Sir William Ruffus Knight

   Another name for William was Sir William Rous Knight.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁰²⁵
Caldecote was perhaps the half-fee held in 1166 by Herbert Ruffus of the Bishop of Coventry, [Red Book of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 263] Coventry and Chester being then alternate titles of the see. In 1201 Margaret widow of William Ruffus, then wife of William Fitz Odo, claimed the manor as dower against William grandson of Herbert Ruffus. [Bracton, Note Bk. no. 1733; Curia Regis R. i, 413, 419.] William Ruffus succeeded and in 1228 his possession of the manor as half a knight's fee in Caldecote was apparently disputed by William le Archer. [Cal. Close, 1227-31, p. 93] The latter conveyed the manor in that year to William Ruffus, [Feet of F. (Dugd. Soc. xi), no. 433] but in spite of this a long controversy ensued between the descendants of Ruffus and le Archer. William Ruffus, or le Rous, left two daughters, Margaret and Enycina as his heirs. [Wm. Salt Soc. vi (i), 73] Margaret was married about 1255 by the Bishop of Chester to Richard son of Richard de Alanson (or Alizun), [Ibid. 52] but they subsequently separated, and in 1270 Margaret recovered the manor against Richard de Alanson and William de Morteyn, who had married Enycina. [Ibid. 52] Four years later Nicholas le Archer grandson of William le Archer sued Margaret for the manor but she refused to plead without her sister. [Ibid. 65, 67] They based their claim upon the fine of 1228 and the suit dragged on for several years, during which Enycina was succeeded by her son William de Morteyn, [Before 1282] and Nicholas by a son Nicholas le Archer of Sybertoft. [Between 1282 and 1284: (ibid. 123.)] By 1284 William de Morteyn also was dead and had been succeeded by his nephew Roger son of Roger de Morteyn.

A History of the County of Warwick: Volume IV, pp. 40-42

• Background Information. ¹³⁴⁷
In 1159 Henry II granted it to Herbert le Rous (or Ruffus) in fee farm for £4 a year. [Cartae Antiquae R. (P.R.S. N.S. xxxiii), p. 105] Herbert, described by the king in his grant as serviens meus, was almost certainly a member of the royal household [Thus in 1160-1 the king paid him £8 for the purchase of horses: S.H.C. i. 32] and was probably a kinsman of one or more of Henry II's household officials surnamed le Rous; [T. F. Tout, Chapters in Admin. Hist. of Med. Eng. i. 109, 113-15; R. W. Eyton, Court, Household, and Itinerary of King Henry II, passim] his son Richard later became chamberlain to the king's son-in-law the duke of Saxony. [S.H.C. ii (1), 4] Herbert was still alive in 1166. [S.H.C. i. 156]

Herbert or his son William died c. 1177 with William's son William, a minor, as heir. The boy was not at first put in ward, perhaps because his uncle Richard was abroad; instead the sheriff managed the estate from 1177 until 1189. Richard then became guardian. The fee-farm rent paid by the sheriff was raised twice, to £5 3s. in 1179 and £6 from 1180, apparently because the manor had been restocked. [Ibid. 89 sqq.; ii (1), 4; Curia Regis R. i. 413, 419] William came of age in 1197-8 [S.H.C. ii (1), 74,81] and was holding the manor at the old rent of £4 in 1212. [Bk. of Fees, i. 142. It was stated c. 1200 that he held by archer-service: ibid. 348] Henry II's grant was confirmed to him in 1227. [Cal. Chart. R. 1226-57, 32; Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), i. 157] He was described as a knight in 1235. [Cal. Papal L. i. 147] He died in 1247, [Homage had been taken from the husband of one of the coheirs by 31 Oct.: Ex. e Rot. Fin. ii. 22] and the manor was divided between his daughters Emecina and Margery.

By 1247 Emecina had married Geoffrey de Bakepuse. [Ibid.] He was still alive in 1255, [Shaw, Staffs. i, app. to Gen. Hist. p. xvii; S.H.C. v (1), 105-6] but by 1262 she was the wife of William de Morteyn. [C 66/77 m. 12d. Several earlier writers give this husband as Eustace de Morteyn, who was in fact William's father.] She was still living in 1275, [S.H.C. vi (1), 67-8] but about then her son Sir William de Morteyn succeeded to her share of the manor. [Ibid. 123; Cal. Close, 1272-9, 339] He died in 1283, holding the moiety from the Crown in fee farm, and was succeeded by his nephew Roger de Morteyn [S.H.C. 1911, 187-8; V.C.H. Warws. iv. 40], who had been knighted by 1298. [Knights of Edward I, iii (Harl. Soc. lxxxii), 204]

A History of the County of Stafford: Volume XXI, pp. 169-175