INTRODUCTION. THE Stonor Family was certainly established at Stonor in Oxfordshire about five miles north of Henley early in the reign of Edward I, and no doubt derived its name from the place at which it has now had its home for over six centuries. The history of the family begins with Richard de Stonor, who about 1290 granted to Richard, his son and heir, and to Cicely, his, son's wife, a half virgate of land in. Bixbrand,1 a manor which was theh and long afterwards connected with Stonor. Richard the elder married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir John de Harnhull.2 Of Richard the younger we know no more than the name of his wife, by whom he had two sons, John and Adam, and the bald fact that in 1291 he acquired some land at Goldore near Watlington.3 The elder son of Richard the younger was Sir John de Stonor, who was, with two intervals, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for five and twenty years. He was the founder of the fortunes of his family and the most notable name in its history. Since he must have been of full age when he purchased the wardship of Thomas de la Hay at Henbury in 1307,4 and was a serjeant-at-law in 1313, he was probably born not later than 1285; and since he did not resign his office as Chief Justice till shortly before his death in 1354, it is not likely that the date of his birth was more than a few years earlier. During the early part of the reign of Edward II, John de Stonor occurs frequently as an advocate in the Year Books, and in 1313 he 1No. 1. 2 Pedigree ap. NASH, Worcestershire, i, 2; the pedigree is not quite accurate, but John de Harnhull lived in the reign of Edward I, and his daughter no doubt married Kichard de Stonor. s Ancient Deeds, C. 294: see vol. ii, p. 171. 4Id., C. 1185 : see vol. ii, p. 171. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 28 Sep 2021 at 18:05:27, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042171000005641 THE STONOR FAMILY. Richard de Stonor. = Margaret de Harnhull. /. 1290. Richard de Stonor = Cicelv. /. 1300. Sir John de Stonor = Maud FitzLewis. Adam de Stonor, d. 1354. d. 1326. Sir John de Stonor, = — Winard. William. Adam. Henry. Edmund. RobertI , Canon of Richard de Stonor, of Hurstmonceux, d. 1361. Wells, 1347. Edmund de Stonor = Margaret (?) de Lisle. Thomas, Parson of d. 1382. Westbridge, 1371. Edmund, John, Sir Ralph de Stonor, = Joan Belknap =(2) Edmund Hampden, Elizabeth. 06. v. p. d. 1383. d. 1394. d. 1420. Gilberiilbe t de Stonor, Thomas Stonor, = Alice Kirby,1 = (2) Richard Drayton, John Hampden,2 Edmund Hampden, Isabel = (1) Thomas Ramsey,5 d. 1396. d. 1431. d. 1^68. d. 1468. d. 1451. d. 1471. d. 1448. Thomas Stonor, = Joan, n. d. of William, Duke John. Alice = Humphry Forster. Elizabeth = Thomas Sakevyle. Maud = Hugh Lewis. Philippa = William Harleston. Joan. Anne, d. 1474. I of Suffo.k, d. 1494. or Isabel. Elizabeth Ryche (1), \ d. 1479. I = Sir William Stonor, = (3) Anne Netiille, Thomas Stonor, = Sybil Breknok. Edmund, Joan = John Cottesmore. Mary -= John Barantyne, Elizabeth or Isabel. Agnes Wydeslade (2), f d. 1494. d. 1488. d. 1512. I ? 4.1476, d. 1481. j Johin Stonor, = Mary Fortescue. Anne, t» Sir Adrian Fortescue, Sir Walter Stonor, Joan. d. 1498 ? d. 1518. 1539- d. 1540. Margaret = Thomas Wentworth. Frances = Thomas Fitzgerald, d. 1537- Whence the Lords Wentworth. 1 Alice Kirby probably had daughters by Richard Drayton. See p. xxii. -' Father of Thomas Hampden. See No. 75. * Father of Thomas Ramsey (A. 1500). See Nos. 144,157,177,179. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 28 Sep 2021 at 18:05:27, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042171000005641 viii THE STONOR LETTERS AND PAPERS was summoned to attend in Parliament as one of the Serjeants-at-law. On 24th September, 1314, he was appointed on a commission to inquire into allegations against the sheriffs in the counties of Gloucester, Here- ford, and Worcester.1 From 1316 onwards, he was employed on a variety of commissions relating to the ordinary administration of justice.2 A more import int service was his appointment on 26th June, 1319, as one of the justices to inquire into the alleged misgovernment of the Channel Islands under Otho' de Grandison; this inquiry was of long duration and of great importance for the constitutional history of the Islands.3 It marked the conclusion of Stonor's judicial apprenticeship, and had not been long completed when on 16th October, 1320, he was appointed one of the Justices of the Common Pleas.4 John de Stonor was no doubt a trusted official, who served without any political opinions of his own. No special significance can, therefore, be attached to his employment to pass judgment on the two Roger Mortimers in July, 1322, or to hold an inquiry concerning persons who had aided the King's rebels in the West Midlands in December, 13 23.° Nevertheless he must have been in the confidence of Edward II and his minister, Hugh le Despencer, for on 8th July, 1324 (before which date he had been knighted), he was one of those appointed to treat with the French King for a meeting, and for the surrender of the Castle of Mom- pezat in Gascony.6 He did not, however, leave England at this time, and his name appears in various commissions between July, 1324, and January, 1325. On 6th February, 1325, he was appointed with Arnold Gulilelmi de Byarn, William de Weston, and Peter de Galiciano to treat for marriages between the King's son and Eleanor, sister of Alfonso, King of Castile, and between Alfonso himself and the English princess, Eleanor, eldest daughter of Edward II.7 Stonor and his colleagues left England on 15 th February, and were at Valladolid in Easter-week (7th-i4th April), when he wrote home with news of their progress.8 Stonor's allowance for his expenses from 15th February to 27th August, on which day he returned to England, was at the rate of 6s. 8d. for each day at sea, and 13J. 4<£ for each day on land.9 During the last year of the reign of Edward II, Stonor continued in 1 Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edw. II, ii, 244. 2 Id., ii, 580, 598, 678, 686, etc. 3 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc, 3rd series, iii, 166-67. 4 Cal. Pat. Rolls, Edw. II, iii, 508. *ld., iv, 249, 385. "Id., v, 1; Fcedera, ii, 559. ''Id., ii, 587; Cal. Pat. Rolls, v, 84, 103; Cal. Close Rolls, iv, 344, 350. 8 No. 2. 9 Cal. Close Rolls, iv, 417. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 28 Sep 2021 at 18:05:27, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042171000005641 INTRODUCTION ix favour; he was employed in the summer.of 1326 on inquisitions in Staffordshire as to unlawful assemblies against the King's peace, and on 7th October, 1326, was appointed Keeper of the Castle of Wallingford.1 That his action was purely official is shewn by his reappointment as Justice of the Common Pleas, after the deposition of Edward II, on 31st January, 1327.2 In the autumn of that year, he was one of the Justices sent to try the rioters at Bury St. Edmund's,3 and in January, 1328, had similar employment as to the disturbances at Abingdon Abbey. On 22nd February, 1329, Stonor was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer, but on 3rd September following, returned to the Common Pleas as Chief Justice.4 In 1330 he was employed on the trial of the adherents of the Earl of Kent.5 In spite of his close associa- tion with the government under Isabella and Mortimer, he continued in office as Chief Justice till 2nd March, 1331.6 His removal on that date can hardly have been political, for on 1st April he was appointed Second Justice.7 That he was not in disfavour is further shewn by the pardon granted to him on 25th June, 1331, in consideration of his services and expenses for the late and present king, of the yearly farm of 45/. in respect of the Manor of Ermington.8 On 16th July, 1334, he vacated his office as Justice of the Bench, but was still employed on various commissions till his reappointment on 7th July, 1335, as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.9 It was whilst he was out of office that the Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury, suggested that Stonor should be asked to accept the post of Seneschal of the Monastery, as one who was "prudent, well-known, and beloved amongst the great". In June, 1335, the archbishop informed the Prior that Sir John de Stonor, whilst expressing his goodwill, had for many reasons begged to be excused.10 The only important event of Stonor's later years was his implication in the ministerial crisis of 1340, when he was one of those who, on the King's sudden return from Flanders in November, were removed from office and committed to the Tower.11 But after a short imprisonment he was restored to his office on 9th May, 1342.12 He then held it without interruption till shortly before his death.