General Notes

Suffolk, other creations: It was not till March 1336/7 that there was another Earl of Suffolk [after Ralph de Gael, Earl of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge].  This time the grantee was Robert de Ufford, later also a Knight of the Garter.  He was one of Edward III's leading associates in the early phases of the Hundred Years War.  His son William de Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, was also made a KG.  [Burke's Peerage, p. 2761]

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Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, and Margaret, daughter of Sir Walter de Norwich.  [Ancestral Roots]

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BARONY OF UFFORD (II)

EARLDOM OF SUFFOLK (III, 1)

ROBERT (DE UFFORD), LORD UFFORD, 2nd but 1st surviving son and heir of Robert (DE UFFORD), 1st LORD UFFORD [1309], by Cecily, daughter and coheir of Robert DE VALOIGNES, was born 9 August 1298. On 19 May 1318 he was given seisin of his father's lands, the King having taken his homage though under age. In 1317 his marriage had been granted to Walter de Norwich, the Treasurer.  In March 1324 he was going beyond seas with Edmund, Earl of Kent. On 16 August 1325 he was given seisin of his mother's lands, the King respiting his homage until his return from Gascony. In 1326 he was in commissions to survey the ports and select ships, and thenceforward was in many commissions until his death. On 10 May 1329 he was about to go overseas with the King; and on 26 May 1329 is recorded as having done homage and fealty. On 1 May 1330 he had a grant for life of the castle and town of Orford, and on 28 November was present at the delivery of the great seal by the chancellor to the King. In December 1336 he was appointed keeper of the forest this side Trent, and so remained until 13 October 1335. On 24 January 1330/1, he was granted specific lands in fulfilment of a grant, made with the assent of Parliament, of £200 in land for good service in arresting Mortimer at Nottingham. On 27 January 1331/2 he was summoned to Parliament by writ directed Roberto de Ufford, and so until 29 November 1336. On 3 April 1335 he obtained a grant to himself and his heirs of free warren in various manors in Norfolk. On 16 March 1336/7 he was created EARL OF SUFFOLK, with the usual grant of £20 per annum from the farm or revenues of Suffolk; on 17 March the King granted him further 1000 marks in land and rents; and on 18 March made him yet further grants. On 4 October 1337 he was about to set out overseas on the King's service, and he took part in the landing and in the combat at Cadsand in November. He was at that time captain and admiral of the fleet northwards from the Thames, a post which he held for some years. In June 1338 he was with the King at Antwerp, and was a party to a treaty with the chief men of Flanders; and in the same month was appointed with others to treat with the King of France; and again in December 1338. On 15 November 1339 he was appointed to treat with Lewis, Count of Flanders. After the King's return to England, he remained with the Earl of Salisbury in garrison at Ypres, but they were ambushed in an attempt on Lille and captured, taken to Lille and thence to Paris. He was again in England on 13 January 1340/1, and on 16 June following was going beyond seas. On 20 August 1342 he was about to set out with 51 men-at-arms and 50 archers on horses. In August 1343 he was one of the envoys appointed to treat with the Pope. From 1344 to 1347 he was constantly in France, having with him a banneret, 36 knights, 58 esquires, and 63 archers, performing numerous duties, landing with the King as Marshal of the army in 1346, serving in the Prince's division at CrÈcy, and before Calais with the King in 1347. On 20 October 1346 he was granted, for good service, a general pardon, and a pardon for offences while he was steward of the household. K.G. about 1349. On 20 March 1349/50 he was one of those appointed to treat for peace with the French. In November 1351 he was again going beyond seas, and in 1355 to Gascony with the Prince of Wales. In June 1356 he was at Bordeaux with the Prince of Wales, as joint marshal of the host with the Earl of Warwick, intending to cross the Loire into Normandy, and was at the battle of Poitiers on 19 September. In August 1359 he was going beyond seas with the King. On 8 February 1361/2 he was appointed with others to treat with the Count of Flanders, and on 1 February 1363 was present at the confirmation of the treaty between the King and Peter, King of Castile and Leon. In July 1369 he was with the Duke of Lancaster at Calais.

He married, on or before 21 October 1329, Margaret, widow of Thomas (DE CAILLY), LORD CAILLY, daughter of Walter DE NORWICH, and sister to John DE NORWICH, 1st Lord norwich, to whose grandson John DE NORWICH, 2nd LORD NORWICH, her issue ultimately became heirs. She died 2 April 1368. He died 4 November 1369. Will dated 29 June 1368, directing burial in Campsey Priory and giving inter alia to his son William the sword which the King gave him with the name of Earl.  [Complete Peerage XII/1:429-32, XIV:602, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]