Sir John de la Lee of Pimhill

John de la Lea (also known as Lee) of Pimhill Roden, son of Thomas Lee sir and Petronella de STANTON (or Stanton) was born about 1286 in Roden, Stanton, Berrington, Shropshire. He died in 1320 in  Shropshire, England. He married Alicia. She was 1st wife according to the visitation. He married Matilda de ERDINGTON about 1310 in Roden, Shropshire, England, daughter of Henry de ERDINGTON and Joan De Wolvey. She was born about 1292 in of, Erdington, Shropshire, England.

John, 1st son; Thomas, 2nd son; daughter Matilda.

Supporting Data

William Dugdale, Norrey King-of-Arms, certified the pedigree of this family through the testimony of Sir Humphrey Lee of Langley in 1623 and Thomas Lee of Coton in 1663. Their testimony traces the family back to Hugo de Lega, a contemporary of Reyner de Lea, whose son Reginald de la Lee received a grant of land from William, son of William FitzAlan, ad petitionem Fuconis fillii Warini [by petition of Fulk, the son of Warine, or Fulk FitzWarine]. What follows is the lineage certified in the College of Arms.

• Hugo de Lega received land grants from William, son of William FitzAlan, that established this family as landed gentry. William FitzAlan was given the shrievalty of Shropshire by King Henry in c.1160, which gives us a baseline for the lives of Hugo and Reginald. Hugo would have lived in the latter half of the 12th century and Reginald’s lifespan would have extended into first half of the 13th century. Hugo was succeeded by his son Reginald.
• Reginald de la Lee had a son Sir John de la Lee who was known to be living in 1298, when he received a land grant from Hugo de Hinton. Sir John was succeeded by his son Thomas.
• Sir Thomas de la Lee married Petronilla, the daughter of Sir Thomas Corbet. He gave the estate known as Lee Pevenhull to his eldest son Reginald, his successor. Sir Thomas had a younger son, as well, Thomas de la Lee.
• Sir Reginald de la Lee was succeeded by his son John.
• Sir John de la Lee, Knight (i), Lord of Roden, married (1) Alicia and (2) Matilda, the daughter of Henry de Erdington. He was survived by his son John.
• Sir John de la Lee, Knight (ii), was succeeded by his son Robert.
• Robert de la Lee, who lived in the time of King Richard II, married Margaret, the sister and heir of Thomas Astley of Nordley. Through this marriage, the de la Lees came into ownership of Coton Hall. The Astley family was also ancient, with records back to 1100. According to the pedigree, there were two sons of this marriage, Roger and John.
• Roger de la Lee married Joan, the daughter and heiress of Edward Burnell of Langley, bringing that estate into the de la Lee lands. He was survived by his son Robert.
• Robert de la Lee married Petronilla.

Since the time this pedigree was certified by the College of Arms, some of the statements have been disputed. Sir William Hardy, Keeper of the Records in the Duchy of Lancaster, (1807-1887) devoted much time to the history of Shropshire and the Lees. It was his finding that Margaret Astley’s husband Robert was NOT the son of Sir John de la Lee, but the son of his brother, Sir Thomas de Lee of Okehirst, and that his name was ROGER, not Robert. He is referred to in documents during the time of Henry V as €œRoger Lee of Coton, Gentleman, and Roger is referred to as €œthe second son of Sir Thomas Lee, Knight.

It has become certain that Roger, the husband of Joan Burnell, was not the son of Robert, and that Petronilla was the daughter, and not the daughter-in-law of Roger Lee and Joan Burnell. Petronilla married her kinsman, Robert de Lee of Rodene, who was survived by his son, Ralph de Lee of Lea Hall.

Source: A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, 8th ed. , by Sir Bernard Burke ; Edited by his sons. Published 1894 by Harrison in London. [available as free e-Book]

Sir John de Lee, Lord of the manor of Berrington

Wood effigy of c1320 Sir John de Lee, Lord of the manor of Berrington. nicknamed "old scriven" by the villagers (Effigy could also be of a Berrington or a Scriven of Brompton). John inherited a fourth share of the manor from his brother in law William fitz Alan de Drayton who died without issue. Sir John de Lee bought c1284 from John he Strange another fourth share, which seems to have lapsed to him;. The moiety of the manor was still vested in the Lees in 1480. In 1327 a John de Lee was among others assessed to the subsidy in Byritone
Born 1286 in Roden, Stanton, son of Sir Thomas Lee and Petronella de Stanton.
He (?) m1 'Alicia a widow of the House of Haberly with 3 young children.
He (?) m2 c1310 Matilda daughter of Henry de Erdington and Joan de Wolvey,

Thin pencil line moustache has been incised. Head covered by coif, its deep cape covering the neck and upper parts of the shoulders. Under this is a rounded basinet coming well down on each side over the ears and encircled by plain band (circlet). The basinet is indicated by an angular bulge on both sides of the temples. On the right shoulder is a small portion of a guige, but there is now no shield. This was almost certainly attached to the left elbow by wooden pegs as 2 round holes can be seen above and below the elbow. The body is covered by a long flowing gown, its skirts open above the knee in the usual v-shaped fashion. He has a buckled belt. A small fragment of red paint lies in the fold of the gown under the left arm. Covering the right knee is a stiff knee defence (poleyn) above which is the lower edge of a quilted aketon shown as squares. On his feet at short pricktype spurs
Underside of the effigy has been hollowed out and was most likely filled with charcoal to absorb moisture and stop the effigy cracking. "Westminster workshop" Similar wooden examples from the same workshop are at Abergavenny flic.kr/p/aMq94B ,Alderton and Gayton flic.kr/p/Bke6x4 (Northants) Danbury flic.kr/p/dacfBw , Essex and Monk Sherbourne Priory (Hants) effigiesandbrasses.com/957/3281/
(Medieval Military Effigies/ Mark Downing)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• 'Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the ... By Edmund Jennings Lee
• Lee of Virginia, 1642-1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the ... By Edmund Jennings Lee
• Pg. 28
• . . the first Sir Thomas married to Petronilla Corbet; two of his sons, John and Thomas, married to Petronilla de Drayton and Petronilla de Stanton; and each of his three sons, Sir John, Sir Thomas, and Reyner, having a son John, two of these last three Johns being knighted. 'The one who married Matilda de Erdington seems to have been son of Thomas and of course nephew to Reyner, not son, as given in the pedigree. He again had an eldest son John, who was knighted, and a daughter Matilda, besides a second son, Sir Thomas de Lee of Okehirst', married (according to Hardy) to Sibilla. This last Sir John is shown in the pedigree as having a son Robert who married Margaret Astley, the heiress of another very ancient family (showing an unbroken descent from 1100-1135) and was the first Lee of Coton. It is quite certain from documentary evidence, including the Inquisition Post Mortem of Margaret herself, that her husband's name was Roger, not Robert, and Sir W. Hardy thought it most probable that he was younger son of Sir John Lee's brother, Sir Thomas of Okehirst, whose eldest son was according to
• Pg. 29
• Hardy, Sir Thomas Lee, Sheriff in 1395. One of the Harleian MSS. of about 1593 supports this view as follows: "Sir Thomas Lee Knight, temp. E. 3, had issue Roger Lee, Esq., a secound sonne whoe mar. Margaret daughter and heir of Thomas Aveley (Astley) sonne to Roger sonne to John (J'n the 2 had another John to his sone) and had issue John Lee, Esq., whoe mar. J . . . so . . . e (Jacosa or Joyce) Packington, etc., etc., etc." (MS. Harl. 2163 fo. 40 B.) . . . .
• . . Roger Lee's descent is established by the Herald's allowance of arms at the first Visitation and their confirmation of the same at subsequent ones. Whether he was son, nephew, or cousin to Sir John Lee is not of vital importance. The statement in the Harl. MS. that he was son of Sir Thomas, though probable enough, is not supported by direct evidence, and the registered statement as to his immediate parentage is good evidence till disproved. There is indirect evidence showing that he was probably (as stated in the Harl. MS.) a younger son in any case; certainly he must have been so if he was son of Sir John.
• We now come to a point where two important errors occur in the pedigree. The first Lee of Coton is there shown as having two sons by Margaret Astley, Roger the elder married to Joanna, heiress of Edward Burnell (of Acton Burnell and Langley), and John, the younger of Nordley Regis (and Coton). It is certain, from documentary evidence (including the Inq. P. M. on the death of Margaret and livery of lands to John Lee), that the latter was son and heir to Roger and Margaret; while the evidence adduced by Eyton and Hardy shows that the first Lee of Langley was Roger, son of John de Lee of Pimhill and Lea Hall, descended from Reyner, younger son of Sir Thomas de Lee and Petronilla Corbert. Further, in the pedigree, Robert de Lee of Roden, married to Petronilla, is given as son of the above Roger and his wife Johanna Burnell, whereas the documentary evidence shows that Petronilla was daughter and heir to Roger and Johanna, while her husband, Robert, was son of John de Lee of Roden, Stanton, etc.
• _______________________
• http://www.familytreecircles.com/lineage-of-the-lee-family-s-c-amer...
• "The Lee Family of Stanton, Roden and afterwards of Langley and Coton Hall, Salop, IS stated in Burke’s Baronetcies to be ONE of the oldest in England.
• Thomas de la Lee, this latter m. Petronilla de Stanton about 14(?) and had a SON:
  • ' "Sir John de la Lee of Stanton, Roden and given as his nephew, SIR JOHN DE LA LEE married Matilda de Erdington and had (with a daughter, Matilda) two (2) sons: John de la Lee and Thomas de la Lee.
  • "(These Lees were from Normandy, and this was the French manner of writing the name.)"
    • "To THOMAS DE LA LEE he gave land called OKEHURST. (MORE OF THOMAS PRESENTLY). John de la Lee as succeeded by his oldest son, Sir John de Lee, who is shown by Eyton to have been succeeded by HIS son, Sir John de Lee, who was succeeded by HIS son, Sir Robert de Lee of Roden. He married Petronilla, a daughter of Roger Lee of Pimhill, by his wife, Joan, daughter of and heir of Edward Burnell of Aston Burnell, and Langley and was succeeded by HIS son:
• __________________________

THIS INFORMATION, ACCORDING TO OTHER SOURCES, IS IN ERROR ABOUT THE PARENTAGE OF JOHN LEE WHO MARRIED MARGARET ERDINGTON AND MAY HAVE OTHER ERRORS.

• 'Genealogical history of the Lee family of Virginia and Maryland from A.D. 1300 to A.D. 1866 (1868)
• http://www.archive.org/details/genealogicalhist00mead
• http://www.archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00mead#page/n36/mode/1up
• Thomas Lee, whose father, Johis Lee, was given in the previous entry, here bequeaths to his eldest son, as was the English custom, the patrimonial estate near Pebenhull, a small ancient village of Shropshire, now extinct.
• From a portion of the mutilated deeds accompanying the pedigree, as well as by reference to the parliamentary writs, A.D. 1316, Thomas de Leye, or Lee, is given (as one of the lords of Staunton) a church, or glebe, in the county of Shropshire. It seems he received a grant of lands to be held in his own right, from John Le Fitz William of Tetterton.
• The wife of Thomas Lee is also here given, who was a daughter of Thomas Corbet, of the great Shropshire Family of Corbet, or Corbett, of Morton-Corbet.
  • http://www.archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00mead#page/n37/mode/1up
  • A.D. 1321.
  • "Reginaldus Lee, to whom his father gives the Lee Villa. Lived fourteenth year of Edward II."
  • This entry simply confirms the previous one, by adding the year in which the transfer is supposed to have been made.
    • A.D. 1322 to 1328.
    • ' "Johis Lee, soldier, son of Reginaldus Lee of the House of Roden, fifteenth year of Edward II., and first year Edward III. Married, first, Alicia, thirteenth Edward II.; second, Matilda, daughter of Henry Erdington."
    • This was the eldest son of Reginaldus Lee, who necessarily inherited the Roden Estate. 'He married twice. His first wife,
    • http://www.archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00mead#page/n38/mode/1up
    • A.D. 1322 to 1328.
    • 'Alicia, who was of the House of Haberly, seems, by the old deeds, to have been a widow at the time of her marriage with Johis Lee ; as a marriage-contract was made in which Alicia settled most of her property upon her three children, — Thomas, Oliver, and Isabella: she died soon after, leaving no further issue. Johis Lee married again, A.D. 1328. His second wife was Matilda Erdington, by whom he had two children.
    • ' Johis, or Johannes, Lee, as it was frequently written, is mentioned quite often among the parliamentary writs of Edward II. We find him the 5th March, 1316, certifying, as per writ, as one of the lords of the township of Birrington (or Biriton), Shropshire He was also one of the commissioners of array for the same county, 1322 ; and was made knight of the county, and summoned to parliament, 14th November, 1322.
    • From the same records, we also find Henry Erdington quite prominent as a public man, from 1309 to 1324. He was a knight of Lancaster; enlisted in 1300 against the Scots, at the head of a company ; was one of the assizers and collectors of Warwick, and conservator of the peace for the same county, &c.
      • "Robert Lee, son of Johis Lee, of the House of Roden, eighth year of Richard II. Marries Margaret, daughter and heiress of Thomas Astley of Nordley."
• ____________________

  ---

Married

1. Alicia, heiress of Langley, House of Haberly. Widow with 3 children from previous marriage: Thomas, Oliver, and Isabel.
2. Matilda Erdington-9 ??

Children

• John Lee-2291[9] father of Robert Lee m. Margaret Astley-3
• Matilda[10]

  ---

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lee-8543