- Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford
Humphrey Stafford (b. 1425 - d ?.
22 May 1458 ), generally known by his courtesy title of Earl of Stafford was the son ofHumphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Anne Neville (d 1480).His maternal grandparents were
Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland andJoan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland . His maternal uncles included (among others)Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury ,Robert Neville who was firstBishop of Salisbury and thenBishop of Durham ,William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent andEdward Nevill, 3rd Baron Bergavenny . His most prominent maternal aunt wasCecily Neville , wife ofRichard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and mother to among othersEdward IV of England ,Edmund, Earl of Rutland ,George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence andRichard III of England .Humphrey married Margaret Beaufort, daughter of
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Eleanor Beauchamp. Her maternal grandparents wereRichard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wifeElizabeth Beauchamp, 4th Baroness Lisle .His new wife was a first cousin to
Anne Neville, 16th Countess of Warwick and through her cousin-by-marriage toRichard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , the so-called "Kingmaker" during theWars of the Roses .They had a single son
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (4 September ,1454 -2 November ,1483 ).Humphrey fought under his father-in-law in support of the
House of Lancaster during theFirst Battle of St Albans . He appears to have been badly wounded at this battle but actually survived for a least another 2-3 years. This may account for his disappearance from the contemporary records of the time but he had certainly had died by 1458.His only son Humphrey became the new Earl of Stafford on his father's death and succeeded his paternal grandfather as Duke of Buckingham following the latter's death at the Battle of Northampton (
10 July ,1460 ).References
*"The Royal Ancestry Bible Royal ancestors of 300 American Families" By Michel L. Call ISBN 1-933194-22-7 (chart 809)
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