Sir GODFREY FOLJAMBE, Knt., knight of the shire for co. Derby 12/14 Ed. 3, and again 38/43/45 Ed. 3, mentioned in the entail of the Tideswell, Wormhill, Elton, Litton, Hucklow, &c., estates, after the issue male of his 3 elder half-brothers. He was Seneschal to John, Duke of Lancaster, and Baro Scaccarii 18 Ed. 3; of Darley, in co. Derby, 33 Ed. 3, 44 Ed. 3, ob 50 Ed. 3, aged 60, and was buried at Bakewell, where he had founded a chantry dedicated to the Holy Cross.

ANNE, 1st wife.

AVENA (2nd wife), daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Ireland, of Hartshorne, Knt., by ....., daughter of Vilers.

[Sir Godfrey and Avena had issue]

Godfrey de Foljambe

Sir Godfrey de Foljambe (1317–1376) was a prominent landowner and politician in fourteenth-century England who went on to have a successful career as an Irish judge, including a period as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. In later life he was an associate of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. His tomb can still be seen at All Saints Church, Bakewell.[1]

He was born in Derbyshire in 1317, the fourth son of Sir Thomas de Foljambe.[2] The Foljambe family were Lords of the Manor of Tideswell and also held lands at Darley Dale. Godfrey, who succeeded to the family estates after the death of his three elder brothers, also acquired the manor of Bakewell, where he founded a chantry.[2]

He sat in the House of Commons as knight of the shire for Derbyshire in several of the Parliaments of King Edward III of England.[2] In 1344 he went to Ireland as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), and was quickly transferred to the Court of King's Bench (Ireland). He served as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland from 1351 to 1354.[2]

On his return to England he sat regularly on commissions for the peace in Derbyshire and Lancashire.[2] He enjoyed the trust and confidence of John of Gaunt, for whom he acted in numerous administrative capacities, including steward for the Duchy of Lancaster. For a number of years he had a lease on a substantial part of Newcastle under Lyme for which he paid £127 p.a. to John of Gaunt. He died in 1376.[3]

He married (possibly his second marriage, though little is known of the first), Avena (died 1382), daughter of Sir Thomas Ireland of Hartshorne, and had several sons, including Geoffrey Foljambe the younger (died 1375), and Thomas Foljambe (died 1433), who was a Baron of the Exchequer and chief steward of the duchy of Lancaster.[4] Among his descendants were Sir Francis Foljambe (died 1640), first and last of the Foljambe baronets, and the Earls of LIverpool, second creation.[5]

The mural alabaster monument to Godfrey and Avena is said to be very rare with only two surviving to the present day. The Foljambe mural shows Foljambe and his wife as if they are looking out of a window and this can still be seen on the south wall of All Saints Church in Bakewell.[6] Below the mural is an explanatory inscription that dates from 1803 and was "added by Mr Blore".[7]

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_de_Foljambe

_________________________

• FOLJAMBE, Thomas (d.1433), of Walton and Brimington, Derbys.
• 2nd s. of Sir Godfrey Foljambe† (d.1376) of Darley, baron of the Exchequer and chief steward of the duchy of Lancaster, by his 2nd w. Avena (d.1382), da. and h. of Sir Thomas Ireland of Hartshorne. m. by 1388, Margaret (c.1362-1431), da. of Sir John Lowdham (d.1387) of Lowdham, Notts. by Isabel, da. and h. of Sir Robert Breton of Walton and Brimington, sis. and coh. of Sir John Lowdham (c.1357-1390), at least 2s. 1da.1
• Offices Held
  • J.p. Derbys. 14 Apr. 1386-Dec. 1387, 10 Nov. 1389-99, 13 Feb. 1407-July 1423.
  • Commr. of inquiry, Derbys., Notts. May 1390 (lands of John, earl of Pembroke), Notts. Aug. 1390 (lands of Ralph, Lord Basset of Drayton), Derbys., Staffs. May 1399 (illicit use of hunting dogs), Derbys. June 1400 (petition from Joan, dowager countess of Kent, for the manor of Chesterfield), Mar. 1406 (desertions to the rebel army in Wales), Oct. 1408 (disorder at Chesterfield); to make arrests, Derbys., Notts. Feb. 1394, Jan. 1408, Derbys. Feb. 1416; enforce the Statute of Weirs June 1398; of oyer and terminer Mar. 1401 (poaching at Sir Walter Blount’s*. fishery at Willington), July 1401 (murder at Whitewells); array Apr. 1418, Mar. 1419; to raise a royal loan Nov. 1419.
  • Steward of the duchy of Lancaster lordship of the High Peak, Derbys. by 1392-5 Mar. 1399; surveyor of the forest of the Peak, 1396-7; constable of Castle Donington, Leics. for the duchy by 1400-8 Sept. 1403.2
  • Collector of an aid on the marriage of Princess Blanche, Derbys. Dec. 1401, of a royal loan Jan. 1420.
  • Alderman of the guild of St. Mary, Chesterfield by 1416.3
• The Foljambes claimed their descent from a follower of William the Conqueror, and had owned land at Tideswell in Derbyshire from the 11th century onwards. The family could boast a long tradition of service in local government, and many of its members were returned to Parliament. Although he was a younger son, and thus heir only to his mother’s manor of Darley, Sir Godfrey Foljambe achieved considerable eminence as a baron of the Exchequer and senior official of the duchy of Lancaster. His post as chief steward of the duchy made him one of the most powerful figures in Derbyshire, and assured even his younger children of a prominent place in the community. His eldest son, Godfrey, predeceased him by one year in 1375, leaving a boy of eight to inherit, and as a result Thomas, the subject of this biography, became acting head of the family. His position was further strengthened when his nephew died in 1392 without heirs male; and although his female relatives all made good marriages (to such influential retainers of the house of Lancaster as Sir Robert Plumpton*, Sir Thomas Rempston I* and the son and heir of Nicholas Montgomery II*), he continued to be the senior representative of his line. The bulk of the Foljambe estates were, of course, assigned to his brother’s surviving issue, but he was none the less possessed of a modest inheritance. In March 1360, when he was still a child, his father had secured his title to land in the Derbyshire village of Pitsley, and to this was subsequently added a mill at Edensor.4
• For at least two years after his father’s death, Foljambe was so busy executing his will and administering his estates that he evidently had little time for anything else. His legal training eminently qualified him for this task, however, and he was soon able to build up a flourishing practice. In 1379 he acted as a feoffee of land in Derby .... etc.
• From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/fo... ______________________________
• [Thomas and Alice had issue]
  • [Sir GODFREY FOLJAMBE, Knt., of whom below.]
• Sir GODFREY FOLJAMBE, Knt., knight of the shire for co. Derby 12/14 Ed. 3, and again 38/43/45 Ed. 3, mentioned in the entail of the Tideswell, Wormhill, Elton, Litton, Hucklow, &c., estates, after the issue male of his 3 elder half-brothers. He was Seneschal to John, Duke of Lancaster, and Baro Scaccarii 18 Ed. 3; of Darley, in co. Derby, 33 Ed. 3, 44 Ed. 3, ob 50 Ed. 3, aged 60, and was buried at Bakewell, where he had founded a chantry dedicated to the Holy Cross.
• = ANNE, 1st wife.
• = AVENA (2nd wife), daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Ireland, of Hartshorne, Knt., by ....., daughter of Vilers.
• [Sir Godfrey and Avena had issue]
  • Sir GODFREY FOLJAMBE, Knt., ob. v.p. 49 Ed. 3, aged 32.
  • = MARGARET, daughter of Paganus de Vilers, of Kinoulton, co. Notts., married 40 Ed. 3, aged 15.
  • = Sir THOMAS REMPSTONE, Knt., 2nd husband, 21 Rich. 2, living 17 Hen. 6, aged 72.
  • [Sir Godfrey and Margaret had issue]
    • Sir GODFREY FOLJAMBE, Knt., aged 9½ at his grandfather's death, ob. 12 Rich 2, aged 21½, buried at Bakewell.
    • = ISABEL (?Margaret), dau. of Sir Simon Lecke, Knt.
    • [They had issue] .... etc.
    • MARGAREY FOLJAMBE, married to Sir Nicholas Montgomery, of Cubley, Knt., ob. 30 Hen. 6, leaving a daughter and heiress, .... etc.
  • [THOMAS FOLJAMBE, of Walton, co. Derby, Esq., of whom below.]
  • RICHARD FOLJAMBE, 3rd son. [He had issue] .... etc.
  • ALVAREDUS, 4th son.
  • ROBERT, 5th son.
• THOMAS FOLJAMBE, of Walton, co. Derby, Esq., jure uxoris, 20 Rich. 2, mar. 1387/8, knight of the shire for co. Derby 14/15 Rich. 2.
• = MARGARET, eldest daughter of Sir John Loudham, of Loudham, co., Notts., by Isabel, daughter and sole heiress of Sir Robert Breton (or de Brito), of Walton, co. Derby, Knt., and eventually co-heir of her brother, Sir John Loudham, who died s.p. She had Walton as her portion. Her sister, Isabel, married Sir Thomas Bekering, Knt., and had an only dau., Alice, married to Sir Thomas Rempstone.
• [Thomas and Margaret had issue] .... etc.
• from: http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/families/foljambe/foljambe.shtml ___________________________
• Sir Godfrey Foljambe1
• M, #23285, b. circa 1317, d. 1377
• Father Thomas Foljambe d. a 1329
• Mother Alice Darley
• Sir Godfrey Foljambe married Avena Ireland, daughter of John de Ireland and Agatha Merton. Sir Godfrey Foljambe was born circa 1317. He died in 1377; Age 59.
• Family Avena Ireland
• Children
  • Thomas Foljambe+
  • Sir Godfrey Foljambe+ b. bt 1343 - 1344, d. bt 1375 - 1376
• Citations
• 1.[S7313] Unknown author, Wallop Family, p. 339.
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p775.htm#i... ____________________________

From Memorials of Old Derbyshire by John Charles Cox

found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=c8hCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA103-IA2&lpg=PA10...

The Darley estates passed, as has been already mentioned, in the time of Edward III. to Sir Godfrey Foljambe, the younger son of Sir Thomas, of Tideswell. Sir Godfrey was a man of considerable repute; he acted as seneschal to John of Gaunt, and was for some years Constable of the Peak; he also represented Derbyshire in the Parliaments of 1339-40, 1363-4, and 1369-71. Sir Godfrey Foljambe, who held the old Gernon manor in Bakewell parish and much other property, died in 1376, at the age of 59. A remarkable monument of beautiful finish is to be seen in Bakewell Church, against one of the nave piers, to his memory, and that of his second wife, the co-founders of a chantry in this church.

1 Lord Liverpool put these conjectures in print in a preface to the fourth edition of Rev. J. M. T. Fletcher's Tideswell Church, published in igo6. He had intended elaborating his reasons in this volume.

-"

Sir Godfrey and his wife are represented in half-length figures of alabaster, carved in high relief, beneath a doublecrocketed canopy. The knight is represented in plate armour, and having on his head a conical helmet or bascinet, with a camail of mail attached to its lower edge. The lady wears the reticulated head-dress or cowl. Over the knight are the arms of Foljambe—sa.t a bend between six escallops, or—the same being represented on his surcoat; over the lady are represented the arms of Ireland —gu., six fleurs-de-lis, arg., 3, 2, I. The monument is complete as it stands without any inscription, but in 1803, Mr. Blore, the antiquary, placed here a slab of black marble with the following inscription in gilt letters: —

" Godefridus Foljambe miles et Avena un : ej. quae postea cepit in virum Ricardum de Greene militem dno dnaque manerius de Hassop, Okebioke, Elton, Stanton, Darley-over-hall, et Lokhowe, cantaiiam hanc fundaverunt in honorem sanctee Crucis ao. rr. Edri teitii xxxix + Codefrus ob: die Jovis pr: post test: ascens. dni a°: regis pdci 1° obiitq Avena die Sabbi pr: p: nativ: b: Maria: Virg: a°. rr. Ric. II vi°."

This may be translated:—

" Sir Godfrey Foljambe, Knight, and Avena bis wife (who afterwards married Richard de Greene, Knight), Lord and Lady of the manors of Hassop, Ockbrook, Elton, Stanton, Darley-over-hall, and Locko, founded ihis chantry in honour of the Holy Cross, in the 39th year of the reign of King Edward III. Godfrey died on the first Thursday after the feast of the Ascension, in the soth year of the aforesaid King, and Avena died on the first Saturday after the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the 6th year of the reign of Richard II."

At the bottom of this slab is the word "Watson," which is in itself sufficient to stamp this inscription as of modern date; for the old monumental sculptors were never guilty of the offence of advertising themselves on the inscribed slabs that they erected. It has been stated that Mr. Blore obtained this inscription from a document in the British Museum where the original epitaph was quoted. This, however, is an impossibility, for a contemporary inscription could not possibly have contained the blunders of this supposed transcript. The date of the foundation of the chantry is wrong, and it was, moreover, founded by Sir Godfrey Foljambe in conjunction with his first wife Anne, and not with his second wife Avena. The family from which Anne, the first wife, came is not known, but his second wife, Avena, was the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Ireland, of Hartshorne, by Avena, daughter and heiress of Sir Payn de Vilers, of Kinoulton and Newbold, Notts.www.findagrave.com

Godfrey Foljambe
BIRTH 1317
Tideswell, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England
DEATH 1377 (aged 59–60)
BURIAL
All Saints Churchyard
Bakewell, Derbyshire Dales District, Derbyshire, England
MEMORIAL ID 63800078