William Mortimer

"an imbecile"

From page 62 of Collections for a History of Staffordshire, Volume 2

It is probable that Matilda or Maude, the other coheir of Thomas le Champion, had died without leaving issue before the execution of this deed, and that by it all Thomas le Champion's interest in the lands belonging to the Fouleshtirst share passed to Adam de Peshale and his second wife Elizabeth (ap Rees).
Elizabeth, Sir Adam de Peshale's second wife, died before 1388, when we find him marrying his third wife Joyce, the daughter and coheir of Sir John de Bottetort and widow of Sir Baldwyn Frevill.* Elizabeth de Peshale's previous death is mentioned in the Inquisition taken on the death of William Mortimer, her first husband's son and heir, in 1391,3 but the exact date of her death is uncertain. It seems probable however that she died about the year 1384, when Adamde Peshale ceased to have the management of the Chelmarsh estates, which had belonged to her first husband Sir Henry de Mortimer and had been taken into the King's hands on account of the imbecility of his son William le Mortimer, and the custody of which had been granted by the King to Adam de Peshale in 1372.*

• 3 Inq. 15 Ric. II, No. 46. As William le Mortimer was over 26 years old at the death of his grandfather Sir Hugh Mortimer in 1372, and Elizabeth ap Rees is described as only " 30 and more" at the death of her father in 1369 (Inq. 46 Ed. III, No. 41, and Inq. 43 Ed. III, 1st part, No. 4), it is presumable that he was not her own son. Her own son Hugh Mortimer is described as 24 years old and more at the death of his brother William in 1391.