William III de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (c. 1193 – 28 March 1254) of
Chartley Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and major landowner, unable through illness to take much part in national affairs. From his two marriages, he left numerous children who married into noble and royal families of
England,
France,
Scotland and
Wales.
In 1230 he accompanied King
Henry III to France and attended Parliament in London in the same year. Like his father, he suffered from
gout from youth and after the 1230s took little part in public affairs, travelling always in a litter. He was accidentally thrown from his litter into the
River Great Ouse while crossing a bridge at
St Neots in
Huntingdonshire and, although he escaped death, never recovered from the effects of the accident. He succeeded to the title of his father in 1247, but only lived another seven years, dying on 28 March 1254.
Landholdings
Unable to play any part at court or at war, he followed his father in managing the family's landholdings. Their original lands were centred on
Tutbury Castle, stretching beyond
Staffordshire into the south of
Derbyshire and the west of
Nottinghamshire. The death in 1232 of his uncle
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, brought him vast new estates, including
Chartley Castle in Staffordshire, much of
Lancashire between the Rivers
Ribble and
Mersey and many manors in Northamptonshire and
Lincolnshire. He continued the policy of encouraging the growth of towns and markets, exploiting the forests of
Needwood and
Duffield Frith, and taking advantage of rising prices in commodities and land values. By the time of his death his income placed him among the top six English nobles, but he also left his son considerable debts.[2]
Agnes de Ferrers (d. 11 May 1290), who married (as his second wife)
William de Vesci (d.1253);
Isabel de Ferrers (died before 26 November 1260), who married (1)
Gilbert Basset, of
Wycombe, and (2) (as his second wife) Reginald II de Mohun,
feudal barony of Dunster in Somerset, father-in-law of her sister Joan.
He married (2nd) in 1238 Margaret de Quincy (c. 1218 - 12 March 1280), daughter and heiress of
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, by his wife
Helen of Galloway. When Margaret's father married (as his 3rd wife) Eleanor de Ferrers (d.1274), she became both step-mother and step-daughter of Eleanor. By Margaret de Quincy he had two sons and three daughters:
He married (2nd) Eleanor de Lovaine, a daughter of Matthew de Lovaine, who after her husband's death was abducted by and married to
William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas.
He died on 28 March 1254 and was buried in
Merevale Abbey,
Warwickshire. He was succeeded by his 15-year-old eldest son
Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby (1239–1279), still a minor, who in 1249 aged 10 had been married to Mary de Lusignan, a niece of King Henry III, and knighted. His
wardship was granted to the King's eldest son, the future King
Edward I. William's first wife's great estates in
Ireland (primarily the county of Kildare) passed to her seven daughters and their heirs.
References
^Cokayne, G. E.; Gibbs, Vicary & Doubleday, H. A., eds. (1926). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant (Eardley of Spalding to Goojerat). 5 (2nd ed.). London, p.340, note (d)
^
abMaddicott, J. R. (2004), "Ferrers, Robert de, sixth earl of Derby (c.1239–1279)",
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, retrieved 30 May 2017
^The Sibyl de Ferrers who married John de Vipont, Lord of Appleby, was her aunt.
5) Cokayne, G. E. (1926). Gibbs, Vicary & Doubleday, H. A. (eds.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant (Eardley of Spalding to Goojerat). Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press.
Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327, 1960
Weis, Frederick. The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 1997