William de Ferrières 4th Earl of Derby

  General Notes:

~Weis' Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition, 82:30, 127:29, 194:7, William de Ferrières, 4th Earl of Derby, was married to Agnes de Chester. They were parents of Sibyl who married to John de Vipont and William who married Margaret de Quincy.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
William de Ferrières, Earl of Derby & Ferrières, son and heir, had livery of his lands In 1190-91. He was Sheriff of Notts and Derby, for 7 weeks, Feb-Mar 1194. About that time, before the King's return to England, he supported the justiciar against John, Count of Mortain, and, with the Earl of Chester, besieged Nottingham Castle. Shortly afterwards he took part at Richard's second Coronation, 17 Apr, being one of the four Earls who bore the canopy.

After the King's death, he was at the Council of Northampton, which declared for John as Richard's successor & he was present at the Coronation, 27 May 1199. On 7 Jun 1199, the King restored and confirmed to him the third penny of all the pleas pleaded per vicecomitem de Dereby, unde ipse Comes est, as amply as any of his predecessors had had the same, to hold, to him and his heirs for ever, and with his own hand girded him with the sword as an Earl. On the same day the King gave him Higham with the hundred and a half, and the park of that town, and Newbottle and Blisworth, as his right and inheritance which descended to him as right heir of the land which was of William Peverel, to hold, to him and his heirs for ever, by the service of a knlght's fee. The Earl quit-claimed the residue of the land which was of William Peverel to the King, and paid 2,000 marks for his charter.

William de Ferrières was present at the Coronation of Henry III, 28 Oct 1216. On 30 Oct the King granted him the castles of Peak and Bolsover, Derbyshire, with the homages, and on 16 Jan 1216/7 the manor of Melbourne in that county, to hold till the King was 14 years of age. He assisted the Regent to raise the siege of Lincoln Castle, 20 May 1217, and with his brother-in-law, the Earl of Chester, commanded the royal forces which took and razed the castle of Montsorel. In Jun 1218 he went on Crusade. He was warned, 26 Jun 1222, to surrender the castles of Peak and Bolsover before Michaelmas. He was Sheriff of Lancashire and Keeper of the honor of Lancaster, 30 Dec 1223 to 2 Jan 1227/8. He accompanied the King In the expedition to Brittany and Poitou, April to October 1230. On 19 Jan 1230/1 he was given the custody of all the lands of the Normans in England, which were of his fee. He was at the Council of London, Feb 1231/2. He was summoned for Military Service against the Scots 15 May 1244, by writ directed W. de Ferar'comiti Derebi. Had license to make his will, 29 Apr 1247.

He married in 1192 Agnes (or Alice), sister and coheir of Randolf, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, and 3rd daughter of Hugh, Earl of Chester, by Bertrade, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Count of Evreux. On 22 Nov1232 they had livery of her purparty of her brother's lands, viz. of the castle and manor of Chartley, Staffordshire, the castle and vill of West Derby, Lancashire, with all the lands which Earl Randolf had held between Ribble and Mersey, the vills of Bugbrooke, Northants, and Navenby, Lincolnshire. On 12 Sep 1233 they had assignment of the knights' fees, late of the said Earl, which had been apportioned to them. He died 22 Sep 1247, having been long afflicted with the gout. His widow, the King having taken her homage, had livery, 12 Oct 1247, of her inheritance in the counties of Lancaster, Lincoln, and Stafford, including the castle of Chartley. She died 2 Nov 1247.

~Cokayne's Complete Peerage, 2nd Edition, (Derby), Vol. IV, pp. 194-6, Vol. XIV

William married Agnes of Chester Lady of Chartley, daughter of Hugh Kevelioc Earl of Chester, Vicomté d'Avranches and Bertrade de Montfort, in 1192 in Derbyshire, England.¹⁶⁰ (Agnes of Chester Lady of Chartley was born about 1174 in Chester, Cheshire, England and died on 2 Nov 1247 in Derbyshire, England ^141,160.)