Is your surname Giffard?

Research the Giffard family

Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love

  • Build your family tree online
  • Share photos and videos
  • Smart Matching™ technology
  • Free!

John Giffard (Giffrard)

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Thorpe, Maudeville, Northamptonshire, England
Death: November 19, 1547 (49-58)
Finedon,Northampton,England
Place of Burial: Finedon, Northampton, England, Great Britain
Immediate Family:

Son of Roger Giffard, Esq. and Mary Payne Giffard
Husband of Dorothy Donnett
Brother of Sir George Gifford, MP; Ralph Gifford, MP; William (2) Giffard; Nicholas Giffard; Alice Giffard and 1 other

Managed by: Shmuel-Aharon Kam (Kahn / שמו...
Last Updated:

About John Giffard

  • The New England historical and genealogical register, Volume 75 By Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, New England Historic Genealogical Society
  • http://books.google.com/books?id=88sUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA58&dq=%22Hugh+sa...
  • Pg.130
  • 11. SIR JOHN GIFFORD LE BOEF (Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Knight, born about 1270, was living 30 Mr. 1328, when his son was called John Giffard the Younger of Twyford in the inquisition post mortem of Sir Thomas de Gardinis, but appears to have died shortly thereafter (Calendar of Inquisitions port Mortem, vol. 7, Edward III, page 107). He married about 1300-1 ALEXANDRA DE GARDINIS, daughter of Sir Thomas of Oxfordshire, a descendant of the baronial house of Arsic. She was dead in 1328, when her son John was the heir of his grandfather, Sir Thomas de Gardinis.
  • On 24 June 1301 John, son of John Giffard le Boef, was summond from Devonshire to the muster at Berwick on Tweed, to perform military service against the Scots (Parliamentary Writs, vol. 1, page 632). His lands at Helidon are mentioned 23 Aug. 1312 (Calendar of Close Rolls, 1307-1313, page 548). He was imprisoned at Aylesbury, 7 June 1314, for a trespass of vert and venison in the Royal Forest (ib., 1313-1318, page 58). On 28 Sept. 1315 he was knight of the
  • Pg.131
  • shire for co. Bucks (Parliamentary Writs, vol. 2, page 918), and in 1316 he was certified as lord of the vills of Twyford, Charndon, and Pounden in co. Bucks (ib.). He held the Twyford lands (i.e., two part) of Ralph Pipard (Feudal Aids, vol. 1, page 109). In Oxfordshire he held lands in Begbrooke (ib., vol. 4, page 30) and also lands in Astwell. On 26 Mar. 1316 he appears as commissioner to raise soldiers for the Scotch War (Parliamentary Writs, vol. 2, page 918), and on 5 Aug 1316 his orders to select footmen in co. Bucks for the Scotch War were countermanded (Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 2, page 297). On 30 May 1322 John Giffard of Tywford, Knight, was summond from Oxfordshire to the Great Council at Westminster (Parliamentary Writs, Vol. 2, page 918). On 20 June 1322 John Gifford, a knight or baneret of co. Beds and co. Bucks, was returned as ill and unable to serve in person against the Scots (ib.), and on 24 June 1322 John Gifford le Boef, man at arms, was summoned from Northamptonshire to serve against the Scots (ib.). On 31 Oct. 1322 he was returned as a man at arms between the ages of 16 and 60 years, and was called a knight accustomed to arms but gouty and incapable of acting (ib.). In 1325 John, son of Osbert Giffard (9, i), sued him to recover lands in Accott, Devonshire, which Osbert formerly held. Children:
    • 12. i. JOHN, b. in 1301 (Calendar of Inquisitions port Mortem, vol. 6).
    • ii. EDMUND (?), a knight, who, with John Giffard of Twyford, comitted trespass at Grendon, 4 Nov. 1347 (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1345-1348), and was probably of Stanlak in Oxfordshire in 1361 (Calendar of Close Rolls, 1360-1364, p. 194).
  • 12. SIR JOHN GIFFARD, (Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Knight, born in 1301, died on the Sunday next after the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul,(*) 43 Edward III [1368/9] (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 232). He married first LUCY DE MORTEYN, who was living 8 Mar. 1361, daughter of Sir John and sister of Master Edmund de Morteyn, D. C. L., the King's excheator for Ireland, canon of York, and King's clerk; and secondly ALICE ---- , who was living 30 July 1379 (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1377-1381, page 323.
  • From his maternal grandfather, Sir Thomas de Gardinis, he inherited large estates, namely, the manorial estates at Somerton and Fringsford and the Coggs lands in Oxfordshire, which, with the messuage at Leisdon, co Kent, came down from the Arsic family, and the manor of Ixning, which came from the De la Haye family. His father died about 1330, and he inherited the Giffard lands. On 22 July 1334 he was styled Sir John Giffard, when he witnessed an enrollment grant (Calendar Close Rolls, 1333-1337, page 326). On 26 Mar. 1338 he was to array in co. Bucks 10 men at arms, 20 armed
  • Pg.132
  • men, and 40 archers for the French War (ib., 1334-1341, p. 55). In 1340 he had licence to build an oratory in his house at Twyford (Lipscombe's History of Buckinghamshire), in the same year he was assessor of taxes in Oxfordshire (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1340-1343, pag 25), and he served frequently on commissions of ayer and terminer with William de Shreshull, the famous judge (ib., 1340-1343, pages 87, 554, 582, 583). He was one of the knights who accompanied Edward III to France, and he was in the King's division at the Battle of Crecy, 1346 (Wrottesley's Crecy and Calais). He appears to have had a brother Edmund, with whom he committed a trespass at Grendon, 4 Nov. 1347 (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1345-1348). In 1349, 1351, and 1361 he was commissioner of the peace in co. Bucks (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1350-1354), on 14 Mar. 1360 he was one of the commissioners of array in co. Bucks, for the French War, and in 1368, with Reynold de Grey of Ruthyn, he was again commissioner of array (ib., 1364-1367, page 431). Children by first wife:
    • i. JOHN, living 23 Dec. 1360; d. s.p. before 11 Mar. 1368/9. (Vide infra, 13.)
    • 13. ii. THOMAS, b. about 1345 (REGISTER, Vol. 74, p. 232).
    • iii. RICHARD (probably son of No. 12), m. JOAN ---- , and with her levied a fine on the manor of Helidon, 7 Richard II [1383-4].
  • 13. SIR THOMAS GIFFARD (Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Knight, born about 1345, died 25 Sept. 1394 (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 233). He married first, about 1361, ELIZABETH DE MISSENDEN, who died about 1367; secondly, before 4 Jan. 1367/8, MARGERY ---- (ib., vol. 74, page 231), who was living 22 Aug. 1374; and thirdly, before 6 July 1383, SYBIL ---- , who married again, had a daughter Eleanor (born about 1406) by her second husband, and died 26 FEb. 1428/9.
  • From an inquisition taken at Oxford 23 Dec., 34 Edward III [1360] (ib.), it appears that Thomas Giffard had an elder brother, John, who was living at that date, but who must had died s.p. before 11 Mar., 43 Edward III [1368/9], as Thomas Giffard, aged twenty-five years and more, was then found to be the heir of his father (ib., vol. 74, page 232). On 23 Dec. 1360 Thomas's father, John settled upon himself and his wife Lucy, for the term of their lives, his manors of Somerton and Feringford, in Oxfordshire, with 30s. rent in Cogges, Oxfordshire, with remainder to their son Thomas and his issue, and then rent to Thomas and Elizabeth de Missenden and their issue, which otherwise ought to revert to John eldest son of the said John (ib., vol. 74, page 231). On 22 Aug. 1374 Sir Thomas Giffard, with his wife Margery, enfeoffed Nicholas Twyford of London, goldsmith, with a moiety of the manor of Ixning, co. Suffolk (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1370-1374, page 477). Two inquisitions post mortem show
  • Pg.133
  • holdings of Sir Thomas Giffard, Knight, at the time of his death, in Kent and in Oxfordshire respectively, and give Roger Giffard, aged twenty-six (or twenty-seven) years and more as his son and heir (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 232.) Child by first wife:
    • 14. i. ROGER, b. about 1367.
  • Children by second or third wife:
    • ii. JOHN, d. s.p.
    • iii. THOMAS, d. s.p.
    • iv. WILLIAM, d. s.p.
  • 14. ROGER GIFFARD, (Sir Thomas, Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Esq., born about 1367, died 14 Apr. 1409, He married first, before 6 July 1383, JOAN DE BEREFORD, who died s.p., daughter of Sir Baldwin, Knight; secondly, not later than 1399, ELIZABETH ----: and thirdly, not later than 1407, ISABEL STRETELE, apparently of the family of Stretley of Creslow, co. Bucks. (REGISTER, vol. 74, pages 233-234.) She married secondly John Stokes of Twyford.
  • On 21 July 1395 a licence was given to Roger Giffard to grant the manor of Somerton, in Oxfordshire, to Sybil, late wife of Thomas Giffard, for life, with remainder to the said Roger in fee (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1391-1396, page 608; cf. REGISTER, Vol. 74, page 234). The inquisitions post mortem given in REGISTER, vol 74, pages 233-234, show that Roger Giffard, at his death, held lands at Leisdon, co. Kent, at Twyford, co. Bucks, at Cogges, Bekbroke, and Newynton, co. Oxford, and at Helydon, co. Northampton, and that Thomas Giffard, aged one year and more in 1409 was his son and heir. The inquisition taken at Northampton in 1409 shows that the manor of Helydon had been settled on Roger Gifford and his second wife, Elizabeth, and their issue, and that the heir of Roger and Elizabeth was Katherine, aged ten years and more in 1409. Child by second wife:
    • i. KATHERINE, b. about 1399; m. SIR THOMAS BILLING, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of England.(*)
  • Child by third wife:
    • 15. ii. THOMAS, b. at Fringford, co. Oxford, 1408.
  • Pg.134
  • 15. THOMAS GIFFARD (Roger, Sir Thomas, Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Esq., born at Fringford, co. Oxford, in 1408, died 29 May 1469. He married ELEANOR VAUX, daughter of William, Esq., ancestor of the Lords Vaux of Harrowden, co. Northampton.
  • he was aged one year and more in 1409, after his father's death, and on 21 October of the same year the King's kinsman, William, Lord Roos of Hamlak, was granted custody of the young heir (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1408-1413, page 114; cf. REGISTER, vol. 74, page 234). Lord de Roos died in 1414, and on 3 May 1415 custody of the heir was granted to Thomas, Duke of Clarence (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1413-1416, p. 321), who was killed in the Battle of Beauge in 1420. In Trinity Term, 1415, Thomas Giffard by William Rodesburgh, his guardian, bought suit against John Stokes and Isabel his wife (who was Thomas Giffard's mother), to recover the manor of Helydon, under the settlement made 8 Mar 1361 by Sir John Giffard, Knight, great-grandfather of Thomas (ib., 1358-1361, page 571), and it was agreed that Thomas should recover his seisin of this manor. (Cf. REGISTER, vol. 74, page 267.) In 1429 Thomas was holding the manor of Helydon and also the Somerton lands. He proved his age on 14 Jan. 1429/30, Sybil, the widow of his grandfather, Sir Thomas Giffard, having died 26 Feb. 1428/9, and it was shown that he was born and baptized at Fringford and was aged twenty-one years on 29 Dec. 1429. The manor of Fringford came to him after the death of Sybil. (Ib., vol. 74, pages 234, 235.) On 5 Feb. 1429/30 he and his step-father, John Stokes, gave bond for L200 to Thomas Chaumbre, Esq., William Vaux, Esq., and Thomas Tresham, to permit Eleanor, daughter of William Vaux, Esq. deceased, to have sufficient estate for her life in the manors of Astwell and Helydon in Northamptonshire and in certain lands, etc., in Astwell and Helydon and in Water Stratford, co. Bucks- apparently a marriage settlement. (Ib., vol. 74, pages 267-268.) In 1434 Thomas Giffard was one of those who were required to take oath not to maintain lawbreakers (Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1429-1436, page 397), and in 1439 he was commissioned to investigate the escapes of felons in co. Bucks (ib., 1436-1441, page 269). he appears to have been a Yorkist, as he began to hold local offices in Bucks upon the victory of Edward IV at Towton in 1461. He was a commissioner of peace and array in Bucks in 1460-1464 and 1466 (ib., 1461-1467, page 560). At his death he held Twyford. John Gifford, Esq., aged thirty-eight years and more, was found, by an inquisition taken at Dadyngton, co. Oxford, in Oct. 1469, to be his son and heir (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 235). Children:
    • 16. i. JOHN, born about 1431.
    • ii. ELIZABETH, m. ---- MOORE, Esq., according to a Visitatation pedigree.
  • Pg.135
  • 16 JOHN GIFFORD (Thomas, Roger, Sir Thomas, Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osberne de Bolebec), of Twyford, co. Bucks, Esq., born about 1431, died before 23 Sept. 1506. He married (according to the pedigree in Heralds' College entered by his great-grandson, Thomas Giffard of Middle Claydon, co. Bucks) first ALLES ---- ; and secondly AGNES WINSLOWE, daughter of Thomas of Begbroke, co. Oxford.(*)
  • In 1479 and 1483 he was commissioner of the peace. He appears to have adhered to Richard III. He was high sheriff of co. Bucks in 1497 (Lipscombe's History of Buckinghamshire, vol. 1, pag xvi). On 24 Nov. 1487 he granted his lands in Fringford, co. Oxford, to his son Thomas and his (Thomas's) wife Joan and their heirs (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 235(T)), and on 23 Sept. 22 Henry VII [1506], his son Thomas received licence to enter, without proof of age, upon the lands of his father, John Gifford of Twyford, a tenant in chief (Calendar of Patent Rolls). Children by first wife:
    • i. ELEANOR, m. ROGER SAMWELL.
    • ii. ISABEL, m. JOHN ARDERNE of Cottisford, co. Oxford, Gent.
    • iii. ALLES, m. THOMAS PERWICKE of Leicester.
    • iv. MARGARET, m. WILLIAM PORTER, of Compton.
  • Children by second wife:
    • 17. v. THOMAS, living in 12 Edward IV [1472-3].
    • 18. iv. ROGER, b. about 1463.
    • vii. WILLIAM, m. ---- VACHELL. Child: 1. Anna, heiress, m. (1) Vincent Curzon of Waterperry, co. Oxford; m. (2) Edward [Windsor], brother of Lord Windsor.
    • viii. JOHN.
    • ix. EDMUND.
    • x. ROBERT, mentioned 2 Dec. 1542 in a codicil to the will of his brother Roger.
    • i. THOMAS, of Twyford, Esq., the testator of 1550 (ib., vol. 74, page 270), b. about 1481 (he is described on 10 Nov. 1511 as aged thirty years and more); d. 25 Nov. 1550; m. MARY STAVELEY, dau. and heiress of William of Bignell, co. Oxford, Esq., whose whife was a daughter of Sir John Francis, Knight. Children: 1. John, the testator of 1572 Iib., vol. 74, p. 272), "utter barrister" of the Middle Temple, London, under twenty-two on 2 Nov. 1550; d. between 8 Aug. and 23 Oct. 1572. 2. Ursula, d. at Twyford
  • Pg.136
  • 7 Dec. 1558; m. Thomas Wayneman (or Wenman) of Carswell and Witney, co. Oxford, s. of Richard, Esq., of Carswell, and Anna (Bushe); for issue see Publications of the Harleian Society, vol. 5, p. 179; they were ancestors of the Viscounts Wenman. 4. Mary, not mentioned in her father's will (but see P. C. C.l, Fettiplace, 4).
    • ii. ANNA, m. RICHARD SAMWELL, of Edgecote [co. Northampton], who is mentioned in the will fo his father-in-law, Thomas Gifford, in 1511.
    • iii. MARY, living in 1511; m. WILLIAM BECKE of Stow [? Stowe, co. Bucks].
  • 18. ROGER GIFFORD (John, Thomas, Roger, Sir Thomas, Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osbern de Bolebec), of Middle Claydon, co. Bucks, Esq., the testator of 1538 (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 269), born about 1463,(*) died 23 Jan. 1542/3 (ig., vol. 74, page 235). He married, about 1490, MARY NANSEGLOS, who was livin 8 Feb. 1543/4, daughter of William.(t)
  • On 24 Feb. 1524 [? 1523/4] he was commissioner of the peace in co. Bucks, and on 1 Apr. 1524 he was a collector of the subsidy for the French War (Letters Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII). In 1495 he leased the manor of Middle Claydon of the Verney family for ninety-nine years. In his will, dated 24 Sept. 1538, he mentions his wife Mary, his sons John (eldest son), George (second son), Rauffe (third son), William (fourth son), and Nycholas (youngest son), and provides for the occupation of the manor of Middle Claydon by his sons. Children:
    • i. JOHN, of Hillesden, co. Bucks, Esq., the testator of 1545 (REGISTER, vol. 74, p. 269), born about 1493; d. between 3 Dec. 1545 and 19 Nov. 1547; m. DOROTHY DANNETT, who survived him, dau. of Sir John of Dannett's Hall, Knight. Children: (+) 1. William, of Stenes, co. Northampton, m. Ursula Cole of Co. Gloucester. 2. Roger, m. (1) Dorothy Bentley, dau. of Doctor Bentley; m. (2) Anna (Parker) Clinton, dau. of ---- Parker of Willington, co. Norfolk, and widow of ---- Clinton. 3. John, presbyter, m. ---- Wyat. 4. Thomas, d. s.p. before 3 Dec 1545. 5. Jerard, living un. in 1545. 6. Anne, living unm. 3 Dec. 1545. 7. Mary, m. after 3 Dec. 1545 Richard Greville.
    • ii. SIR GEORGE, of Middle Claydon, co. Bucks, Knight, the testator
    • (*) The Visitation of Northamptonshire states that Roger Gifford of Middle Claydon was son of Thomas Gifford (17) of Twyford, co. Bucks, the testator of 1511; but the Harleian pedigree in the printed Visitation of Oxfordshire and also the pedigree of the Giffords of Middle Claydon in the Heralds' College make him the son of John (16) and Agnes Gifford and therefore a brother of Thomas (17). The latter statement is clearly the correct one. Thomas Gifford (17), in his will, dated 10 Oct. 1511, mentions only one son, Thomas, and his inquisition post mortem, of 10 Nov. 1511, shows that this Thomas, the heir, was then aged thirty years and more, and therefore was born about 1481. The inquisition post mortem of Roger Gifford of Middle Claydon, of 22 Nov. 1543, shows that John Giffard, Esq., his son and heir, was then aged fifty years and more and thereford was born about 1493. Thome (17) and Roger (18) were therefore contemporaries. Moreover, Thomas Gifford, son of Thomas (17), in his will, dated 2 Nov. 1550, calls Roger's sons, George, William, Ralph, and John, his cousins; and in Aug. 1538, in a complaint of injuries done to him by Roger Gifford and his sons, John, George, Ralph, William, and Nicholas, he calls them his kinsmen (Letters Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, vol. 12, part 2, pp. 96, 97).
    • (t) This is evidently William Nanseglos, of Redefan Manor, Shaldeford, co. Essex, Gent., the testator of 3 Feb. 1476 [?1476/7] (REGISTER, vol. 74, p. 279), whose daughter Mary was then under age. The statement that Roger Gifford's wife was Mary Nanseglos or Nansicles was made by Roger's grandson in the Heralds' pedigree of 1575.
    • (+) Cf. Publications of the Harleian Society, vol. 5, p. 180.
    • Pg.137
    • of 1556 (ib., vol. 74, page 271), d. between 24 Dec. 1557 and 19 Jan. 1557/8; m. (1) CONSTANCE DYKE, dau. and coheiress of Henry of co. Sussex; m. (2) MARGARET BRADFIELD, who d about 19 May 1539 (when her husband wrote to Thomas Cromwell that she was considered to be beyond hope of recovery(*), dau. and coheiress of ---- Bradfield; m. (3) PHILIPPA (TRAPPES) SHAA, dau. of Robert Trappes of London, goldsmith, and widow of Edmund Shaa of London, haberdasher.(f) She m. (3) Richard Norton, Esq., whom she survived, made her will 1 Nov. 1593 (ib., vol. 74, p. 274), and died between 1 and 14 Nov. 1593. Sir George Gifford was very active as an assistant to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in the dissolution of the monasteries. In a codicil to his will, dated 24 Dec. 1557, he bequeathed to "my sister Frysewide Strelley, widow, gentlewoman of the Queen's Privy Chamber, a tankard of silver, parcel-gilt." Children: .... etc.
    • iii. RALPH, of Steeple-Claydon, co. Bucks, living 20 Nov. 1556; m. MARY CHAMBERLAIN, dau. of Sir Edward of Woodstock, co. Oxford, Knight. Children: .... etc.
    • iv. WILLIAM, probably d. young.
    • v. WILLIAM, of Thorpe-Mandeville, co. Northampton, d. between 2 Nov. 1550 and 20 Nov. 1556; m. ALICE FREEBODY, who is mentioned in the will of Sir George Gifford, 20 Nov. 1556, dau. and heiress of Hugh.
    • 19. vi. NICHOLAS, b. about 1508.
    • vii. JOAN (or JANE), living 24 Dec. 1557; m. (1) THOMAS CARTWRIGHT; m. (2) WILLIAM LAMBOURNE; m. (3) before 2 Dec. 1542 AMBROSE DAUNTESEY (DANCY).
    • viii. ALICE, m. after 20 Nov. 1556 THOMAS CARROLL, of Raunds, co. Northampton, Gent.
  • 19. NICHOLAS GIFFORD (Roger, John, Thomas, Roger, Sir Thomas, Sir John, Sir John le Boef, Sir John le Boef, Osbert, Elias, Elias, Elias, Osberne, Osbern de Bolebec), of St. James near Northampton, Gent., the testator of 1546 (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 270), born about 1508, died at Duston, co. Northampton 19 May 1546 (ib., vol. 74, page 236). He married before 1528, AGNES MAISTER (or MASTER), who died between 18 Aug. 1581 and 28 Mar. 1584, daughter of John of Sanwich, co. Kent, the testator of 1558 (ib., vol. 74, page 279), mayor of Sandwich, a warden of the Cinque Ports, and a member of Parliament (cf. REGISTER, vol. 71, pate 175). She is called Anne in the will of her husband and in his inquisition post mortem, and "sister Anne Gyffard" in the will of her brother-in-law, Sir George Gifford, in 1556. She is called Agnes in the will of her father, 24 Aug. 1558, and in her own will, 18 Aug. 1581, but in that part of her will relating to her lands
  • Pg.138
  • she states that she is commonly called Anne Gyfford (REGISTER, vol. 74, page 272). Children: .... etc. ________
  • GIFFORD, Ralph (by 1504-55/56), of Middle Claydon and Steeple Claydon, Bucks.
  • b. by 1504, 3rd s. of Roger Gifford, and bro. of George Gifford II. m. by 1537, Mary, da. of Sir Edward Chamberlain of Woodstock Oxon. at least 1s. Roger.1
  • Offices Held
    • Subsidy collector, Ashendon hundreds, Bucks. 1525; esquire of the body by 1547; commr. relief, Bucks. 1550.2
  • Ralph Gifford was living at Middle Claydon when in 1525 he was assessed on goods worth £10 for the subsidy of which he was a collector; his father, a commissioner for this subsidy, was assessed on goods worth £200 During the 153os Gifford was lent £195 by his father and joined in the dispute between his brothers and relatives living at Twyford over the ownership of certain property. His marriage to a daughter of Sir Edward Chamberlain brought him a modest estate, and by the death of his father in 1543 he had settled at Steeple Claydon where his eldest brother John was lessee of the manor from the crown: in that year he was assessed for the subsidy on goods worth £40. In the following year, with two of his brothers, he was mustered to serve with the Buckinghamshire forces for the French campaign. When elected in 1545 as a Member for Buckingham with John Josselyn, Gifford may have already held a post at court; two years later he was to be included in the King’s funeral cortege among the esquires of the body with his brother George, who with official support had been returned for Buckingham in 1536. His own Membership in 1545, and perhaps in one or both of the preceding two Parliaments (for which no returns survive), was perhaps sponsored by George Gifford, who since he had business elsewhere, had asked if he needed to attend the Parliament of 1536, and who afterwards could have been even more fully engaged as a receiver for augmentations. In 1545 Gifford was joined in the House by his brother-in-law Edward Chamberlain II as one of the Members for Heytesbury. Gifford’s connexion with Steeple Claydon became more secure with the death of his brother John in 1547. The leasehold of the manor was then acquired by Sir William Paget, who in the following year granted it with 1,100 acres of land and woodland to Gifford and a neighbour of his at Steeple Claydon. Unlike his brothers George and William he is not known to have rallied to Mary during the succession crisis of 1553. The last glimpse of him comes in April 1555 when he acquired a new lease for 40 years of the manor of Steeple Claydon, and he must have died within the next 18 months as his brother George called him ‘deceased’ in his will made in November 1556.3
  • From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/gi... ___________________________
view all 11

John Giffard's Timeline

1493
1493
Thorpe, Maudeville, Northamptonshire, England
1511
1511
Age 18
Maudeville, Northampton, England, Great Britain
1547
November 19, 1547
Age 54
Finedon,Northampton,England
November 19, 1547
Age 54
Finedon, Northampton, England, Great Britain
1932
August 23, 1932
Age 54
1933
January 19, 1933
Age 54
1964
May 14, 1964
Age 54
1991
August 16, 1991
Age 54
September 7, 1991
Age 54
November 2, 1991
Age 54