General Notes

Earl of Hereford and Essex and Lord High Constable. In the 30th of Edward I, this nobleman gave and granted to the King, by a formal conversance, the inheritance of all his lands and lordships, as also of his Earldoms of Hereford and Essex, which upon his marriage with Elizabeth Plantagenet, widow of John, Earl of Holland, and daughter of Edward I, King of England, and his 1st wife Eleanor,  daughter of Ferdinand III, King of Castile, were regranted to him, and entailed upon his issue lawfully begotten by that lady: in default thereof, and from and after the death of himself and wife, then the lordship of Plessets and certain other lordships in Essex and elsewhere, together with the Constableship, should remain wholly to the King and his heirs forever. After this his lordship was in the wars of Scotland, and was taken prisoner in 7th of Edward II, 1313-14, at the disastrous battle of Stryvelin. But he was exchanged for the wife of Robert Bruce, who had been held captive in England. He lost his life, being run through the body by a soldier at the battle of Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, where his party received a signal defeat on March 16, 1321. The Earl had issue four surviving sons and two daughters, John, Humphrey and Edward successors primogeniturely, and William, Alinore and Margaret.