Ralph 3Rd Baron BASSET, Of Drayton, Sir

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BARONY of BASSET (of Drayton) (III)

RALPH (BASSET), LORD BASSET OF DRAYTON, grandson and heir, aged 8 in 1343, being son and heir of Ralph Basset, by Alice, daughter of Nicholas AUDLEY [LORD AUDLEY], of Heleigh, co. Stafford which last Ralph was son and heir apparent of the last Lord, and died v.p. about 1335. He had livery of his father's lands 6 June 1355. He joined the army of the Black Prince, and was at Bordeaux 8 January 1355/6. He was summoned to Parliament from 26 December 1357 to 6 December 1389 and greatly distinguished himself in the various wars with France. K.G., 1368. On 30 October 1386, at the age of 51 he was a deponent in the Scrope and Grosvenor controversy.

He married 1stly about May 1338, Joan, daughter of Thomas BEAUCHAMP), EARL OF WARWICK, by Catherine daughter of Roger (MORTIMER), EARL OF MARCH. She died s.p. He married, 2ndly, Joan (sister of John, DUKE OF BRITTANY and COUNT OF MONTFORT in France, EARL OF RICHMOND in England), daughter of Jean DE BRETAGNE, COUNT OF MONTFORT, by Jeanne, daughter of LOUIS DE FLANDRE, COUNT OF NEVERS. He died s.p., 10 May 1390. He was buried under a " goodly monument in Lichfield Cathedral, " when the Barony became dormant,. or, possibly fell into abeyance between the heirs of his two great aunts (f). His widow obtained a grant, 23 April 1398, of the Honour of Richmond (formerly belonging to her brother) which, however was resumed by Henry IV. She died 8 November 1402, and was buried in the Abbey of Lavendon, near Olney, Bucks. [Complete Peerage II:3-6, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(f) The heirship of the last Lord is somewhat doubtful. As to many of the estates the heir was found to be, according to one inq., Thomas, Earl of Stafford, son of Hugh, son of Ralph, son of Margaret Basset, sister to the grandfather of the deceased; but, according to another inq., the heirs were (1) the said Earl of Stafford and (2) Alice, wife of William Chaworth, descended from Maud, a sister of the said Margaret, who m. Sir William Herriz. These findings were confirmed by another inq. (1403), on the death of Joan, widow of the last Lord Basset. It is certain that the last Lord devised all his estates to his nephew ("mon neveu"), Hugh Shirley, and the heirs male of his body, with remainder to William Stafford (brother of the Earl of Stafford), and to divers others. It is certain, also, that the Shirley family inherited, by this devise, considerable estates in the counties of Nottingham, Leicester, and Warwick (touching which Sir Ralph Shirley had a memorable dispute with the Earl of Stafford), many of which remained in the Shirley family till the death of Earl Ferrers in 1827. Isabel, the mother of Hugh Shirley, appears to have been sister of the last Lord Basset--possibly of the half blood--which, even were she his paternal sister, would at that time have precluded heirship; but inasmuch as Alice, mother of the last Lord, m. Hugh de Meinill, she might, not improbably, have been a bastard sister, and "the last Francis Townshend, Esq, Windsor Herald (1784-1819), on the authority of Robert Glover, Somerset, a most learned and skilful herald, considered the illegitimacy of Isabel Shirley to be indisputable; quoting a lineal descendant and heir, in which she is called natural sister of the last Baron, and the coat assigned to her is debruised by a baton. If the illegitimacy of Isabel be established, this dignity (the Barony of Basset) would be in abeyance between the representatives of Thomas, Earl of Stafford (who is presumed to be the present Baron Stafford), and those of the said Dame Alice Chaworth, who (upon the decease of her great-granddaughter and heir), in 1507, were (1) Joan, wife of Sir Thomas Dynham; (2) Elizabeth, wife of Anthony Babington; and (3) Anne, wife of William Mering, who dsp.

A tabular pedigree of the coheirs of this Barony (on the supposition that Isabel Shirley was a bastard) is in Coll. Top. et Gen., vol vii, p. 257, while at p. 392 of the same volume, are given the arguments in favour of her legitimacy; which are also urged (with, perhaps still greater force) by Sir Egerton Brydges in Collins, vol iv, p. 91.

Courthope adds this note, which shows a belief (right or wrong) in the Shirley family that the Barony of Basset had vested in them: "It may here be remarked as an instance of unaccountable negligence or ignorance, that in the Patent creating George Townshend, Lord Ferrers of Chartley and Lord Compton (heir general of the above Sir Thomas Shirley and Isabel Basset) to be Earl of Leicester in 1784, he is called Baron de Ferrers of Chartley, Baron Bourchier, Lovaine, Basset, and Compton. In 1784 it is unquestionable that the Baronies of Ferrers of Chartley and Compton were vested, jure matris, in the Hon. George Townshend, but it is confidently alleged that he was not legally possessed either of the Baronies of Bourchier, Lovaine, or Basset. As it would scarcely be imagined that titles of honour should be lightly attributed in a patent under the Great Seal, this assertion requires to be supported by facts, and the following brief account of each of the Baronies in question may be deemed satisfactory. . . ."

Note: The patent to George Townshend in 1784 recognizes Isabel as a legitimate heir and sister of Ralph Basset, 3rd/Last Baron of Drayton.

Ralph married Joan Of BRITTANY, Countess Of Richmond in 2ND Wife. Joan was born before 1345 in Richmond, North Riding Yorkshire, England; died on 8 Nov 1402 in Lavendon Abbey, Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ralph married Joan BEAUCHAMP about May 1338 in 1st Wife. Joan was born about 1335 in Warwick Castle, Warwick, Warwickshire, England; died in Deceased. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Died:
(Dvp)

Ralph married Alice De AUDLEY on 22 May 1334 in Heleigh Castle, Audley, Staffordshire, England. Alice (daughter of Nicholas 1St Baron De AUDLEY, Of Heleigh, Sir and Joan MARTIN) was born about 1315 in Heleigh Castle, Audley, Staffordshire, England; died about 1365 in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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