Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton (c. 1327-1403) was an English soldier and courtier, serving Richard II of England. He also fought under the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. He was a knight of the shire of Yorkshire in the parliament of 1364, and was summoned to the upper house as a baron by writ in 1371, when he was made Lord High Treasurer and Keeper of the Great Seal. In 1378 Lord Scrope became Lord Chancellor, a role in which he attempted to curb the extravagance of Richard II. He was deprived of office in 1382 and thereafter dedicated himself to the rebuilding of Bolton Castle on his estates in Wensleydale in Yorkshire, which he had been given licence to crennelate. Both as a soldier and a statesman Lord Scrope was highly regarded and the new king Henry IV was moved to confirm that his lands and titles would not be forfeit in spite of the fact that his eldest son William had been executed by Henry in 1399 for William's support of Richard II. Richard Scrope died on 30 May, 1403 in Pishobury, Hertfordshire (where he had bought a country estate) and was buried at Easby Abbey in Richmond, Yorkshire. His title passed to his second son Roger Scrope. -------------------- FIRST BARON OF BOLTON