[Footnote 1: There is amongst the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster an
interesting grant from John, Duke of Lancaster, to his daughter Joan
Beaufort, very soon after her marriage with Lord Neville of Raby. This
document, of which the following is a translation, proves that Robert
Ferrers died before 16th February, 1397.
"John, son of the king of England, Duke of Guienne and of Lancaster, Earl
of Derby, of Lincoln, and of Leicester, Steward of England, to all who
these our letters shall see or hear, greeting. Know ye that, of our
especial grace, and forasmuch as our very loved son, the Lord de Neville,
and our very loved daughter, Joan, his wife (sa compaigne), who was the
wife (femme) of Monsieur Robert Ferrers (whom God assoyl), have surrendered
into our Chancery, to be cancelled, our other letters patent, whereby we
formerly did grant unto the said Monsieur Robert and our aforesaid daughter
400 marks a-year, to be received annually, for the term of their two lives,
out of the issues of our lands and lordships of our honour of Pontefract,
payable, &c., as in our said other letters more fully it is contained: we,
willing that our abovesaid son, the Lord de Neville, and our aforesaid
daughter, his wife (sa compaigne), shall have of us, for the term of their
two lives, 500 marks a-year, or other thing to the value thereof, have
granted by these presents to the same, our son and daughter, all those our
lordships, lands, and tenements in Easingwold and Huby, and our three
wapentakes of Hang, Hallikeld, and Gilling, the which Monsieur John Marmyon
(whom God assoyl) held of us in the county of York: to have and to hold our
abovesaid lordships, tenements, and wapentakes, with their appurtenances,
to our said son and daughter, for the term of their two lives, and the life
of the survivor of them, in compensation for 100l. a-year, part of the
abovesaid 500 marks yearly. And also, we have granted by these presents to
the same, our son and daughter, the manor of Lydell, with appurtenances, to
have and to hold for their lives, and the life of the survivor, in
compensation for 40 marks a-year of the abovesaid 500 marks yearly, during
the wars or truces between our lord the king and his adversary of Scotland:
so, nevertheless, that if peace be made between our same lord the king and
his said adversary of Scotland, and on that account the said manor of
Lydell, with the appurtenances, shall be found lawfully to be of greater
and better yearly value than the said 40 marks a-year, then our said son
and daughter shall answer to us, during such peace as aforesaid, for the
surplusage of the value of the said manor, beyond the said 40 marks a-year,
and the yearly reprises of the said manor. And in full satisfaction of the
aforesaid 500 marks a-year we have granted to our abovesaid son and
daughter 206l. 13s. 4d. yearly, to be received out of the issues of our
honours of Pontefract and Pickering, by the hands of our receiver there for
the time being. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be
made patent. Given under our seal, at London, on the 16th day of February,
in the twentieth year of the reign of our most dread sovereign lord King
Richard the Second after the Conquest" (A.D. 1397).
The above grant was confirmed on the 10th of September, in the
twenty-second of Richard the Second, 1398, by the eldest son of John of
Gaunt, Henry of Lancaster, Duke of Hereford, a few weeks only before the
duke's banishment, in the following words: "We, willing to perform and
accomplish the good will and desires of our said very honoured lord and
father, and in the confidence which we have in our said very loved brother,
now Earl of Westmoreland, that he will be a good and natural son to our
said very dread lord and father, and that he will be to us in time to come
a good and natural brother, and also because of the great affection which
we bear towards our said very loved sister, the countess his wife (sa
compaigne), do, for us and our heirs, as far as in us lies, ratify and
confirm to our said brother and sister the aforesaid letters patent, &c.
Given under our seal, at London, on the 10th day of September, in the
twenty-second year of the reign of our most dread lord King Richard the
Second after the Conquest."
King Henry the Fifth, on his accession, by a patent under the seal of the
duchy of Lancaster, dated at Westminster, on the 1st of July, in the first
year of his reign, confirmed the above letters "to the aforesaid earl and
Joan his wife;" and King Henry the Sixth in like manner confirmed his
father's patent on the 13th of July, in the second year of his
reign.--_Regist. Ducat. Lanc. temp. Hen. VI._, p. 2. fol. 41.]
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