1473 August 18. "Commission to enquire ... concerning certain farms for lands granted and divers other sums of money and yearly profits ... which were paid to the kings progenitors ... but which ... have not been fully paid for a long time, and to certify thereon before the king and council at Westminster in the quinzaine of Michaelmas next ... Nicholas Langford knight, Henry Vernon, Nicholas Knyveton, Ralph FitzHerbert, Henry Stathum, John Cursum, Thomas Fraunceys, Thomas Poutrell, Robert Eyre, John Fitzbyrd the elder, Thomas Hunt, Ralph Sacheverell, John Bradshawe, Laurence Lowe, and the sheriff in the county of Derby." [1]
1474-84 A lot and cope at Hartington and in Wirksworth Socage was farmed to John and Ralph Fitzherbert for lead smelting. [2]
1481 On 12 February, "Ralph Fitzherbert, esquire of Northbury co. Derby, and John his son, gentleman, to John Cokeyne, esquire of Ashbourne co. Derby. Bond in 500l. payable at Easter or levied etc. in Derbyshire. Condition, that if Ralph and John Fitzherbert stand and obey the award of William lord Hastynges, arbitrator indifferently chosen on either part as to the title and possession of eighteen messuages, 500 acres of land, 80 acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture and 3 acres of wood in Great Clyfton co. Derby, concerning which premises the said Ralph sued John and Thomas Cokeyne by an assize of novel disseisin, and faithfully carry out that judgement, if delivered before St. Cedd's feast, this recognisance shall be avoided etc. Condition, that if Ralph and John Fitzherbert stand and obey the award of William lord Hastynges, arbitrator indifferently chosen on either part as to the title and possession of eighteen messuages, 500 acres of land, 80 acres of meadow, 200 acres of pasture and 3 acres of wood in Great Clyfton co. Derby, concerning which premises the said Ralph sued John and Thomas Cokeyne by an assize of novel disseisin, and faithfully carry out that judgement, if delivered before St. Cedd's feast, this recognisance shall be avoided etc. Condition as in former entry, mutatis mutandis." [3]
1482 "De Banco. Trinity. 22 Ed 4. m. 159. Derb.-- Ralph Fitzherbert sued John Cokyne (Cokayne) for lands and tenements in Parwyche of which John Fitzherbert, his kinsman, and whose heir he was, had been seised temp. Ed. 3." The pedigree drawn from the case indicates that Ralph Fitzherbert, the plaintiff, claimed to be son of Nicholas, son of Henry, son of William, son of William, son of John Fitzherbert, seised temp. E. 3. [4]
1483/84 Ralph Fitzherbert of Norbury died on 2 March 1483/84. His will was dated 20 December, 1483 and was proved 16 January, 1484/85. Bequests were left to several religious organizations; eldest son John; son Thomas; daughter Edith; daughter Agnes, sons-in-law Thomas Babyngton and Richard Lyster; sister Isabella Babyngton; and others. [5] [6] [7]
An inscription at Norbury Church, no longer visible, was recorded [8]:
The dart of death that no man may flee
Nay the common lawe of mortallitie
Hath demaunded to be buried here
The body of Rafe Fitzherbert, Squiere,
Patrone of this Church and of this towen Lord
The which deceased yeares of our Lord
One thousand four hundred eighty and three
Of Marce the second day thus parted bee
With him is layd upon this sepulture
Elsabeth his wyfe begon in sure
Daughter of John Marshall
Esq. Lord of Upton and of Sedaall.
Seven sonnes lies and eight daughters they had here
In this lyfe together whilst that they were.
Merciful Jesu that pitiest mankind,
In thy blysse graunt them a place to fynde.
Prestes ambobus requiem Deus.
Rafe Fitzherbert, son of Nicholas Fitzherbert, had sons John (heir) and Anthony. [9]
1490 On 20 October, Elizabeth Fitzherbert, widow of Ralph Fitzherbert of Norbury and daughter and heir of John Marshall of Upton and Sibbesdon, wrote her will and named several children: to John F. my eldest son ... to my Doughter Benet ... to Henry F. my son ... to hys wyffe [unnamed] ... to Thomas F. my sone ...to Richard F. my sone ... to William F. my sone ... to my sone Antony F. ... to Edithe Babyngton my Doughtur ... And Anne B. her Doughter ... to Margery Purfrey my doughter ... to Dorathe Cumberford my doughter ... to Angnes Lyster my Doughter ... to Richard Lyster ... to Thomas Babyngton ... to John Lyster ... Witnesses: Thomas Purfrey ... my sonnes Thomas Babyngton, Thomas Purfrey. Prove date 1 August. [10] [11]
1490 Cox reports that [12]:
Elizabeth Fitzherbert, heiress of Marshall, by her will, dated Oct. 24th, 1491, desired to be buried in the church (?) of S. Barlok, in Norbury, near her husband Raufe. This will is not at Lichfield, nor at the Will Office, London, so that we cannot give the exact phraseology. We are, however, inclined to think that the chapel of S. Barlok in the church of Norbury was intended. There is no mention of any S. Barlok or Burlok in the Acta Sanctorum, or Alban Butler. We have consulted that eminent hagiologist, Rev. S. Baring Gould, and he writes to us—"I suspect S. Barlok was a local saintly abbot of some neighbouring Benedictine abbey, whose history has, alas! disappeared with the stores of such histories which were lost at the Reformation."
1483-96 A funeral monument for Lady Elizabeth Fitzherbert is at Norbury. [13] "The memorial to Fitzherbert in Norbury church is ... thought to have been made at the same time as the matching memorial to Nicholas Fitzherbert from Chellaston alabaster. Ralph's feet rest on a lion; next to it and under Ralph's shoe crouches the small figure of a bedesman. The bearded bedesman is telling his rosary for the souls of the departed. Ralph bears the Yorkist livery collar of alternating suns and roses, with the White Boar livery badge of Richard III as a pendant. ... Fitzherbert died two years before Richard III lost his crown and life in the nearby Battle of Bosworth. [14] [15]
1500 Thomas Fitzherbert [Thomas Fitzherbert was third son of Ralph Fitzherbert, 11th lord of Norbury, by Elizabeth Marshall. He was presented by his brother John.] was rector of Norbury church, on the death of Henry Prince; patron, John Fitzherbert, 12th lord of Norbury. [16]
1515 Conveyance from Vincent Lowe, esq., to Anthony Fitzherbert, Serjeant at law, German Pole, Nicholas Fitzherbert, esquires, Denis Lowe, Robert Lowe, and William Moreton, gentt., of his manors and lordships of Compteyn [? Compton in Ashbourne] and Denby, and all his lands in Asshebum, Bradley, Fenton, Eton [Cold Eaton], Sturston, Clyfton, Osmaston, and Merton, Co. Derby: to uses specified in indentures dated 2 July, 7 Hen. VIIL, between Thomas Cokeyne, of Ashbourne, Knt., and the said Vincent. Dat. 8 July, 7 Hen. VIII. [1515]. Signed, Vyncent Lowe. (Drury-Lowe.) [17]
1518 Ralph Lister was rector of Norbury church, on the resignation of Thomas Fitzherbert; patron, John Fitzherbert. [18]
1529 Fine levied at Easter, 20 Hen. VIII. [1529], whereby Richard Paynell and Isabella his wife convey to Anthony Fitzherbert, knt., Justice " de communi Banco'," John Porte, knt., German Pole, Robert Batley, Robert Lowe, Denis Lowe, and William Mourton, two messuages, 300 acres of land, etc., in Denby, Fenton, Sturston, and Bradley. (Drury-Lowe.) [19]
1535 John Fitzherbert [He was of the Somershall branch of the Fitzherberts, and held the vicarage of Dovebridge from 1520 to his death in 1551.] was rector of Norbury church, on the death of Ralph Lister. in the person of John Pypis; patron, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, 14th lord of Norbury. [20]
Research Notes:
The 1583 visitation of Staffordshire reports descent through "Nicholaus Fitzherb't de Norbury, sup'stes an'o 30 H.6." married to "Alicia, filia Henrici Boothe de Arleston" with son "Rad'us Fitzherb't de Norbury" married to "Elizabetha, filia et cohaeres ... Marshall de Upton in Com. Leicestr. ... filia, nupta ... Comberford, cui peperit Humfridum Cumberford." [21] Ancestry is reported for "Raulf Fitzherbert of Norberye, Esq'r, eldest sonne." married to "Elizabeth, daughter and sole heir of John Marschall of Upton in the Com. of Leicester.". Raulf was the son of "Nicholas Fitzherberte of Norberye in the Countie of Derby" and "Alice, daughter of Henry Booth of Arleston." [22]
Burke reports that Ralph Fitzherbert, 11th Lord of Norbury, married Elizabeth only daughter and heiress [to Upton] of John Marshall of Upton in Leicestershire [23]. We are following a line of Dorothy (one of their six daughters), who reportedly married to Thomas Comberford, of Comberford. [24] [25] [26]
In addition to six daughters, Ralph and Elizabeth had six identified sons: John, Henry, Anthony, Thomas, William, and Richard [27] [28].
"Elizabeth [Marshall] Fitzherbert had a number of children: Margaret, Dorothy (who married Thomas Comberford), John (died 1531), Henry (died before 1532), Thomas (died 1532), Richard, William, and Anthony. So many of his sons died young, that it was his sixth son, Anthony, who eventually succeeded him as Lord of the manor of Norbury. The seven sons are shown as figures on the side of Ralph's memorial. They are not shown in the order of their birth. First is shown Richard, who became a knight of Rhodes, and then Thomas, who was the rector of Norbury from 1500 to 1518 and precentor of Lichfield Cathedral. The third figure is thought to be John, who was the heir and is thought to have commissioned the memorials for his parents and his grandfather in Nottingham Alabaster. The fourth to be shown is Henry, with a purse, who was a mercer in London. The final three are thought to include William, prebendary of Hereford Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral and Chancellor of Lichfield as well being rector of Wrington in Somerset, and Anthony, who was the most notable. Anthony and William were boys when their mother's will, dated 14 October 1490, was read. Under the terms of that will, John was required to pay five pounds a year to cover Anthony's studies. This investment led to him being a leading and eminent English judge." [29]
1513 Henry VIII surrendered land in Holmesfeld for the use of Thomas Fitzherbert [perhaps a son of Ralph and Elizabeth Fitzherbert]. [30]
[1] Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV. Henry VI, 1467-1477, Vol. 51 (London: HMSO, 1900), 408, [GoogleBooks], [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[2] I. S. W. Blanchard, "Derbyshire Lead Production, 1195-1505," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 91 (1971), 119-140, at 137.
[3] K. H. Ledward, Calendar of the Close Rolls, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III: 1476-1485 (London: HMSO, 1954), 223, [BritishHistoryOnline], [GoogleBooks].
[4] George Wrottesley, "Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls," The Genealogist a Quarterly Magazine of Genealogical, Antiquarian, Topographical, and Heraldic Research, New Series, 20 (1904), 96, [HathiTrust].
[5] Reginald H. Fitzherbert, "Will of Ralph Fitzherbert, Esq., of Norbury, A.D. 1483," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 19 (1897), 94-100, at 94, [GoogleBooks], [InternetArchive].
[6] John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1 (London: Henry Colburn, 1834), 79, in "Fitz-Herbert of Norbury and Swinnerton," pp 78-82, [GoogleBooks].
[7] Frederick Herbert Crossley, English Church Monuments, A. D. 1150-1550, (London: 1921), 19, Photograph of church monument, reports death date 1473 sic, [HathiTrust].
[8] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 237-238, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[9] Sir William Dugdale, Derbyshire visitation pedigrees, 1569 and 1611 (London: 1895), 35, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[10] Reginald Fitzherbert, "Will of Elizabeth Fitzherbert, widow of Ralph Fitzherbert, Esq, of Norbury, Derbyshire, Dated 20th October, 1490," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 20 (1898), at 32, [GoogleBooks].
[11] Isaac Herbert Jeayes for Sir Henry Howe Bemrose, Descriptive catalogue of Derbyshire charters in public and private libraries and muniment rooms (London: Bemrose & Sons, 1906), 222, Item 1770, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[12] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 246, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[13] Frederick Herbert Crossley, English Church Monuments, A. D. 1150-1550, (London: 1921), 198, Photograph of church monument of Elizabeth Fitzherbert, [HathiTrust].
[14] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 236, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[15] Wikipedia article about Ralph_Fitzherbert, content subject to change, had a color picture on 4 February, 2012, [Wikipedia].
[16] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 231, citing a list of the rectors and patrons of Norbury, compiled from the Diocesan Registers and the returns of the Augmentation Office, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[17] Isaac Herbert Jeayes for Sir Henry Howe Bemrose, Descriptive catalogue of Derbyshire charters in public and private libraries and muniment rooms (London: Bemrose & Sons, 1906), 11, Item 90, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[18] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 231, citing a list of the rectors and patrons of Norbury, compiled from the Diocesan Registers and the returns of the Augmentation Office, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[19] Isaac Herbert Jeayes for Sir Henry Howe Bemrose, Descriptive catalogue of Derbyshire charters in public and private libraries and muniment rooms (London: Bemrose & Sons, 1906), 118, Item 960, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[20] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 231, citing a list of the rectors and patrons of Norbury, compiled from the Diocesan Registers and the returns of the Augmentation Office, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[21] H. Sydney Grazebrook, ed., Visitation of Staffordschire made by Robert Glover, Mareschall to William Flower, 1583 (1883), 74-75, [HathiTrust].
[22] H. Sydney Grazebrook, ed., Visitation of Staffordschire made by Robert Glover, Mareschall to William Flower, 1583 (1883), 72-73, [HathiTrust].
[23] Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, & Knightage, 107th edition, Vol. 3 (Willington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage & Gentry, LLC, 2003), 3710.
[24] John Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1 (London: Henry Colburn, 1834), 79, in "Fitz-Herbert of Norbury and Swinnerton," pp 78-82, [GoogleBooks].
[25] J Charles Cox, "Norbury Manor House and the Troubles of the Fitzherberts," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 7 (1885), 221-259, at 221, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].
[26] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 238, describes the shields on the monument for the wife of Ralph Fitzherbert, one of which is the Marshall shield, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[27] Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, & Knightage, 107th edition, Vol. 3 (Willington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage & Gentry, LLC, 2003), 3710.
[28] J Charles Cox, Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. 3, "the Hundred of Appletree and Repton and Gresley" (1877), 237, [InternetArchive], [GoogleBooks].
[29] Wikipedia article about Ralph_Fitzherbert, content subject to change, [Wikipedia].
[30] the editors, "The Court Rolls of the Manor of Holmesfield, Co. Derby," Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 20 (1898),52-128, at 77, [GoogleBooks], [HathiTrust].