Biography of Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby 1364-1396

Before 1st March 1350 [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 14) and [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 16) were married. She the daughter of [her grandfather] Thomas Beauchamp 11th Earl Warwick (age 37) and [her grandmother] Katherine Mortimer Countess Warwick (age 36). He the son of [her grandfather] Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford (age 48) and [her grandmother] Margaret Audley Countess Stafford. They were second cousin once removed. He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King John of England.

Around 1364 Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby was born to [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 28) and [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 30). She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

On 31st August 1372 [her grandfather] Ralph Stafford 1st Earl Stafford (age 70) died. His son [her father] Hugh (age 36) succeeded 2nd Earl Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford. [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 38) by marriage Countess Stafford.

In or before 1383 Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 18) and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 18) were married. She the daughter of Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 46) and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 48). They were second cousin once removed. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Around 1383 [her daughter] Maud Neville Baroness Haversham was born to [her husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 19) and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 19). Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. She married before 6th September 1415 her third cousin Piers Mauley 5th Baron de Mauley, son of Piers Mauley and Margery Sutton Baroness Ferrers Harewood Baroness Haversham.

In 1386 [her daughter] Philippa Neville Baroness Dacre of Gilsland was born to [her husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 22) and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 22) at Raby Castle, County Durham [Map]. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. She married before 20th July 1399 Thomas Dacre 6th Baron Dacre Gilsland, son of William Dacre 5th Baron Dacre Gilsland, Baron Multon of Gilsand and Joan Douglas Baroness Dacre Gilsland, and had issue.

On 16th October 1386 [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford (age 50) died returning from his Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His son [her brother] Thomas (age 18) succeeded 3rd Earl Stafford, 4th Baron Stafford.

Around 1387 [her son] John Neville was born to [her husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 23) and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 23) at Raby Castle, County Durham [Map]. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. He married before 4th April 1406 his third cousin once removed Elizabeth Holland, daughter of Thomas Holland 2nd Earl Kent and Alice Fitzalan Countess Kent, and had issue.

On 17th October 1388 [her father-in-law] John Neville 3rd Baron Neville of Raby (age 51) died. His son [her husband] Ralph (age 24) succeeded 4th Baron Neville Raby. Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 24) by marriage Baroness Neville Raby.

Around 1390 [her brother] Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford (age 22) and Anne of Gloucester Plantagenet Countess Eu and Stafford (age 7) were married. She by marriage Countess Stafford. She would, eight years later marry his younger brother [her brother] Edmund Stafford 5th Earl Stafford (age 11); an example of a Married to Two Siblings. She the daughter of Thomas of Woodstock 1st Duke of Gloucester (age 34) and Eleanor Bohun Duchess Gloucester (age 24). He the son of [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 56). They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

Around 1392 [her son] Ralph Neville was born to [her husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 28) and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 28) at Raby Castle, County Durham [Map]. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. He married in or before 1416 his fourth cousin Mary or Margery Ferrers, daughter of Robert Ferrers and Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland, and had issue.

On 4th July 1392 [her brother] Thomas Stafford 3rd Earl Stafford (age 24) died at Westminster [Map]. His brother [her brother] William (age 16) succeeded 4th Earl Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford.

Before 20th October 1392 [her brother-in-law] Thomas Holland 1st Duke Surrey (age 18) and [her sister] Joan Stafford Countess Kent (age 14) were married. She the daughter of [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 58). He the son of Thomas Holland 2nd Earl Kent (age 42) and Alice Fitzalan Countess Kent (age 42). They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Before 1394 [her brother-in-law] Michael de la Pole 2nd Earl Suffolk (age 32) and [her sister] Katherine Stafford Countess Suffolk (age 17) were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk. She the daughter of [her father] Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and [her mother] Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford (age 59). He the son of Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk and Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk.

On 6th April 1395 [her brother] William Stafford 4th Earl Stafford (age 19) died at Pleshey Castle [Map]. He was buried at Tonbridge, Kent [Map]. His brother [her brother] Edmund (age 17) succeeded 5th Earl Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford.

On 9th June 1396 Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby (age 32) died. She was buried at St Brandon's Church, Brancepeth.

Before 29th November 1396 [her former husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 32) and Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland (age 17) were married. She by marriage Baroness Neville Raby. She the illegitmate daughter of John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster (age 56) and Katherine Swynford aka Roet Duchess Lancaster (age 46). They were half fifth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England. She a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 21st October 1425 [her former husband] Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 61) died. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Staindrop [Map]. His grandson [her grandson] Ralph (age 19) succeeded 2nd Earl of Westmoreland. [her granddaughter-in-law] Elizabeth Percy Countess of Westmoreland (age 30) by marriage Countess of Westmoreland.

Monument to Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland and his wives Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby and Joan Beaufort Countess of Westmoreland (age 46). Early Plate Bascinet Period. Orle. Man with Two Wives.

Elizabeth Percy Countess of Westmoreland: Around 1395 she was born to Henry "Hotspur" Percy and Elizabeth Mortimer Baroness Camoys at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland [Map]. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England. Around 1404 John Clifford 7th Baron Clifford and she were married. She by marriage Baroness de Clifford. They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England. In 1426 Ralph Neville 2nd Earl of Westmoreland and she were married. They were second cousin once removed. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England. On 26th October 1436 Elizabeth Percy Countess of Westmoreland died.

Effigy of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland and his Wives. The [her former husband] Earl of Westmorland lived until the reign of Henry the Sixth (age 8), and was buried at Staindrop [Map], where he had founded and amply endowed a collegiate church. In the chancel of this edifice was erected an altar-tomb, bearing his effigy and those of his two wives, but which has since been removed, with reckless ignorance and barbarous feeling, to an obscure corner in the south-west quarter. His first wife, whose figure reposes on the left hand of that of the Earl himself, was Margaret, eldest daughter of [her father] Hugh Earl of Stafford, by [her mother] Philippa (age 96), daughter of [her grandfather] Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Joan de Beaufort (age 51), his second wife, was the only daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by his concubine Catherine Swinford, whom he afterwards espoused. Joan was the widow of Robert Ferrers. She died A. D. 1340, and, although she is commemorated by an effigy at Staindrop (the monument most probably being prepared during the life-time of herself and her husband), she was buried in Lincoln cathedral [Map], near her mother, under an altar-tomb, with the following epitaph:

Filia Lancastrise Ducis, inclita sponsa Johanna [Daughter of the Duke of Lancaster, the famous wife Johanna]

Westmorland primi subjacet hic comitis. [Westmorland the first earl is subject here]

Desine, scriba, suas virtutes promere, nulla [Cease, scribe, to earn your virtues, no]

Vox valeat merita vix reboare sua. [A voice worthy of its merits can scarcely be restored]

Stirpe, decore, fide, fama, spe, prece, prole, [Stock, adornment, faith, reputation, hope, prayer, offspring]

Actubus et vita polluit ymmo sua. [He pollutes?? his own life and activity]

Natio tota dolet pro morte, Deus tulit ipsam [The whole nation mourns for death, God has taken it]

In Bricii festo C. quater M. quater X. [On the feast of Bricius, 1425]

[her daughter] Margaret Neville Baroness Scrope Bolton was born to Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. She married 4th June 1418 her fourth cousin Richard Scrope 3rd Baron Scrope of Bolton, son of Roger Scrope 2nd Baron Scrope of Bolton and Margaret Tiptoft Baroness Scrope Bolton, and had issue.

[her daughter] Anne Neville was born to Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. She married her fifth cousin once removed Gilbert V Umfraville.

[her daughter] Elizabeth Neville was born to Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%.

[her daughter] Alice Neville was born to Ralph Neville 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Margaret Stafford Baroness Neville Raby. Coefficient of inbreeding 1.59%. She married before 1404 her fourth cousin Thomas Grey of Werke and Heaton and had issue.