• General Notes

  Isabel, (illegitimate?, half?) sister and eventual heiress ofRalph Basset, 3rd Lord (Baron) Basset of Drayton (who dsp 10 May1390, since when that Barony has been abeyant or dormant).[Burke's Peerage]
  
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  Isabel, a sister (bastard? uterine?) of Ralph, 3rd Lord Bassetof Drayton. [Magna Charta Sureties]
  
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  Complete Peerage II:3-6 note (f) indicates that Isabel may havebeen illegitimate, a half-sister, or a full sister. In any caseher brother Ralph the 3rd Lord Basset (who dsp), left the bulkof his estate to Isabel's son, Hugh; thus Isabel was the majorheir, and was probably legitimate.
  
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  The post by Douglas Richardson below identifies Isabel ashalf-sister of Ralph Basset, being a daughter of Alice de Audley(Ralph's mother) by her second husband Hugh de Audley. Note:Despite the title (six husbands), she only had three--anotherIsabel Meynell had the other three husbands at about the sametime.
  
  Douglas Richardson Jul 4 2001, 4:19 pm show options
  
  Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
  From: royalances... AT msn.com (Douglas Richardson)
  Date: 4 Jul 2001 13:19:17 -0700
  Local: Wed, Jul 4 2001 4:19 pm
  Subject: Re: The six husbands of Isabel Meynell
  
  Dear John
  
  Thank you for your good post.
  
  The Isabel you asked about who married successively Shirley,Wodhull, and Braybrook is usually identified in print as asister of Ralph Basset, last Lord Basset of Drayton Basset, co.Stafford. This identification is made on the basis that RalphBasset referred to Isabel's son, Hugh Shirley, as his 'nephew'in his will.
  
  Ralph Basset was clearly related to Hugh Shirley through Hugh'smother, Isabel, as in a settlement of property made some yearsprior to his death, Ralph named Isabel's sons by differentmarriages, namely Hugh Shirley and Ralph Braybrook, assuccessive remainders to his lands. Including Isabel's childrenby different marriages in the settlement indicates that herson's Hugh Shirley's kinship to Ralph Basset was through Isabel,rather than her husband, Sir Thomas de Shirley.
  
  As for possible kinships, it is a certain fact that Ralph Bassethad no near legitimate Basset kinfolk who survived him. At thetime of Ralph's parents' marriage, there was a manor settled onthem and their issue by his mother's family. Following themarriage, the manor was held successively by Ralph's parents,then Ralph's mother and step-father, Sir Hugh de Meynell, andthen by Ralph himself. At Ralph's death, the property revertedto his mother's relations, proving Ralph had no legitimatesurviving siblings or issue.
  
  As for Ralph's mother, Alice de Audley, she is known to havemarried (2nd) Sir Hugh de Meynell, by whom she had several sonsnamed in a Warwickshire fine. Alice was not, however, the motherof Sir Hugh's eldest son and heir, Richard Meynell, as Richardwas born when Alice de Audley was still married to her Bassethusband.
  
  That Isabel de Shirley was Alice de Audley's daughter by herMeynell marriage is proven by a later dispensation for marriagebetween one of Isabel's Shirley descendants and one of herhalf-brother, Richard Meynell's descendants. If you work out therelationship stated in the dispensation, it agrees with Isabelhaving been a sister or half-sister of Richard Meynell. In fact,this is no other apparent relationship between the ancestry ofthe two parties, except through the Meynell family. Furthermore,it may be noted that Isabel named a son, Hugh, doubtless inhonor of her father, Sir Hugh de Meynell.
  
  Given the various facts stated above, it is evident that Isabel,wife successively of Shirley, Wodhull, and Braybrook, was thedaughter of Sir Hugh de Meynell, by Alice de Audley, and thuswas a legitimate half-sister of Ralph Basset, last Lord Bassetof Drayton Basset.
  
  For further particulars on this matter, please see theforthcoming book, Magna Carta Ancestry, where Isabel's identityand parentage will be discussed at length and all documentationprovided.
  

Details of Isabel's family with Gerard de Braybrook