My interest in the Ferrers or de Ferrers family stems from my 14xgreat grandmother, Anne, the only daughter and heiress of William de Ferrers, Baron Ferrers' of Chartley, co. Stafford. Anne was born c. November 1438, and died on January 9th, 1468/9. She married Sir Walter Devereux, who thus inherited the title Baron Ferrers of Chartley; Sir Walter fell at the famous Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 fighting for Richard III (he picked the wrong side!). They were married by 1446 (thus Anne was at most 7 years of age at her marriage - Sir Walter was six years older). Their daughter, Elizabeth, married into the Corbet family (a famous Shropshire family traceable back to the Norman invasion of 1066), and I am descended from their descendent, Hannah Corbet (1643-85). The following summary of Anne's de Ferrers ancestors is provided with acknowledgment to 'The Complete Peerage' from which most of this information is derived. Anne's father was:
Sir William de Ferrers, of Chartley, born 1412 or earlier, died 1450, married Elizabeth, daughter of Hamon Bealknap of Seintlynge. His father:
Sir Edmund Ferrers, of Chartley, born 1387 or earlier, died 1435, married Ellen, Lady of Castle Bromwich, 2nd daughter and coheir of Thomas Roche, of Castle Bromwich. His father:
Sir Robert de Ferrers, of Chartley, born 1357 or 1359, died 1412/3, buried at Merevale Abbey, married Margaret, 4th daughter of Sir Edward le Depenser, Lord of Glamorgan. His father:
Sir John de Ferrers, of Chartley, born 1331 at Southoe, slain at Najera in 1367, married Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph de Stafford, Earl of Stafford. Elizabeth's maternal grandmother, Countess Margaret de Clare, was the daughter of Joan of Acre, the daughter of King Edward I by Eleanor of Castile, and also has a separate line of descent from King Henry I. Elizabeth's great great grandfather, Baron Robert de Stafford, was the son of Pernel de Ferrieres, daughter of William de Ferrieres, 3rd Earl of Derby (see below). Sir John's father:
Sir Robert de Ferrers, of Chartley, born 1309, died 1350, married Margaret c. 1330. His father:
Sir John de Ferrers, of Chartley, Southoe and Keyston (Hunts), and Bugbrooke (Northants), born at Cardiff in 1271, died in Gascony c. 1312 (apparently of poison), married Hawise, Lady of Charlton, Norton, Bicknor, etc., daughter of Sir Robert de Muscegros. He was created Lord Ferrers sometime between 1297 and 1311. His father:
Robert de Ferrers, 6th and last Earl of Derby. Born c. 1239. Succeeded his father as Earl of Derby, 1254. He rebelled against King Henry III and seized three of Prince Edward's castles in 1263. He was imprisoned at the Tower of London and at Windsor Castle. In 1266 his lands were forfeited to the King's son, Edmund, and his Earldom effectively forfeited. He could have recovered his lands and, presumably, the Earldom by payment of £50,000, but was unable to raise the money. His son, John, in 1298 tried to borrow the money, but was prohibited by the King. Robert married c. 1249 Mary, the King's niece and daughter of Hugue XI, Count of La Marche and Angoulême, but had no male issue. He married secondly in 1269 Alianore, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Bohun of Kimbolton, son and heir apparent of Humphrey, Earl of Hereford and Essex. Robert died in 1279 and was probably buried at the Priory of St. Thomas at Stafford. Robert's father:
William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. Accompanied the King to France in 1230. Married c. 1219 Sibyl, 3rd daughter of William (the Marshal), Earl of Pembroke, by whom he had seven daughters, but no son. Married secondly c. 1238 Margaret, first daughter and coheir of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Invested with the Earldom at Westmoreland, 1247. He died at Evington, near Leicester, in 1254 and was buried at Merevale Abbey. His father:
William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby, or Earl of Ferrieres. Married in 1192 Agnes de Keveliok, sister and coheir of Randolf, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, and 3rd daughter of Hugh, Earl of Chester. He died in 1247. His father:
William de Ferrieres, 3rd Earl of Derby, or Earl of Ferrieres. Rebelled against King Henry II in 1173 and was imprisoned at Caen. He married Sibyl, daughter of William de Braiose, Lord of Bramber. He died on Crusade at the siege of Acre, in Palestine, in 1190. His father:
Robert de Ferrieres, 2nd Earl of Derby, or Earl of Ferrieres. Founded the Abbeys of Merevale, co. Warwick, and Darley, near Derby. Married Margaret, daughter and heiress of William Peverel of Nottingham, the younger. William de Peverel's father, of the same name, is said to have been an illegitimate son of William the Conqueror. Robert de Ferrieres died before 1160 and was buried at Merevale Abbey. His father:
Robert de Ferrieres, 1st Earl of Derby and 2nd Earl Ferrieres. Succeeded to the greater part of his father's possessions in England. For his services to King Stephen at the battle of the Standard in 1138, he was created Earl of Derby during that year, but died the following year, 1139. His father:
Henry de Ferrieres, from Ferriers-St. Hilaire, Eure. Sire de Ferrières and Chambrais in Normandy, Lord of Longueville, Normandy. 1st Earl Ferrieres. He is widely believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings, 1066, as his name appears on various versions of the Battle Abbey Roll, though it is impossible to be certain. He was a Domesday Commissioner, 1086, and held some 210 lordships and manors at the time of the Survey, mostly in co. Derby, but also in 14 other counties, by gift of William the Conqueror. Founded a priory of Benedictine monks near Tutbury, Staffs. He married Bertha. He was buried at Tutbury. His father:
Walkelin de Ferrieres. He was slain in the civil wars which distracted Normandy during the minority of Duke William, later William the Conqueror.
The name Ferrers means in French 'to bind with iron' or 'to shoe a horse'. Ferrières in Normandy was known for its iron-working industry. The Ferrers coat of arms was six black horseshoes on a silver background.
Please contact me by e-mail if you think you have any interests in common with mine.
Click here for details of other researchers with interests in the de Ferrers family.