The Lord Stafford
Born1572
Malpas, Cheshire
Died1640
Noble familyStafford
FatherRichard Stafford
MotherMary Corbet

Roger Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford, was the son of Richard Stafford, a younger son of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and Ursula Pole. He was forced to give up the Stafford barony in 1637 on the grounds of poverty.

Roger was born about 1572, the eldest child of Richard Stafford and Mary Corbet, daughter of John Corbet and Anne Booth.[1][unreliable source] He had a younger sister Jane Stafford (b. abt 1581).

Roger was known by the name Floyde (or Fludd) as a youth, for reasons not recorded. He is thought to be the Floyde listed as a servant of George Corbet of Cowlesmore, Shropshire, his mother's brother, in a document owned by the Stafford family.[2]

Loss of the barony

Henry Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford, died without direct heirs. The barony was limited to the heirs male of the body[2] of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford, and the next male heir was through the line of Richard, one of his other sons.

On the death of the 5th Baron, Roger petitioned Parliament for the title, at the age of sixty-five. A commission was appointed to examine his claim, headed by Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester. Eventually, the claim reached King Charles I who denied it on grounds of Stafford's poverty.[3] The judgment read "that the said Roger Stafford, having no part of the inheritance of the said Lord Stafford, nor any other lands or means whatsoever…should make a resignation of all claims and title to the said Barony of Stafford, for his majesty to dispose of as he should see fit".[2] He surrendered the title by deed on 7 December 1639 for a sum of £800.[4] Such a surrender is now deemed to have been unlawful.[5][6]

Roger died unmarried in 1640, the title line becoming extinct. The title of Baron Stafford was again created, by patent, on 12 September 1640 for Sir William Howard. Howard had married Mary Stafford, the sister of Henry Stafford, 5th Baron.[2]

References

  1. ^ Tudor Place Stafford Genealogy
  2. ^ a b c d A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. by John Burke Publisher Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831
  3. ^ 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, Retrieved 23 January 2010
  4. ^ Collins's peerage of England; genealogical, biographical, and historical, Volume 9 by Arthur Collins and Sir Egerton Brydges, Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and son, 1812.
  5. ^ The Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England (vol 4), (p97) by Thomas Christopher Banks, published J. White, 1837. Google Books, checked 23 January 2010
  6. ^ Barron, Oswald (1911). "Howard (family)" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 832.
Peerage of England Preceded byEdward Stafford Baron Stafford 1637–1639 Surrendered
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