Dear Glen ~
For your interest, I've copied below my current file account of the Stapleton-Deviock and related families.
In response to your specific question, the identity of the husband of Margaret Stapleton [Generation 10, ii below] is not clear in contemporary records. We know of Margaret's existence from two records, namely the will of her grandmother, Margaret
Hakeluyt, dated 1414, and a Common Pleas lawsuit dated 1470. The 1470 lawsuit clearly identifies two daughters for Margaret Stapleton, namely Mary and Christine. There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the 1470 lawsuit as both Mary and Christine
and their respective husbands appear with other Stapleton family members in other contemporary records cited below. Unfortunately the 1470 lawsuit does not give the maiden names of either Mary or Christine, who were Margaret Stapleton's daughters. As
such, it is necessary to fall back on other records to tell us their surname.
According to Lennard & Vincent, Vis. of Warwick 1619 (H.S.P. 12) (1877): 54–56, Margaret's daughter Mary was the "daughter and heir of Leonard Stapleton.”
And, according to Tresswell & Vincent, Vis. of Shropshire 1623, 1569 & 1584 1 (H.S.P. 28) (1889): 157–158 , Margaret's daughter Christine was the "daughter and heir of John Stepleton, of Stepleton, Knt."
As you can see, both visitations assign the surname Stapleton to both Mary and Christine, but differ as to the name of their father. Clearly Leonard Stapleton is an error, as Leonard was the known brother of Margaret Stapleton herself, thus uncle to the
two girls.
That leaves us with the statement in the Shropshire visitation that Christine was the daughter and heir of John Stepleton, Knt. I'm suspicious of this statement as there doesn't appear to be a Sir John Stapleton in the right generation to be the
husband of Margaret Stapleton. Be that as it may, it should still be considered to be a possibility
Inasmuch as both visitations assign Stapleton as the birth surname of both Mary and Christine, I'm inclined to accept those statements, albeit the name of the father differ in these accounts.
Should you encounter additional information regarding this matter, by all means, be sure to let me know.
Douglas Richardson, Author
+ + + + + + + + +
9. MARGARET LONGLAND, daughter and co-heiress, born about 1362 (aged 18 in 1380). She married (1st) JOHN DEVIOCK (or DEVYOK, DEVIOKE). They had one daughter, Margaret. JOHN DEVIOCK died before 16 August 1380. In 1381 Roger Lamarl sued Margaret Devyok,
John Fareweye and Agnes his wife, and John Rewenon [Ruynon] and Joan his wife, daughters and heirs of John Langelond in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £40. In 1384 William Bowyer, Citizen and skinner of London, sued Margaret Devyok in
the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £20. Margaret married (2nd) before 1394 LEONARD HAKELUYT (or HAKLUYT), Knt., of Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, and, in right of his wife, of Grove (in South Brent), Somerset, and Degembris (in Newlyn East),
Tremough, and Carveth (in Mabe), Cornwall, Knight of the Shire for Herefordshire, 1385, 1388, 1394, Escheator of Herefordshire, 1401–2, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 1402, 1408–9, Knight of the Shire for Somerset, 1404, 1406, son of Edmund Hakluyt, Knt.,
of Longland, Herefordshire, by his wife, Emma. He was born about 1352. They had no issue. In 1388 he sued Thomas Gournay, of Over ?Waye, in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £6 7s. 8d. In 1390 he claimed the manor of Shepton Mallet,
Somerset, by virtue of a prior settlement dated 1368. In 1394 and again in 1411, he and Margaret his wife made a settlement of her lands. In 1394 he sued Roger Pauncefot in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Weston by
Yarkhill, Herefordshire. In 1394 and 1398 John Coleman, Thomas Blast, and two others, executors of the will of Joan, widow of Edmund Fitz Herbert, sued him in a Sussex plea regarding a debt of 25 marks. In 1399 he sued Hugh Frensch, parson of the
church of Zedfyn, and John Drake in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £20. In 1404 he was granted the keeping of Mawardyn and Much Marcle, Herefordshire as long as the manors remain in the king’s hand. The same year he presented to the
church of Shepton Mallet, Somerset. In 1408 he sued William More, of Linton, Herefordshire, and others in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Much Marcle, Herefordshire. In 1409 he sued Thomas Mill and others in the Court of
Common Pleas regarding a debt of £28 8s. 11d. He was a legatee in the 1410 will of Thomas Clanvowe, Knt. In 1412 he sued Richard Amquy and John Amquy in the Court of Common Pleas in a Somerset plea regarding a trespass. At an unknown date, Margaret
his wife claimed the right to dig turves in the manor of Edington, Somerset by a grant dated c.1269–89 made by John Fitz Geoffrey, lord of Edington, to her ancestor, Hugh de Langlonde and Eleanor his wife. SIR LEONARD HAKELUYT left a will dated 3
August 1413, proved 17 August 1413. His widow, Margaret, took a vow of perpetual chastity 2 October 1413. In Jan. 1413/4 she was dispensed from a vow she voluntarily made for life to fast every Saturday, which she was unable to do owing to the
infirmity of her body. In 1414 Margaret was co-heiress to her Furneaux cousin, Alice Blount, wife successively of Richard Stafford, Knt., and Richard Stury, Knt. Margaret left a will dated 29 July 1414, proved 11 August 1414, requesting burial in the
church of the Friars Minor at Bridgwater, Somerset by her late husband, Sir Leonard Hakluyt.
Coll. Top. et Gen. 1 (1834): 243–248 (Furneaux ped.: “The furst doughter Margaret [Longland] maried Leonard Hakeluet, kt. of whom commyth Stepulton of Shroppeshier, and had for his parte lands besides Warmester, and in divers places.”). Benolte,
Vis. of Somerset 1531, 1573 & 1591 (1885): 108 (Furneaux ped.: “Margerett [Longland], ux. Leonard hackluit.”). Antiq. 14 (1886): 115 (Deviock arms: Party per saltier argent and sable). Weaver, Somerset Incumbents (1889): 180. List of Sheriffs for
England & Wales (PRO Lists and Indexes 9) (1898): 60. Giffard & Bowett, Regs. of Walter Giffard & Henry Bowett, Bishops of Bath & Wells (Somerset Rec. Soc. 13) (1899): 57. Procs. Bath Natural Hist. & Antiq. Field Club 9 (1901): 188–201. Weaver,
Somerset Medieval Wills 1 (Somerset Rec. Soc. 16) (1901): 61–62 (will of Leonard Hakeluyt, Knt.), 66–67 (will of Margaret Hakeluyt). Bubwith, Reg. of Nicholas Bubwith Bishop of Bath & Wells 1 (Somerset Rec. Soc. 29) (1914): 148, 167. Somerset &
Dorset Notes & Queries 16 (1920): 281–285 (Furneaux ped. dated 1421: “Et predicta Margareta [de Longland] prima filia predictorum Johannis [de Longland] et Isabelle marritata fuit Johanni Devyok et habuerunt exitum Margaretam [Devyok] que fuit
marritata Johanni Stepulton et habuerunt exitum Leonardum Stepulton.”). C.F.R. 9 (1926): 214–215; 12 (1931): 279–280. Year Books of Richard II 7 (Ames Found. 10) (1929): 159–166. Rowe & Tapley-Soper, Cornwall Feet of Fines 2 (Devon & Cornwall
Rec. Soc. 1950) (1950): 75, 109. VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 96–103. Chancery Misc. 3 (List & Index Soc. 26) (1967): 255. Dunning, Hylle Cartulary (Somerset Rec. Soc. 68) (1968): 62. Cal. IPM 15 (1970): 101–102. List of Escheators for England &
Wales (List & Index Soc. 72) (1971): 61. Roskell, House of Commons 1386–1421 3 (1992): 265–267 (biog. of Leonard Hakluyt). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/483, image 415 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no483/483_0415.htm). Court of
Common Pleas, CP40/494, image 92 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no494/494_0092.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/511, image 130 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no511/511_0130.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/533,
image 108 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no533/533_0108.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/533, image 147 (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no533/533_0147.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/553, image 1339d (available
at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT4/R2/CP40no553/bCP40no553dorses/IMG_1339.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/589, image 57f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no589/aCP40no589fronts/IMG_0057.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/594, image 1102d
(available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no594/bCP40no594dorses/IMG_1102.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/605, image 608f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no605/aCP40no605fronts/IMG_0608.htm). Court of King’s Bench, KB27/550, image 93f
(available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/R2/KB27no550/aKB27no550fronts/IMG_0093.htm).
10. MARGARET DEVIOCK, daughter and heiress, evidently born before 1380. She married before 1400 (as his 1st wife) JOHN STAPLETON (or STEPULTON), Esq., of Stapleton, Shropshire, Dormington, Herefordshire, etc., Knight of the Shire for Shropshire, 1421,
2nd son of John Stapleton, of Stapleton and Oaks (in Pontesbury), Shropshire, Dormington, Herefordshire, etc., by Katherine, daughter and co-heiress of Edward Burnell, of Langley, Shropshire. They had one son, Leonard, Esq., and two daughters, Margaret
and Elizabeth. His wife, Margaret, died before 1421. He married (2nd) ] MARGERY _____. They had three daughters, Joyce (wife of Thomas Horde), Joan (wife of Thomas Walwyn and Richard Bondy), and Mary (wife of Thomas Acton). In 1421 his 1st wife
Margaret’s son, Leonard Stapleton, was her representative as one of the co-heirs named in the division that year of the estates of her Furneaux cousin, Alice (Blount) (Stafford) Stury. In 1438 there was a fire at his moated manor house at Stapleton,
Shropshire. In 1443 William Adam, of Longden, and Richard Adam, of Cardington, granted John Stepulton, of Stapleton, Shropshire, the manor and advowson of the church of Stapleton, Shropshire for life, with successive remainders to Leonard Stepulton and
his heirs; the heirs of the said John begotten on the bodies of Margery his wife and Margaret his late wife; John [Talbot], Earl of Shrewsbury, and Margaret his wife and their heirs. JOHN STAPLETON, Esq., was living in 1446, but died before 1450. In
1470 Thomas Horde and Joyce his wife sued John Leghton, Richard Bondy and Joan his wife, Robert Cresset and Christine his wife, Robert Mountfort, and Thomas Acton in the Court of Common Pleas in a plea that should be permitted to make a partition of the
manors of Stepulton, Armegrove, and Folhampton (in Wistanstow), Shropshire, which formerly belonged to John Stepulton, Esq., father of the said Joyce.
Coll. Top. et Gen. 1 (1834): 243–248. Benolte, Vis. of Somerset 1531, 1573 & 1591 (1885): 108 (Furneaux ped.: “Margerett, ux. John Stepleton.”). Bye-gones (1903): 195. Colls. Hist. Staffs. 1914 (1914): 221. Somerset & Dorset Notes & Queries 16 (
1920): 281–285 (Furneaux ped. dated 1421: “Et predicta Margareta [de Beaupre] prima filia predictorum Johannis et Isabelle marritata fuit Johanni Devyok et habuerunt exitum Margaretam [Devyok] que fuit marritata Johanni Stepulton et habuerunt exitum
Leonardum Stepulton.”). Wedgwood, Hist. of Parliament 1 (1936): 534–535 (biog. of John Leighton), 469 (biog. of Thomas Horde). VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 96–103. VCH Shropshire 8 (1968): 164, 266. Roskell, House of Commons 1386–1421 3 (1992):
265–267 (biog. of Leonard Hakluyt); 4 (1992): 461–462 (biog. of John Stapleton). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/835, image 625f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no835/aCP40no835fronts/IMG_0625.htm). National Archives, CP 25/1/195/22, #
26; CP 25/1/195/22, #27 [see abstract of fines at
http:// www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/index.html].
Children of Margaret Deviock by John Stapleton, Esq.:
i. LEONARD STAPLETON (or STEPULTON, STEPILTON), Esq., of Grove (in South Brent), Somerset, and, in right of his 2nd wife, of Sezincote, Gloucestershire and Milcote, Warwickshire, son and heir by his father’s 1st marriage, born in or before 1400 (minor
in 1418, of age in 1421). He was a legatee in the 1413 will of his step-grandfather, Leonard Hakluyt, Knt. He was a legatee in the 1414 will of his grandmother, Margaret Hakluyt. In the period, 1426–32, he sued Hugh Stapleton, Gent., and Hugh his
son in Chancery for killing his horses and cattle at Stapleton, Shropshire, and lying in wait to kill him. He served as one of the feoffees for Edward Benstede, Knt. in 1429. In 1435 he, John Greville, and others were pardoned for acquiring the manor
of Braunton Gorges, Devon without license from Theobald Gorges alias Russell. He married (1st) before Trinity 1441 MARY _____. In 1441 he and Mary his wife sold the manor of Walton in Gordano, Somerset to Thomas Hethe for 200 marks of silver. In 1442
he and Mary his wife settled his manor of Grove (in South Brent), Somerset on themselves and their issue, with reversion to the right heirs of Leonard. He was appointed one the executors of the 1444 will of Edward Leighton, of Stretton in the Dale,
Shropshire. He married (2nd) before 11 March 1445/6 JOYCE COKESEY (or COOKSEY), widow of Walter Beauchamp, Knt. [see POWICK 10.i], of Brewham, Somerset (died before 1427), and John Greville, Esq. [see POWICK 10.i], of Sezincote, Ebrington, Lasborough (
in Westonbirt), and Meon, Gloucestershire (died 30 Sept.1444), and daughter of Walter Cokesey, Esq., of Great Cooksey (in Upton Warren), Caldwell (in Kidderminster), Great Witley, and Sutton (in Tenbury), Worcestershire, Hunningham, Warwickshire, etc.,
by Maud (descendant of King John), daughter of Thomas Harcourt, Knt. [see HARCOURT 8.ii for her ancestry]. She was born about 1406 (aged 40 in 1446, 54 in 1460). In 1444, as “Joyce Beauchampe, formerly wife of John Grevel, of Sesyncote, Esq.,” she
and her sons, John and Maurice Grevel, were admitted members of the gild of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Joyce was heiress in 1445 to her brother, Hugh Cokesey, Knt., by which she inherited the manors of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, Bramley and
Little Bookham, Surrey, Bidlington (in Bramber), Sussex, Hunningham and Willey, Warwickshire, Great Cooksey (in Upton Warren), Worcestershire, etc. He was granted an exemption for life from being put on assizes, juries, recognitions, etc. in 1448.
LEONARD STAPLETON, Esq., died before 1450. In the period, 1448–56, as “Joice widow of Sir Walter Beauchamp, Knt., and late the wife of Leonard Stepulton, Esq.” she sued William Bastard and two others, feoffees of Leonard Stepulton, Esq., in
Chancery regarding the manor of Grove (in South Brent), Somerset and lands in Warminster, Wiltshire. In 1460, as “Joyce Beauchamp,” she sued Edmund Busshell, Gent., of Marston Sicca, Gloucestershire, and another in the Court of Common Pleas
regarding a trespass at Pebworth, Gloucestershire. Lady Joyce Beauchamp presented to the church of Witley, Worcestershire in 1461. In 1463 Joyce Beauchampe, widow, sued John Fadyr, Gent., of Buckenham Castle, Norfolk, in the Court of Common Pleas
regarding the theft of charters, writings, and muniments. In 1465, as “Lady Joyce Beauchamp, sister and heiress of Hugh Cokesey, knight,” she demised the site of a watermill at Horsley, Cheshire, together with a watercourse called Horseleywell, for
a term of 40 years to William Underwoode, of Peckforton, Cheshire, and his son, John. In 1465, as “Joyce Beauchamp, widow,” she sued John Colyn, of Willey, Warwickshire, husbandman, regarding a trespass at Willey, Warwickshire. The same year, as “
Joyce widow of Walter Beauchamp,” she sued Robert Kyng, of Cranley, Surrey, carpenter, and five others regarding a trespass at Cranley, Surrey. In 1467 she sued Ralph Fitz Herbert, Gent., of Yoxall, Staffordshire, and others in the Court of Common
Pleas regarding breaking into her close at Eyton (in Dovedale), Derbyshure and cutting down her trees. She presented to the chapel of St. Mary, Kidderminster, Worcestershire in 1468 and 1469, as “Lady Joyce Beauchamp, sister and heir of Hugh Cokesey,
Knt.,” and again in 1473 as “Joyce Beauchamp, widow.” In 1469 she founded the chantry of St. Catherine in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. In 1470 she sued William Russhale, of Tymber Hougle, Worcestershire, husbandman, in the Court of Common Pleas
regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Tymber Hougle, Worcestershire. Joyce died 19 July 1473, and was buried in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Dugdale, Antiqs. of Warwickshire (1730): 72–73 (Herdeburgh ped.). Collins, Peerage of England 3 (1756): 661–663 (sub Grevile, Earl Brooke). Universal Mag. of Knowledge & Pleasure 27 (1760): 318–319. Nash, Colls. for the Hist. of Worcestershire 2
(1782): 50 (Cokesey ped.), 52, 57, 468–469. Fosbrooke, Abstracts of Recs. & MSS respecting the County of Gloucester (1807): 392–396. Lysons & Lysons, Magna Britannia 5 (1817): 129–142. Ormerod, Hist. of Chester 2 (1819): 333 (Cokesay ped.), 336
337. Coll. Top. et Gen. 6 (1840): 74–75. Lipscomb, Hist. & Antiqs. of Buckingham 1 (1847): 267–268 (Greville ped.). Sussex Arch. Colls. 8 (1856): 97–131. Napier, Swyncombe & Ewelme (1858): 30–34, 46. Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 37 (
1876): 156–157. Genealogist 6 (1882): 28 (Calendar of Lambeth Wills: “Grevyle, John, Esq. Diocese of Worcester. [Date: 1445]. 128a Stafford.”). Colls. Hist. Staffs. 6 (1883): 320–321 (will of Edward Leighton); n.s. 4 (1901): 150, 152.
Benolte, Vis. of Somerset 1531, 1573 & 1591 (1885): 108 (Furneaux ped.: “Leonard Stepleton.”). Fortescue, Governance of England (1885): 43. Tresswell & Vincent, Vis. of Shropshire 1623, 1569 & 1584 2 (H.S.P. 29) (1889): 424–427 (St. Peter ped.:
Jocosa [Cocksey] soror et hæres nupta Joh’s Greuill de Camden”). Desc. Cat. Ancient Deeds 1 (1890): 505–516; 3 (1900): 282. C.P.R. 1422–1429 (1901): 539. Weaver, Somerset Medieval Wills 1 (Somerset Rec. Soc. 16) (1901): 61–62 (will of
Leonard Hakeluyt, Knt.), 66–67 (will of Margaret Hakeluyt). Feudal Aids 4 (1906): 384. Green, Feet of Fines for Somerset 4 (Somerset Rec. Soc. 22) (1906): 100, 103. C.P.R. 1429–1436 (1907): 456. C.P.R. 1446–1452 (1909): 154. VCH Surrey 3 (1911)
: 80–86, 335–338. VCH Worcester 3 (1913): 158–173, 173–179, 231–234; 4 (1924): 328–331 (Cooksey arms: Argent a bend azure with three cinqfoils or thereon), 372–375. Maxwell-Lyte, Docs. & Extracts illus. History of the Honour of Dunster (
Somerset Rec. Soc. 33) (1917): 162–163, 165. Ligon, Madresfield Muniments (1929): 11–17. VCH Warwick 6 (1951): 117–120, 259–261. VCH Sussex 6(1) (1960): 200–214. VCH Gloucester 6 (1965): 100; 11 (1976): 264–269, 285–288. VCH Wiltshire
8 (1965): 96–103. VCH Shropshire 8 (1968): 164. Roskell, House of Commons 1386–1421 3 (1992): 240–242 (biog. of John Greville). Brooks & Pevsner, Buildings of England: Worcestershire (2007): 298. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/796, image 1348d (
available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no796/bCP40no796dorses/IMG_1348.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/807, image 648f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no807/aCP40no807fronts/IMG_0648.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/814,
image 1138d (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no814/bCP40no814dorses/IMG_1138.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/814, image 1203d (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no814/bCP40no814dorses/IMG_1203.htm). Court of Common
Pleas, CP40/837, image 310d (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no837/bCP40no837dorses/IMG_0310.htm). Devon Rec. Office: Fortescue of Castle Hill, 1262M/TG/7 (Thomas Lyttylton styled “cousin and counsel” by Dame Joyce Beauchamp in
letter dated c.1456) (available at
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk). National Archives, C 1/7/159 (Date: 1426–32: Leonard Stepilton, Esq. v. Hugh Stepilton, Gent., and Hugh his son); C 1/17/64; C 146/1289; E 210/11278 (available at
http://
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk). National Archives, CP 25/1/195/22, #26; CP 25/1/195/22, #27 [see abstract of fines at
http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/index.html].
ii. MARGARET STAPLETON. She was a legatee in the 1414 will of her grandmother, Margaret Hakluyt, who bequeathed her 10 marks. She married after 1414 _____ (possibly JOHN STAPLETON). They had two daughters, Mary and Christine (or Christian). Margaret
died sometime before 1455. Eyton, Antiqs. of Shropshire 6 (1858): 118. Weaver, Somerset Medieval Wills 1 (Somerset Rec. Soc. 16) (1901): 66–67 (will of Margaret Hakeluyt). Colls. Hist. Staffs. 1914 (1914): 221. VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 96–103.
Court of Common Pleas, CP40/835, image 625f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no835/aCP40no835fronts/IMG_0625.htm).
Children of Margaret Stapleton, by uncertain husband, _____ (possibly John Stapleton):
a. MARY STAPLETON, daughter and co-heiress. She married before 1455 ROBERT MONTFORT (or MOUNTFORT, MOUNFORD), Esq., styled “the younger,” of Church Bickenhall, Warwickshire, younger son of Baldwin Montfort, Knt., of Avon Dassett, Warwickshire, by
his wife, Joan Vernon. They had one daughter, Katherine (wife of George Booth, Esq.). In 1455 John Leighton, Robert Mounford and Mary his wife, Robert Cresset and Christine his wife, Thomas Hord and Joyce his wife, Thomas Walwen and Joan his wife, and
Thomas Acton, coheirs in the lands and tenements of John Stepulton, Esq., presented to the Free Chapel of St. John the Baptist at Stapleton, Shropshire. In 1465 he was accused of treason. His wife, Mary, died before Easter term 1470 (date of lawsuit).
In 1470 Thomas Horde and Joyce his wife sued John Leghton, Richard Bondy and Joan his wife, Robert Cresset and Christine his wife, Robert Mountfort, and Thomas Acton in the Court of Common Pleas in a plea that should be permitted to make a partition of
the manors of Stepulton, Armegrove, and Folhampton (in Wistanstow), Shropshire, which formerly belonged to John Stepulton, Esq., father of the said Joyce. He may be the Robert Mountfort, Esq., “of Wykenhyll,” who issued a bond in 1477 to John Archer,
Esq., of Tanworth, in the penal sum of £40 not to hinder or threaten any messenger bringing deeds from the house of William Kynge in Shrewsbury, Shropshire to the house of John Archer.
Dugdale, Antiqs. of Warwickshire 2 (1730): 1007–1008 (Mountfort ped.). Eyton, Antiqs. of Shropshire 6 (1858): 118. Lennard & Vincent Vis. of Warwick 1619 (H.S.P. 12) (1877): 54–56 (Montfort ped.: “Rob. Montford of Colshall in Com. Staff. = Mary d.
& heire of Leonard Stapleton.”). Willmore, Hist. of Walsall & its Neighbourhood (1887): 280, 281–283 (Montfort ped.), 284–286. Wrottesley, Staffordshire Suits: Plea Rolls (Colls. Hist. Staffs. n.s. 4) (1901): 186. Bye-gones (1903): 195. Desc.
Cat. Ancient Deeds 5 (1906): 163. Trans. Shropshire Arch. & Natural Hist. Soc. 4th Ser. 5 (1915): 221. VCH Warwick 4 (1947): 35 (author distinguishes him from his uncle, Robert Montfort, the elder, of Monkspath, in Tamworth, Warwickshire); 5 (1949):
168. TAG 26 (1950): 12–25. VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 96–103. VCH Stafford 17 (1976): 171. Carpenter, Locality & Polity (1992): 661. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/835, image 625f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no835/
aCP40no835fronts/IMG_0625.htm). Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Recs. Office: Archer of Tanworth, DR 37/2/Box 73/37 (bond dated 19 May 1477 from Robert Mountfort, Esq. to John Archer, Esq.) (available at
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk).
b. CHRISTINE (or CHRISTIAN)) STAPLETON, daughter and co-heiress. She married (1st) before 1455 ROBERT CRESSETT (or CRESSET), Esq., of Upton Cressett, Shropshire, Sheriff of Shropshire, 1468–9, 1484–5, son and heir of Hugh Cressett, Esq., Sheriff of
Shropshire, 1435. They had one son, Thomas, Esq., and one daughter, Joyce (wife of Ralph Lane and Edward Burton, Gent.). In 1455 John Leighton, Robert Mounford and Mary his wife, Robert Cresset and Christine his wife, Thomas Hord and Joyce his wife,
Thomas Walwen and Joan his wife, and Thomas Acton, coheirs in the lands and tenements of John Stepulton, Esq., presented to the Free Chapel of St. John the Baptist at Stapleton, Shropshire. In 1470 Thomas Horde and Joyce his wife sued John Leghton,
Richard Bondy and Joan his wife, Robert Cresset and Christine his wife, Robert Mountfort, and Thomas Acton in the Court of Common Pleas in a plea that should be permitted to make a partition of the manors of Stepulton, Armegrove, and Folhampton (in
Wistanstow), Shropshire, which formerly belonged to John Stepulton, Esq., father of the said Joyce. In 1480 he sued William Barbour, of Nether Larden, Shropshire, laborer, executor of the will of John More, of Nether Larden, Shropshire, in the Court of
Common Pleas regarding a debt of £6. In 1483 her cousin, William Roynon, quitclaimed all his land he had in Warminster, Wiltshire which he had by feoffment of Leonard Stapleton to George Booth and Katherine his wife, John Leighton, and Robert Cressett
and Christian his wife. The same year John Leghton, Esq., George Bothe, Esq., Robert Cresset, Esq., and James Aysse, Esq., sued William Brent, Gent., of Warminster, Wiltshire, and others in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at
Warminster, Wiltshire. The same year John Leghton, Esq., Robert Cresset, Esq., and George Boothe, Esq., sued John Nuehall, of Bedak,Cornwall, yeoman, and another in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Bedak, Cornwall. ROBERT
CRESSETT, Esq., left a will proved 27 April 1490. His widow, Christine, married (2nd) _____ EYTON, and (3rd) ROBERT BURTON, Knt., of Longnor, Shropshire, son and heir of Edward Burton, Knt., of Longnor, Shropshire. Christine died before 1495.
Debrett, Peerage of the United Kingdom 2 (1820): 933 (“sir Robert Burton, knt., had the first grant of arms May 22, 1473; he m. Christa Stapleton, daughter of sir John Stapleton, knt. and relict of Robert Cressett, of Upton Cressett, co. Salop”).
Owen, Hist. of Shrewsbury 2 (1825): 230–231. Burke Hist. of the Commoners 4 (1838): 261–267 (sub Burton). Eyton, Antiqs. of Shropshire 6 (1858): 118. Tresswell & Vincent, Vis. of Shropshire 1623, 1569 & 1584 1 (H.S.P. 28) (1889): 157–158 (
Cressett ped.: “Robertus Cressett de Uton Cresset in com. Salop [Sheriff 1469].= Xpiana fil. et hær. Joh’es Stepleton de Stepleton mil. 2 nupta …. Eyton et 3 [postea] …. Byrton Burton.”) (Cressett arms: Azure, a cross and bordure both
engrailed or). Trans. Shropshire Arch. & Nat. Hist. Soc. 2nd Ser. 6 (1894): 180–181. List of Sheriffs for England & Wales (PRO Lists and Indexes 9) (1898): 118–119. Bye-gones (1903): 195. Wrottesley, Lane of King’s Bromley (Colls. Hist. Staffs.
3rd Ser. 1910) (1910): 155–163. Trans. Shropshire Arch. & Natural Hist. Soc. 4th Ser. 5 (1915): 221. VCH Wiltshire 8 (1965): 96–103. Faraday Cal. of Hereford Probates 1407–1550 (2009): 130. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/835, image 625f (available
at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no835/aCP40no835fronts/IMG_0625.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/871, image 724f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/E4/CP40no871/aCP40no871fronts/IMG_0724.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/883, image 431f
(available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/E4/CP40no883/aCP40no883fronts/IMG_0431.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/883, image 498d (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/E4/CP40no883/bCP40no883dorses/IMG_0498.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/892,
image 1286d (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/R3/CP40no892/bCP40no892dorses/IMG_1286.htm).
iii. ELIZABETH STAPLETON, married (as his 1st wife) EDWARD LEIGHTON, of Stretton en le Dale and Leighton, Shropshire, son and heir of John Leighton, Esq., of Leighton, Shropshire, by Maud, daughter and heiress of Walter Cambray, Esq. They had four sons,
John, Esq., Edward, Cuthbert, Knt., and Richard, and three daughters, Elizabeth (wife of William Lyster), Alice, and Joyce. His wife, Elizabeth, died before 1444. He married (2nd) before 1444 SIBYL _____. EDWARD LEIGHTON left a will dated 1444, proved
4 March 1456 [P.C.C.], requesting burial in the chapel of St. Mary in the church of Stretton in le Dale, Shropshire. In 1472 John Leyghton, executor of the will of Edward Leyghton, of Stretton, Shropshire, sued William Mynde, Gent., of Mynde, Shropshire,
executor of the will of John Mynde, Gent., of Mynde, Shropshire, in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £10.
Botfield, Stemmata Botevilliana (1858): 163–165, 183–188 (Leighton ped.). Colls. Hist. Staffs. 6 (1883): 320–321 (will of Edward Leighton). Bye-gones (1903): 195. Burke, Gen. & Heraldic Hist. of the Peerage & Baronetage (76th ed., 1914): 1192–
1194 (sub Leighton). Trans. Shropshire Arch. & Natural Hist. Soc. 4th Ser. 5 (1915): 221. Wedgwood, Hist. of Parl. 1 (1936): 534–535 (biog. of John Leighton). VCH Shropshire 8 (1968): 164. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/835, image 625f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no835/aCP40no835fronts/IMG_0625.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/841, image 531f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/E4/CP40no841/aCP40no841fronts/IMG_0531.htm).
Child of Elizabeth Stapleton, by Edward Leighton:
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