Humphrey Stafford, of Grafton

Humphrey Stafford

• BIRTH 1426 England
• DEATH 8 Jul 1486 (aged 59–60) Tyburn Gallows, London
• BURIAL Grey Friars London London, City of London, Greater London, England
• 2nd but eldest surviving son of Sir Humphrey Stafford (1400-1450) and Eleanor Aylesbury.
• Grandson of Sir Humphrey Stafford and Elizabeth Burdet, Sir Thomas Aylesbury and Katherine Pabenham.
• Husband of Katherine Fray (died 12 May 1482), daughter and heiress of Sir John Fray and Agnes Danvers, daughter of Sir John. Married after 1462.
• Husband of Margaret Stafford (died after 1537), daughter and heiress of Sir William Stafford, of Bishop’s Frome and Elizabeth Wrottesley, daughter of Hugh. Married after 1482.

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Biography

Sir Humphrey Stafford (c. 1427 – 8 July 1486) of Grafton Manor in Worcestershire, was an English nobleman who took part in the War of the Roses on the Yorkist side. He was executed by Henry VII following his fighting for Richard III and his role in the Stafford and Lovell rebellion.

Humphrey Stafford inherited Grafton and Upton Warren in 1449-50.[1] He fought at the Battle of Bosworth with Richard III.

Stafford and Lovell Rebellion:

Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his brother Thomas Stafford, joined by Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, led the inauspicious Stafford and Lovell Rebellion in 1486.[2]

The conspirators hoped to restore the Yorkist monarchy. While Lord Lovell went to Yorkshire, the brothers Stafford went to the Midlands. On 23 April 1486, after a failed attempt to seize Henry VII in York, Lord Lovell escaped to Burgundy. In the meantime, the Stafford brothers rebellion in Worcester had failed, in part due to lack of planning and in part due to the fact that King Henry had some support in that area.

During this time Henry was on a nationwide tour of the country. As soon as he advanced towards Worcester in order to eliminate Yorkist support, on 11 May 1486 the Stafford brothers again fled to sanctuary, this time at Culham.[3]

Stafford's arrest and execution

Despite the fact that Stafford had sought sanctuary at the church in Culham, King Henry VII decided to force Stafford to kiss his feet. Stafford was forcibly removed from his sanctuary on the night of 13 May by John Barrowman and one follower.[4] Henry then ordered the execution of Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, but pardoned the younger Thomas Stafford.

The arrest prompted a series of protests to Pope Innocent VIII over the breaking of sanctuary; these resulted in a Papal bull in August which severely limited the rights of sanctuary, excluding it completely in cases of treason, thereby vindicating the King's actions.

Humphrey was executed at Tyburn on 8 July 1486 and buried at Grey Friars, Newgate, London. His lands were forfeited to the king.

Family

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stafford-179

Humphrey Stafford married Catherine Fray (1447-1482), the daughter of Sir John Fray, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by Agnes Danvers (d. June 1478), the daughter of Sir John Danvers (died c.1448) in 1452, in Grafton, Worcestershire.

Humphrey and Katherine had two sons and two daughters:

1. Humphrey Stafford (died 1545) of Blatherwick, Northumberland. Knt., born 1 May 1478, died 22 September 1545, married first to Margaret Fogge (had issue) and second to Joan ____, widow of William Lane[1]
2. William Stafford (d. 1556) Knt., of Bradfield[1]
3. Anne Stafford, married Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer of Snape, as his first wife and they had twelve children; Anne died sometime between 1500 and July 1522, when her husband remarried[3]
4. Margarita Stafford (1456-1530) married John Archer[1]

On 7 August 1486 a commission was appointed to inquiry about lands and properties of those attained in rebellion.[9]

Humphrey's wife Katherine died 12 May 1482.[1] The Inquisitions Post Mortem of "Katharine, late the wife of Humphrey Stafford, Esq." were taken in 1486/7 (after Humphrey was attainted and executed) and in 1499/50: her son Humphrey was named as her heir.[10]

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From Jorge Castell's page on Humphrey Stafford of Grafton:

http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/STAFFORD2.htm#Humphrey STAFFORD of Grafton (Sir Knight)2

Humphrey STAFFORD of Grafton (Sir Knight)

Born: ABT 1427, Grafton, Worcestershire, England

Died: 8 Jul 1486, Tyburn

Father: Humphrey STAFFORD of Grafton (Sir Knight)

Mother: Eleanor AYLESBURY

Married: Catherine FRAY (b. 1437 - d. 1482) (dau. of Sir John Fray, Chief Baron of the Exchecker, and Agnes Danvers) 1452, Grafton, Worcestershire, England

Children:

1. Anne STAFFORD (B. Latimer)

2. Joyce STAFFORD

3. Humphrey STAFFORD of Blatherwycke

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From the Celtic Casimir online family tree:

http://www.celtic-casimir.com/webtree/21/59962.htm

Humphrey III STAFFORD Sir Kt.

Born: Abt 1427, Grafton, Worcester, England

Married: Unknown, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England

Died: 8 Jul 1486, Tyburn, London, England

Buried: Greyfriars, London, England

Cause of his death was hanged, drawn and quartered.

General Notes:

!NOTE: Weis, Ancestral Roots, 7th ed., line 187-11.

!NOTE: Additional information provided by a sketch of the various Stafford families, submitted to Gen-Medieval digest 20 Oct 1999 ("Stafford pt. 1") by Doug Gentile, provided originally by Rah Williams <rah.williams d@virgin.net>.

Marriage Information:

Humphrey married Katherine FREY on an unknown date in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. (Katherine FREY was born about 1438 in England and died on 12 May 1482 in England.)

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From Darryl Lundy's Peerage page on Humphrey Stafford:

http://thepeerage.com/p10733.htm#i107326

Humphrey Stafford1

M, #107326

Last Edited=28 Dec 2008

Humphrey Stafford lived at Grafton, Worcestershire, England.1

Child of Humphrey Stafford

1.Anne Stafford+1

Citations

1.[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 2246. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102805368/humphrey-stafford

Humphrey, being the Sheriff in 1483, held the fords of Severn against a distant kinsman, Henry Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, bringing about the Duke's defeat and death.

Humphrey was a supporter of King Richard III, who died at Bosworth. After organizing a rebellion against Henry VII, Humphrey was executed at Tyburn Gallows, London, 8 July 1486.

Information and lineage as per Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta pg 47, Plantagenet as well.

Pedigree

Descent from Edward l < click here to see the full-size original image >

Source: Foster, J. (1891). "John William Warre Tyndale, Esq. from the blood royale of England," in The Royal Lineage of Our Noble and Gentle Families, p. 879. < GoogleBooks >

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References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Stafford_%28died_1486%29 cites
   1. Cotton, William, Bromsgrove Church : its history & antiquities ; with an account of the Sunday schools, churchyard, and cemetery, p.61
   2. Lipscomb, p.243
   3. Parishes: Grafton Manor, A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3 (1913), pp. 123-127.
   4. Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1449966373
   5. Williams 1928, p. 186[full citation needed]; Stanley Bertram Chrimes, Henry VII. -, Berkeley, ISBN 0-520-02266-1, 0520022661 p71
   6. Williams 1928, p. 186[full citation needed]
2. “Stafford’s of Grafton”
3. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stafford-179
4. Robinson, Rev. Charles J., A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire. 1873 . 25 < GoogleBooks > “Their son, William Stafford of Frome, left by his wife, Elizabeth Wrottesley, an only child, who married, first, Humphry Stafford of Grafton (by whom she had no issue); and, after his execution for treason in 1 Hen. VII., Sir George de Vere, Knt. By the latter she was mother of John de Vere, fourteenth Earl of Oxford. The de Veres were considerable owners in other parts of the county, but how long Cheyney Court remained in their possession we have not learnt.”
5. Stafford of Grafton Problems Jan 19, 2004 https://groups.google.com/g/soc.genealogy.medieval/c/w_Plugm8YxY/m/...
6. Maskelyne and H. C. Maxwell Lyte, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII, Entries 201-250', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Series 2, Volume 1, Henry VII (London, 1898), pp. 61-111. British History Online, Katherine Stafford #224-226. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/series2-vol1/pp.... Humphrey's wife Katherine died 12 May 1482.[1] The Inquisitions Post Mortem of "Katharine, late the wife of Humphrey Stafford, Esq." were taken in 1486/7 (after Humphrey was attainted and executed) and in 1499/50: her son Humphrey was named as her heir.[10] 224 KATHARINE, late the wife of HUMPHREY STAFFORD, esq. Writ de Amotus 12 Feb., inq. 26 Feb., 15 Hen. VII. The said Humphrey and Katharine were seised at the time of her decease of the under-mentioned messuage in fee, in her right. They had issue between them a son Humphrey. And afterwards she died, viz. 12 May, 22 Edw. IV, and the said Humphrey survived her, and was seised of the said messuage in his demesne as of frank tenement by the curtesy, by reason of their said offspring. He died so seised 8 July, 1 Hen. VII. The said Humphrey the son, aged 22 on the feast of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James last, is her son and heir.
7. https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00065114&tree=LEO cites
   1. [S00119] Paget, Gerald, The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Edinburgh, 1977. Q 115471
   2. [S01329] Fray, Adrian, Descendants of Hervey Bagot 2002 . marriage date
   3. [S00892] Weis, Frederick Lewis, Magna Charta Sureties, 1215 4th & 5th edition . 51:10