John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire

John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire KG, KB (24 November 1427[1] – 8 May 1473) was an English nobleman, the youngest son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. In 1461 he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath.

John Stafford
Earl of Wiltshire
Arms of Sir John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, KG
Born	24 November 1427
Died	8 May 1473
Spouse(s)	Constance Green
Issue Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire
Father	Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Mother	Anne Neville

Career

He fought on the Yorkist side at the Battle of Hexham in 1464. In 1469 he was made Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall for life. He was made Earl of Wiltshire on 5 January 1470[2] by King Edward IV, and was briefly arrested under Warwick's government and prevented from attending the Parliament of November 1470 (he was one of six Yorkist nobles not to receive a summons).[3] In return for his loyalty he was made Chief Butler of England, and was empowered, with Lord Mountjoy to pardon rebels who surrendered by 7 June that year.[4] He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1472.

Diplomacy

Not much is known, but he did act for some time as a diplomat, working with the Earl of Northumberland to deal with ambassadors of James III of Scotland about national grievances[5]

Personal life

He married Constance Green, daughter of Sir Henry Green of Drayton House Northamptonshire [5] and Margaret de Ros. They only had one child, Edward, who succeeded him as Earl of Wiltshire, although during the latter's minority he was kept as a ward of the King, meaning revenues from his estates were paid to the Crown.[6]

Ancestors of John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire

16. Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford 8. Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford 17. Margaret de Audley 4. Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford 18. Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick 9. Philippa de Beauchamp 19. Katherine Mortimer 2. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham 20. Edward III of England 10. Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 21. Philippa of Hainault 5. Anne of Gloucester 22. Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford 11. Eleanor de Bohun 23. Joan Fitzalan 1. John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire 24. Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby 12. John de Neville 25. Alice Audley 6. Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland 26. Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy 13. Maud Percy 27. Idoine de Clifford 3. Anne Neville 28. Edward III 14. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster 29. Philippa of Hainault 7. Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland 30. Payen de Roet 15. Katherine Swynford 31. ??

References

1. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/STAFFORD1.htm#John%20STAFFORD%20%281%C2%B0%20E.%20Wiltshire%29%5B%5D
2. The historic peerage of England: exhibiting, under alphabetical arrangement, the origin, descent, and present state of every title of peerage which has existed in this country since the Conquest; being a new edition of the "Synopsis of the Peerage of England" by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas and William Courthope, published 1857. On Google Books, accessed 6 February 2010.
3. Ross, C., Edward IV, Trowbridge 1975, p.155
4. Ross, C., Edward IV, Trowbridge 1975, p.150
5. Burke, J. (1831). A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. England. H. Colburn & R. Bentley. p. 493. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
6. Ross, C., Edward IV, Trowbridge 1975, p.380; this 'provided up to £1,400 a year towards the rebuilding of St George's Chapel at Windsor'.