, the earl's
great grandfather. For this inheritance he had a contest with
the Shirleys. Thomas de Stafford was in the wars of France, in
the 15th year of King Richard II, under the conduct of Thomas
of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, whose daughter, Anne Plantaganet,
he had married, but d.s.p. in 1392, when he was succeeded by his
brother, William.
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3. William de Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford,
and 4th Earl of Stafford, was born in 1378. He was but fourteen
years of age when he came to the title, and in ward to the Duke
of Gloucester. He died three years after, d.s.p., and the honors
devolved to his brother, Edmund.
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4. Edmund de Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford,
and 5th Earl of Stafford, was in the 22nd year of the reign of
King Richard II., by virtue of the king's special license, married
Anne Plantaganet, sister and heir of Humphrey Plantaganet, Earl
of Buckingham, and widow of Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford,
his eldest brother (which marriage of the said Thomas and Anne
had never been consummated, owing to the tender years of the earl).
At the coronation of King Henry IV., this Edmund, Earl of Stafford,
was made a Knight of the Bath, as was also Hugh, his younger brother.
He was subsequently made a Knight of the Garter, but he was killed
soon after, at the battle of Shrewsbury, fighting on the part
of the king, July 22, 1403. He married Anne, daughter of Thomas
of Woodstock (son of King Edward III.) She died in 1438/39, and
was buried at the Augustine Friars, Stafford. They had the following
children:
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5. Hugh de Stafford. Knight of the Garter,
married Elizabeth Bourchier, only daughter and heiress of Bartholomew
Bourchier, Lord Bourchier, and was summoned to parliament as Baron
Bourchier. He d.s.p. in 1420.
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6. Margaret Stafford, married Ralph de Nevill,
1st Earl of Westmoreland, a descendant of the Surety John FitzRobert.
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7. Katherine Stafford, married Michael de
la Pole, son of Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and grandson
of William de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk. Michael was born
in 1368, and died at the siege of Harfleur, September 14, 1415.
The greater part of his time was spent in combat in the French
wars. They had the following children:
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1. Michael de la Pole, who died without
issue in 1415, married Elizabeth Mowbray, daughter of Thomas de
Mowbray, a descendant of the Surety William de Mowbray.
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2. William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk,
Knight of the Garter, served for 24 years in the wars in France,
17 of which were in uninterrupted succession, without once visiting
his native land. He was sentenced to banishment later, and while
embarking for France his ship was boarded and he was decapitated
on shipboard. He married Alice Chaucer,
daughter of Thomas Chaucer, chief butler to Richard II., Henry
IV., Henry V., and Henry VI., and Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire
in most parliaments of 1400-1431 and at times was the Speaker
of Parliament. Thomas was the son of Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet,
whose wife was a sister of Catherine Roelt, wife of John of Gaunt.
Alice was born about 1404 and died in 1475. Her first husband
was Thomas Montague, 4th Earl of Salisbury, who served in France
from the beginning of Henry V.'s invasion (1415) until his death
in 1428. Alice's second husband, William de la Pole, was a fellow
officer and the successor of her first husband. William de la
Pole became a scapegoat for the disasters in France and was accused
of being pro-French. He escaped to sea from a London mob, but
was captured in the English Channel. He was taken aboard the
"Nicholas of the Tower" and beheaded, to the delight
of England. The Duchess lived on as widow for twenty-five years.
There was issue.
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3. Son #3
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4. Son #4.
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5. Katherine de la Pole, Abbess of Barking.
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6. Elizabeth de la Pole, married John de
Foix, Earl of Kendal.
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7. Isabel de la Pole, married Thomas Morley,
Lord Morley
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8. Joane Stafford, married Thomas Holland,
Earl of Kent.
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3. Beatrice Stafford, who was married three
times. One of her marriages was to Thomas de Roos, who died in
1384. He was the 2nd son of William de Roos and his wife, Margery
Badlesmere. He was the grandson of William de Roos, who married
Maud (Matilda) Vaux, daughter of John de Vaux. He was great grandson
of Robert de Roos, who married Isabel Albini, granddaughter of
the Surety William de Albini. Thomas de Roos and his wife Beatrice
Stafford had the following children:
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1. William de Roos, the eldest son, 7th
Baron Roos, Knight of the Garter under King Henry IV, and Lord
Treasurer of England, died at Belvoir September 1, 1414. He married
Margaret Fitz Alan, daughter of John Fitz Alan (and his wife Elizabeth
Despencer), a descendant of the Surety Robert de Vere.
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2. John de Roos
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3. Thomas de Roos
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4. Robert de Roos
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5. Margaret Roos, married Reynold de Grey.
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6. Elizabeth Roos, married Thomas Clifford.
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4. Joane Stafford,
married to John Cherlton, son and heir of John Cherlton, Lord
Powys.
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5. Elizabeth Stafford, married to Fulke
le Strange.
Ralph de Stafford died August 31, 1372; and
was buried at Tunbridge, and was succeeded by his only surviving
son, Hugh.