§ II. The Fitz-Ralph Family: Richard's Parentage.

Ralph, founder of the Fitz-Ralph family, held forty-nine lordships in England in the reign of William the Conqueror. From this stem various branches issued, and several families of Fitz-Ralphs were to be found in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. To which of these Richard belongs is a matter of uncertainty. Prince, in his anxiety to enrol him among the worthies of Devonshire, refers him to the Fitz-Ralphs of Widecomb in the Moor, who, about the time of Edward I., changed their names and residence, henceforth calling themselves Stillingford, from their new abode near Exeter. But this is mere guess work. It is far more probable, in our opinion, that he belonged to the Derbyshire Fitz-Ralphs, of which family the Frechevilles and Musards of Staveley33 became in after times the representatives. Our reasons are these. Ralph (Musard) Baron Staveley, a direct descendant of Ralph, the founder of the family, had a daughter Margaret, who, on his death, became co-heir with her brother [pg 488] Nicholas and her sister Isabella. Margaret married an Irishman, named in the pedigree Joannes de Hibernia, and died in the year 1308. Three children were born of this marriage—John de Hibernia, Ralph, and Alicia. Thus, we actually have the heir of the Fitz-Ralphs born of an Irish father. As his mother's heir John de Hibernia was owner of the third part of the manor of Staveley, and this property he gave and granted to Ralph de Frecheville, The evidence taken at an inquisition held at Staveley, in 1316, asserts that the said John “had no other lands in England”. This would lead us to conjecture that he had lands in Ireland, and after this time the pedigree no longer adds the words de Hibernia to any of the Fitz-Ralphs. Now, it is certain that Richard must have been born about this time; and although the precise year of his birth is not known, the date of his promotion to Armagh would allow him to have been the son of this John, or of his brother Ralph. But, setting conjecture aside, one thing is proved beyond a doubt, viz., that about the time of Richard's birth the Fitz-Ralphs of Staveley had a close connection with Ireland.