Robert de Grey, of Enville and Whittington, in the county of Stafford. Eleanor, m. to William Lucy, Esq., of Charlecote, in the county of Warwick. EDWARD DE GREY, the eldest son, marrying Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Henry, son and heir of William, Lord Ferrars, of Groby, by Isabel, second daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, was summoned to parliament in 1446, as LORD FERRARS, of Groby, which barony, and that of ASTLEY, descended regularly to Henry Grey, third marquess of Dorset, K. G. who was created DUKE OF SUFFOLK, 10th October, 1551, and became forfeited upon the decapitation and attainder of his grace in 1554. ARMS-Az. a cinquefoil ermine.

THE HON. RALPH DE ASTLEY, a younger son of Thomas, Lord Astley, of Astley, in the county of Warwick, by his second wife, Editha, daughter of Peter Constable, Esq., of Melton-Constable, in the county of Norfolk, and sister and coheiress of Sir Robert Constable, Knt., of the same place, was lineal ancestor of

JOHN ASTLEY, Esq., of Hill-Morton and Melton-Constable, who m. Frances, daughter and heiress of John Cheyney, Esq., of Sittingborne, in the county of Kent, and was 8. by his only surviving son,

ISAAC ASTLEY, Esq. This gentleman m. Mary, daughter of Edward Waldegrave, Esq., of Borley, in the county of Essex, and had two sonsThomas, ancestor of the Astleys (Baronets) of Hill-Morton, in the county of Warwick, and SIR JACOB ASTLEY, Knt., a distinguished captain under the royal banner during the civil wars; governor of Oxford and Reading, and preeminently conspicuous at the battles of Edgehill, Brentford, and Newbury; who for his gallant and faithful services was raised to the peerage by letters patent, dated 4th Nov., 1664, as LORD ASTLEY, of READING, in the COUNTY of BUCKS. His lordship m. Agnes Imple, a German lady, and had issueISAAC, his successor.

Elizabeth, m.to (her cousin) Sir Edward Astley, Knt., and left SIR JACOB ASTLEY, Knt., who inherited, upon the decease of his uncle, Sir Isaac Astley, Bart., 8. p., in 1659, the estates of Hill-Morton and Melton-Constable, and succeeded to the entailed property of Lord Astley.

Of Jacob Lord Astley, Clarendon says-" He was an honest, brave, plain man; as fit for the military posts he held as Christendom yielded; and was ge

nerally esteemed very discerning, and prompt in giving orders, as occasion required; and most cheerful and present in action. An enemy to long speeches, as usually made in council; he himself using only few, but very pertinent words." His lordship died in 1651, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

ISAAC ASTLEY, second lord, who m. Anne, fourth daughter of Sir Francis Stydolfe, Knt., o Norbury, in the county of Surrey, and had issueJACOB, his successor. Francis died 8. p.

His lordship d. in 1662, and was 8. by his elder

son,

JACOB ASTLEY, third lord. His lordship m. Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard Stydolfe, of Norbury, son of Sir Francis, but had no issue. Lord Astley d. in 1688, when the barony of Astley of Reading EXPIRED.

ARMS-Az. a cinquefoil erm. within a bordure engrailed or.

ATON-BARONS DE ATON.

By Writ of Summons, dated 30th December, 1324. 18 Edward II.

Lineage.

The paternal surname of this family arose from the feudal barony of ATON, in the county of York, of which its members were lords from the conquest; for we find that

GILBERT, SON OF LAGI, assumed the surname of ATON So far back as the reign of king Henry I. from those lands; but the importance of the family was founded by the marriage of this Gilbert de Aton's great-grandson,

GILBERT DE ATON, with Margerie, daughter and heiress of WARINE DE VESCI, a younger son of William de Vesci, Lord of Alnwick, in the county of Northumberland, through which alliance the ATONS inherited, eventually, the extensive possessions of the great barons de Vesci: thus

EUSTACE DE VESCI, one of the twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the observance of MAGNA CHARTA, elder brother of the above WARINE, Succeeded his father, m. Margaret, daughter of William and sister of Alexander, kings of Scotland; and, dying about 1216, was s. himself by his son,

WILLIAM DE VESCI, to whom s., in 1253, his son,

JOHN DE VESCI, who had summons to parliament, as a baron, in 1264, but dying s.p., was 8. by his brother, WILLIAM DE VESCI, summoned to parliament in the reign of Edward I., and one of the competitors for the Scottish throne in the same era. Hed. about the year 1297, without legitimate issue, when the BARONY EXPIRED; but the estates devolved upon his natural son, WILLIAM DE VESCI, who was summoned

to parliament in 1313; but dying in two years afterwards, s.p., that BARONY also EXPIRED, while the estates reverted to the great-grandson of the above Gilbert de Aton and Margerie de Vesci, his wife.

Gilbert de Aton d. in the 19th of Henry III., and was 8. by his son,

and noble family of VERDON, whose chief seat was at Alton Castle, in the northern part of Stafford

SIR GILBERT DE ATON, one of the Knights of the Bath, created by PRINCE EDWARD, in the 34th of Edward I. Sir Gilbert dying 8. p., was s. by his brother,

WILLIAM DE ATON, whose son and heir, GILERT DE ATON, inherited, in the 9th of Edward II., the estates of the BARONS DE VESCI, as deduced above. This Gilbert had command, the year before, to fit himself with horse and arms, and to be at NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE on the feast-day of the Blessed Virgin, to restrain the hostilities of the Scots. In the 13th of Edward II., he was in the expedition to Scotland; and in the 17th of the same monarch, he confirmed (in consideration of receiving 700 marks sterling) as heir of William de Vesci, to Henry Lord Percie, the castle and lands of Alnwick, which Anthony Beke, Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem, has sold to the said Henry, although but confided to the bishop by William Lord de Vesci in trust for his bastard son, the last William de Vesci. In the following year (30th Dec. 1324) Gilbert de Aton was-summoned to parliament as a baron of the realm, and he was so summoned during the remainder of his life. His lordship died in 1342, and was 8. by his son,

WILLIAM DE ATON, second BARON ATON, who had summons to parliament on the 8th of January, 1371. His lordship married Isabel, daughter of William Lord Percy, by whom he had an only son, who predeceased him, and three daughters, his co-heiresses, namely

Anastasia, m. to Sir Edward de St. John, and left a daughter and heiress, Margaret de St. John, who m. Thomas de Bromflete, king's Butler, temp. Richard II. (See Bromflete.) Katherine, m. to Sir Ralph de Eure. Elizabeth, m. first, to William Playtz, and, secondly, to John Conyers, Esq., of Stockburne, in the county of Durham. William Lord Aton was engaged in the French wars of king Edward III. He was sheriff of Yorkshire in the 42d of that monarch, and governor of the Castle of York, and again in the 43d and 46th of the same reign. His lordship d. when his estates were divided amongst his daughters, and the BARONY fell into ABEYANCE, as it still continues. ARMS-Or, three bars az. on a canton gu., a cross patonce ar.

ALDITHELEY, OR AUDLEY — BA-
RONS AUDLEY, OF HE-
LEIGH.

By Writ of Summons, dated 15th May, 1321,
14th Edward II.

Lineage.

"That this family of Alditheley, vulgarly called Audley," says Dugdale, "came to be great and eminent, the ensuing discourse will sufficiently manifest: but that the rise thereof was no higher than King John's time; and that the first who assumed this surname was a branch of that ancient

reason that Henry had the inheritance of Alditheley given him by Nicholas de Verdon, who died in the 16th Henry III., or near that time; and partly for that he bore for his arms the same ordinary as Verdon did, viz. Frettė, but distinguished with a large canton in the dexter part of the shield, and thereon a cross paté; so that probably the ancestor of this Henry first seated himself at Alditheley: for that there hath been an antient mansion there, the large moat, northwards from the parish-church there (somewhat less than a furlong, and upon the chief part of a fair ascent), do sufficiently manifest."

HENRY DE ALDITHELEY, to whom Dugdale alludes above, being in great favour with Ranulph, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, (the most powerful subject of England in his time,) obtained from that nobleman a grant of Newhall in Cheshire, with manors in Staffordshire, and other parts-and for his adhesion to King John, in that monarch's struggle with the insurrectionary barons, a royal grant of the lordship of Storton, in Warwickshire, part of the possessions of Roger de Summerville. In the four first years of King Henry III., he executed the office of sheriff for the counties of Salop and Stafford, as deputy for his patron, the great Earl Ranulph-in the fourth year of which service the men of Staffordshire were required to aid him in fortifying the king's castle of Shrewardine, in the county of Salop. In the 10th of Henry III. this Henry de Alditheley was appointed governor of the castles of Carmarthen and Cardigan, and made sheriff the next year of the counties of Salop and Stafford and constable of the castles of Salop and Bridgenorth, which sheriffalty he held for five years. Upon his retirement from office he had special license to build a castle upon his own land, called Radcliff, in Shropshire, afterwards designated REDCASTLE, from the colour of the high rock upon which it was founded: and in the same year he had a confirmation of all such lands, whereof he was then possessed, as well those granted to him by Ranulph, Earl of Chester, and Nicholas de Verdon, as those in Ireland, given him by Hugh de Laci, EARL OF ULSTER, whose constable he was in that province. He subsequently obtained divers other territorial grants from the crown, but, notwithstanding, when Richard Mareschal, EARL OF PEMBROKE, rebelled, and made an incursion into Wales, the king, Henry III., thought it prudent to secure the persons of this Henry, and all the other barons-marchers. He was afterwards, however, constituted governor of Shrewsbury, in place of John de Laci, Earl of Lincoln, and on the death of John, Earl of Chester, governor of the castle of Chester, and also of that of Beeston, then called theCastle on the Rock," and soon after made governor of Newcastle-under-Lyne. This powerful feudal baron m. Bertred, daughter of Ralph de Meisnilwarin of Cheshire, and had a son JAMES, and a daughter Emme, who m. Griffin ap Madoc, Lord of Bromefield, a person of great power in Wales. He d. in 1236, having founded and endowed the Abbey of Hilton, near to his castle at Heleigh,

in Staffordshire, for Cistercian monks, and was 8. by his son,

JAMES DE ALDITHELEY, a great favorite of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, at whose coronation as king of Almaigne he assisted. This nobleman had livery of his lands in the 31st of Henry III., and was constituted in two years afterwards constable of Newcastle-under-Lyne. Being one of the lordsmarchers he was actively employed for some years against the Welsh, and was appointed governor of the castles of Salop and Bridgenorth, and sheriff for the counties of Salop and Stafford. In the 47th of Henry III. he was made justice of Ireland; and in the same year, upon the misunderstanding between the king and the barons, regarding the provisions of Oxford, being referred to the arbitration of the monarch of France, he was one of the noblemen who undertook for the king therein. The next year we find him with Roger de Mortimer and the other barons-marchers, giving battle to Lewelin, Prince of Wales, and afterwards joining the Earl of Gloucester at Evesham in rescuing the king, who had become captive to the Earl of Leicester at the battle of Lewes. In the 52nd of Henry III. his lordship performed a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in Galicia, and the following year embarked in the Crusade. His death, occasioned by breaking his neck, occurred soon afterwards (1271). He had a daughter, Joan, who m. John, son of Robert de Beauchamp, to whose child, prior to its birth, the said John being then deceased, his lordship was appointed guardian. He had also five sons, the youngest of whom, Hugh, is supposed to have been the Hugh Alditheley, who had summons to parliament 15th May, 1321, and whose son became Earl of Gloucester. His lordship was s. by his eldest son,

JAMES DE ALDITHELEY, who d. s. p. in 1272, and was s. by his brother,

HENRY DE ALDITHELEY, between whom and John D'Eivill, who had m. Maud, widow of his deceased brother, a covenant was made in the 3rd of Edward I., conveying on the part of Henry a considerable landed dowry to the said Maud. He d. issueless in 1275, and was s. by his brother,

WILLIAM DE ALDITHELEY, who, attaining majority in a year after his accession, had livery of all his lands, save a reasonable dowry to Dulcia, the widow of his deceased brother Henry. In the 10th of Edward I. the king, by his precept to the barons of his exchequer, acknowledging that he was indebted to James de Alditheley, father of this William, in the sum of one thousand two hundred and eighty-eight pounds, five shillings, and ten pence, upon the surplussage of his account since he was justice of Ireland, commanded them to discharge the said William of two hundred and thirty pounds, fourteen shillings, and ten pence, a debt due by James to the exchequer upon another account. In this year (1275) William de Alditheley fell in an engagement with the Welsh, wherein several other brave warriors were slain, and the king lost fourteen banners. Dying without issue, he was s. by his brother,

NICHOLAS DE ALDITHLEY, who doing homage, had livery of his lands, and then paid £10

for his relief of the tenth part of the Barony of Wiche- Malbanc. In the 22nd of Edward I. this feudal lord received command to attend the king at Portsmouth, upon the 1st of September, well fitted with horse and arms, and thence to accompany the monarch into Gascoigne; which service he performed. In three years afterwards, 26th January, 1297, he had summons to parliament amongst the other barons of the realm, and was likewise in the expedition to Scotland, with the Earls of Warren and Warwick, and participated in the victory obtained at Dunbar. His lordship m. Catherine, daughter and coheiress of John Giffard of Brimefield, by Maud, widow of William de Longespe, and daughter of Walter de Clifford; and dying in 1299, was s. by his eldest son, then in his tenth year,

THOMAS DE ALDITHELEY, who m. Eve, daughter and heiress of John, Lord Clavering, but dying s. p. in 1307, the inheritance devolved upon his brother,

NICHOLAS DE ALDITHELEY, who had summons to parliament from 8th January, 1313, (6th Edward II.) to 25th August, 1318, (12th Edward II.) His lordship m. Joane, widow of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and sister and coheiress of William Martin-Baron Martin, (by writ, 23rd June, 1295: which barony fell into abeyance between the descendants of the said Joane and her sister, Eleanore, the other coheiress, wife of Philip de Columbers,) and was 8. at his decease, in 1319, by his son,

JAMES DE AUDLEY-LORD AUDLEY-one of the most celebrated warriors of the martial reign of King Edward the III. His lordship was but three years of age at the decease of his father, when his castle of Heleigh, and divers other estates were committed to the guardianship of Ralph de Camoys, while he was himself confided in ward to Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. At the early age of twenty-three, we find him governor of Berwickupon-Tweed, and receiving orders to attend King Edward the III. in his expedition into France, with twenty men at arms, and twenty archers. In the next year (17th Edward III.), his lordship did homage for lands inherited through his aunt Eleanore de Columbers, and then served the king with twenty men at arms and twenty archers, in his wars in France. In the 19th of Edward the III., he had command to attend the monarch in person, and to serve him with all his retinue, for the defence of the realm against the French, at the king's proper cost. In two years afterwards, he was again in France, and his lordship had the honour of being one of the Original Knights of the Garter,* upon

* ORIGINAL KNIGHTS OF THE GARTER. Cambden gives the following list of those noble persons, who are designated founders of the order. EDWARD III., KING OF ENGLAND, EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, Thomas, Earl of Warwick, Ralph, Earl of Stafford, William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, Capdall de Buche, John L'Isle, Bartholomew Burghwash, John Beauchamp, John de Mohun, Hugh Courtenay, Thomas Holland, John Grey, Robert Fitz-Simon, Miles Stapleton,

19

Abbey, to pray for his soul, £10. This great soldier d. at Heleigh, on the 1st of April, 1386, and was s. by his eldest son,

NICHOLAS AUDLEY, Lord Audley, who was summoned to parliament from the 17th December, 1387, to 12th September, 1390. His lordship, m. Elizabeth, daughter of Adelice de Beaumont, by whom he had no issue; he d. in 1392, and his halfbrothers having pre-deceased him, issueless, the male line of this branch of the family of ALDITHELEY OR AUDLEY, expired, while the "Barony of Audley" devolved upon the grandson of his lordship's sister, Joane Tuchet, his other sister, Margaret Hillary, having also died without issue. ARMS-Gules, a fret, or.

AUDLEY, OR DE ALDITHELEY-BARONS AUDLEY, AND SUBSEQUENTLY EARL OF GLOUCESTER.

Barony by Writ of Summons, 15th May, 1321,

14th Edward II.

HUGH DE ALDITHELEY, OR AUDLEY, brother it is presumed of Nicholas, Lord Audley, of Heleigh, was summoned to parliament as " Hugh de Audley, Seniori," on the 15th May, 1321, 14th Edward II. His lordship had been engaged during the reign of Edward I. in the king's service, and was called "Senior," to distinguish him from his son. Being concerned in the insurrection of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, 15th of Edward II., the baron was committed a close prisoner to Wallingford Castle, but making his peace with the king he obtained his release, and suffered nothing further. His lordship sate in the parliament of the 11th and 14th of Edward II. He m. Isolda, widow of Walter Balim, and left two sons, by the elder of whom he was succeeded.

HUGH DE AUDLEY, who had been summoned to parliament in the life-time of his father as "HUGH DE AUDLEY, JUNIORI," from 20th November, 1317, to 15th May, 1321, and after that nobleman's decease as "HUGH DE AUDLIE," from ⚫ 3rd December, 1326, 20th Edward II., to 10th Edward III. His lordship m. Margaret, sister and co-heiress of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and widow of Piers Gavestone, by whom he left an only daughter and heiress,

Margaret, who m. Ralph, Lord Stafford, and carried the barony of Audley into that family it expired upon the attainder of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, with that nobleman's other honours, in 1521. Hugh, Lord Audley, was created Earl of Gloucester, 23rd April, 1337, and under that title a further account of his lordship will be found. He d. in 1347.

AUDLEY-BARON AUDLEY, OF

WALDEN.

Created by Letters Patent, 29th November, 1538, 30th Henry VIII. Lineage.

THOMAS AUDLEY, an eminent lawyer in the

reign of Henry VIII., but of what family neither Dugdale nor the other genealogists have been able to ascertain, having attracted royal favor by his zeal in the spoliation of religious houses, as speaker of the parliament which originated that measure, attained within a short period the highest honors which royalty could bestow. In the 22nd of Henry VIII. he was nominated attorney for the duchy of Lancaster, raised to the degree of sergeant-at-law, and appointed king's sergeant. In two years afterwards Mr. Sergeant Audley succeeded Sir Thomas More in the custody of the great seal, as lord keeper, when he received the honor of knighthood, and before the close of the year he was elevated to the dignity of LORD CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND. In addition to those lucra

tive honors, Sir Thomas had a grant of the scite and precinct, with all the lands and plate thereunto belonging of the suppressed priory of Christchurch, "near Aldgate, in the city of London," where he erected a mansion-house for his residence. In the 30th of the same reign his lordship sate as high steward upon the trial of Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, for conspiring to raise Reginald Pole (the subsequently eminent Cardinal Pole) to the throne. And in that year he obtained a grant of the great Abbey of Walden, in Essex, in compensation, as he alleged, "for having in this world sustained great damage and infamy in serving the king." Having acquired this last possession he was raised to the peerage by letters patent, dated 29th November, 1538, as BARON AUDLEY OF WALDEN, and installed a knight of the most noble order of the garter. His lordship m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and had two daughters, viz.

Margaret, m. first to Lord Henry Dudley, son of John, Duke of Northumberland, who fell at St. Quinton in 1557, dying s. p.; and secondly to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded 2nd July, 1572, by whom her grace had issue

THOMAS, Summoned to parliament as LORD HOWARD OF WALDEN, and afterwards created EARL OF SUFFOLK, lord high treasurer temp. James I. and K.G. From this nobleman descend the Earls of Suffolk and Berkshire.

Henry, died young.

William, ancestor of the Earls of Carlisle.

Elizabeth, died unmarried.

Margaret, m. to Robert Sackville, second Earl of Dorset, ancestor of the Dukes of Dorset.

The Duchess of Norfolk inherited the entire property of her father upon the decease of her sister.

Mary, who died unmarried.

Lord Audley died 19th April, 1544, when the title expired in default of a male heir. He was succeeded in the custody of the seals by Sir Thomas Wriothesley. His lordship bequeathed by his last testament, his body to be buried in the tomb of his new chapel at Walden; and appointed that