CHARACTERS FROM CHESTER - STARTING "R"

BY PHILLIP E JONES

[Ralph Aldersey], [Ralph Dutton], [Randal "Ranulph" Blundeville], [Randal Caldecot], [Randal Holme], [Randal Richardson], [Ranulph de Gernon], [Ranulph de Meschines], [Ranulph Higden], [R C Hussey], [Reginald de Grey], [Richard II], [Richard D'Avranches], [Richard Dutton], [Richard Goodman], [Richard Grosvenor], [Richard Hickock], [Richard Lenginour], [Richard Llwyd], [Richard Pierpoint], [Richard Sainsbury], [Richard Sale], [Richard Thimbleby], [Richard Venables], [Robert Amery], [Robert Byrne], [Robert Ellis], [Robert Newstead], [Robert Notterville], [Robert Nutter], [Robert of Rhuddlan], [Robert Rogers], [Robert Taylor], [Roger Adams], [Roger Comberbach], [Roger de Clifford], [Roger de Lacy], [Roger Ledsham], [Roger Mortimer], [Roger Smith], [Roger Whitley]

Ralph Aldersey

He was a member of the local Aldersey family who had held the office of Sheriff in Chester around 1541. While serving as a city Alderman in 1573 his daughter, Ellen, was alleged to have eloped with a Draper called Ralph Jaman, without the permission of her family.

The couple were thought to have escaped the city by way of the medieval Newgate or Wolf Gate and in response her father persuaded the council to have the gate closed at night times, in order that such an event could not reoccur.

Two local men, Hugh Rogerson an Alderman and Richard Wright, a draper in the city, were both charged with being accomplices to the event. Rogerson was reported to have been fined 10 shillings for his part in the affair and Wright had his business premises closed. Happily for all concerned, father and daughter were said to have been reconciled some time later.

Ralph Dutton

Dutton was the son-in-law of Roger de Lacy, the Constable of Chester who was reported to have famously rescued Randal Blundeville from Rhuddlan Castle, where he was besieged by a large Welsh force. Dutton himself was said to have played a part in the rescue, being the main reason why so many Chester men joined the rescuing force, as he was so well thought of by the local citizens.

He was said to have helped organise the unruly band of minstrels and performers into some kind of military formation that might make the Welsh besiegers believe that a large English force was on its way to confront them.  

Ultimately, the Dutton family inherited the rights granted to De Lacy as a result of his rescue of the 7^th Earl. These rights entitled the family to regulate and charge admission to the city’s minstrel’s guilds and companies. They also led the annual pageant and parades, when the company received the blessing of the church. The Dutton family’s authority over the minstrel’s companies was thought to have been in force right up until the reign of George III.

Randal Blundeville (Earl Ranulph III)

Generally associated with the Oswestry area of Shropshire, Ranulph Blundeville succeeded his father Hugh II Keveliok as Earl of Chester in 1181 and retained the title through to his own death in 1232, a period of 51 years. He was thought to have inherited the title when he was only 11 years of age and during his minority his inheritance was reported to have been administered first by Gilbert Pipard and later by Bertram de Verdon on the instructions of the monarch Henry II.

Unlike his two immediate predecessors, his father and grandfather, Ranulph III does not appear to have been involved in any plotting or scheming against the Crown, but rather proved to be a highly pragmatic, politically astute individual who sought to expand his holdings, wealth and influence through amicable and astute relationships, as well as wise counsel. His first marriage, which was almost entirely political for the 20 year old Ranulph, was to Constance of Brittany, the widow of Geoffrey of Plantagenet and mother of Arthur Plantagenet, a future claimant to the English Crown.

This particular union made Ranulph III a son-in-law to the monarch Henry II and to his successor Richard I, later more famously known as the “Lionheart”. The marriage to Constance also entitled him as the Duke of Brittany as well as Earl of Richmond. In 1194, the Earl of Chester was said to have famously opposed King Richard’s younger brother Prince John, who tried to seize control of England while his older sibling was held prisoner abroad. Along with a number of other leading nobles, Blundeville was reported to have besieged John and his supporters at Nottingham Castle, but it was only when Richard finally returned to England later in the same year that the garrison finally surrendered to the royalist forces. At Richard’s second coronation, which took place at Winchester on 17^th April 1194, Ranulph III of Chester was reported to have carried the “Curtana” or the “Sword of Mercy”, one of the 3 swords of state and signifying the young Earl’s high standing within England.

Five years later and following Richard’s death while campaigning in France, his younger brother Prince John finally ascended the English throne. Perhaps due to Ranulph’s earlier treatment of the Prince, the relationship between the two men was reported to have been strained and was certainly not helped by the Earl’s continued relationship with Arthur Plantagenet, John’s counter claimant for the English throne. However, Ranulph’s decision the same year to divorce Constance; effectively ending his role of step-father to Arthur appears to have eased the tensions between the Earl and his monarch, allowing them both to benefit from their mutually shared aims. Throughout the remaining period of John’s reign, his Earl of Chester proved to be his most loyal and faithful servant and remained a staunch supporter to the king through to Magna Carta in 1215 and beyond.

The city of Chester, in Ranulph’s time was described by the monk Lucian in the following terms; “Chester has beneath its walls a beautiful river abundant in fish, with a harbour on its south side where ships from Aquitaine, Spain, Ireland and Germany unload their cargoes of wine and other merchandise. The daily tides provide a flourishing fish trade and its rising and falling makes a wide expanse of both water and sand”.

Around 1200 and having sworn allegiance to King John, along with his brothers in law, the Earls of Derby and Huntington, Ranulph was reported to have married for the second and final time. His new wife was Clemencia, the widow of Alan de Dinan and a sister to Geoffrey of Fougeres who held lands which were adjacent to Blundeville’s estates in France. Although fundamentally a “political” union, this marriage brought Ranulph lands in Lincolnshire which substantially added to his existing estates in England. Whatever the basis for the relationship though, it was obviously very successful as the couple were thought to have remained together for the next 32 years.

For most of the period from 1199 through to 1205, the Earl of Chester was said to have been absent from England, accompanying the king on his various military campaigns on the continent, as well as administering his own family estates. By the end of 1205 however, any of these ancestral possessions had been lost to the French king Philip Augustus, forcing King John to offer Ranulph new estates in England and to exempt him from royal taxes by way of compensation for his French losses.

In common with his Norman ancestors, Ranulph III was in almost constant dispute with the Princes of North Wales, particularly Llewellyn ap Iorwerth who was thought to have ruled eastern Gwynedd from around 1190. Reported to be the son of Iorwerth Drwynchwn and a grandson of the great Welsh ruler Owain Gwynedd, Llewellyn was said to have been raised in the border area between England and Wales following his mother’s remarriage to a Norman Marcher lord.

Having gained control of eastern Gwynedd in 1190, ten years later he was said to have launched a military takeover of the adjoining western region, following the death of its ruler, Gruffudd ab Owain. Late in 1201 Llewellyn was reported to have agreed a peace treaty with King John, which fundamentally secured his lands and guaranteed a cessation of hostilities between the two countries. Four years later, in 1205 this peace agreement was further cemented by the marriage of the Welsh Prince to King John’s illegitimate daughter Joanna. As part of his new wife’s dowry Llewellyn was thought to have been granted the area of Ellesmere in Shropshire and was said to have accompanied the English monarch in his military campaigns against the Scots, an unprecedented act of loyalty.

Despite this new relationship between the two rulers, the region itself remained tense and the decision by Earl Ranulph of Chester to rebuild Deganwy Castle sometime around 1210 was seen locally as a threatening gesture by the native population who almost immediately began ravaging the Norman settlements which lay on the Welsh side of the border and leaving King John with little option but to act against them. By 1211, a large English force had been assembled to launch a military campaign against Llewellyn and his rebels, a force which was said to have included Earl Ranulph and two former allies of Llewellyn, Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor and Hywel ap Gruffudd ap Cynan. Over subsequent months this enormous military force was able to press Llewellyn’s army further west and back towards the mountainous region of Snowdonia, until finally the Welsh Prince was forced to capitulate to the English monarch.

Unfortunately for King John and his allies, the terms imposed by the monarch on Llewellyn and his people were so severe that within two years the region was once again in open rebellion with their English overseers, during which a large number of royal castles and civilian settlements were captured, destroyed or both. This second more serious uprising unhappily happened to coincide with a dispute within the English aristocracy, which saw the king at odds with a number of his leading Earls, Barons and landowners. Because of these troubles, John was either unwilling or unable to deal with Llewellyn’s uprising, allowing the Welsh leader to regain possession of the lands and estates which had previously been sequestered by the Crown.

It was during this unsettled and perilous period that the almost legendary tale of Blundeville’s rescue by a rag-tag army of musicians from Chester is thought to date. The story relates that the Earl was visiting the Norman castle of Rhuddlan when local Welsh forces became aware of his presence there and immediately besieged the fort, preventing Ranulph from leaving. Realising his predicament, he arranged for a messenger to break the siege and carry an urgent request for aid to his constable at Chester.

The constable, Roger de Lacy, on receiving Ranulph’s communication rushed to Chester’s busy market square, where the midsummer fair was underway and summoned the men of the city to answer the call of their besieged Earl. Perhaps typically, most of the Chester men attending the annual fair were the worse for drink and many stepped forward to volunteer their service without considering the consequences. In a short time De Lacy had a large, highly irregular force at his command, made up mainly it has to be said, of musicians, itinerants, travellers and riotous drunks, all of whom were looking for a fight with their troublesome Welsh neighbours. Having managed to get his “musical irregulars” mustered, De Lacy began the long march to the castle at Rhuddlan, no doubt accompanied by the raucousness of musical instruments, drunken revellers and the clamour that generally attaches itself to a good humoured but boisterous party.

Had the Welsh forces besieging Rhuddlan actually bothered to investigate the source of the noise which was approaching their position, then no doubt they would have been bemused by the caravan of alcohol fuelled citizens that was travelling towards them, intent on confrontation. Instead, it was reported that the Welshmen assumed that a large military force was on its way to rescue the Earl Ranulph and decided to withdraw from their positions. With the Welsh besiegers dispersed, Blundeville was then able to escape the castle and return to Chester at the head of his “victorious” army.

As a reward to the citizens that had helped release him, Ranulph was thought to have granted numerous privileges to Chester’s annual fairs, so that each person might benefit from his gratitude. As for his loyal constable, De Lacy, the Earl was said to have established and then granted Roger the exclusive custody and licensing of the city’s minstrel guilds, which were later ceded by the constable to his son-in-law Ralph Dutton, who passed them on to his successors. These rights were thought to have remained in the Dutton family through to the reign of King George II, when they were finally rescinded.

Roger de Lacy, the 7^th Baron of Halton became almost as distinguished as the Earl that he served at Chester, most notably through his command of Chateau Gaillard in Normandy during the reign of King John. His ancestor, Walter Ilbert de Lacy, was thought to have been a leading figure at the Battle of Hastings and served with William the Conqueror in his subsequent subjugation of the English people. Roger’s father John de Lacy was also reported to have held the post of Constable of Chester and was the 6^th Baron of Halton and Baron of Pontefract, who had married Alice de Vere.

Chateau Gaillard was built in the Normandy on the orders of King Richard I in order to protect his holdings as the Duke of that region. Said to have been built in almost record time, it was thought to have been started in 1197 and virtually completed by 1198, although Richard was reported to have died shortly before it was finished. King John, Richard’s successor, then decided to modify the fortress’ design, a decision that would ultimately prove to have fatal consequences. He was said to have instructed his builders to add an extra window to the outside wall of the castle’s chapel, as well as installing an additional toilet within the chapel itself.

King Philip II of France was thought to have besieged Chateau Gaillard for a considerable period of time around 1203, but had been unable to overcome its formidable defences. Finally, he was said to have instructed his commanders to look for weaknesses within the castle that his army might exploit and almost inevitably the structural alterations ordered by King John came to the attacker’s attention. Quickly realising that a small group of men could gain access to the Chateau by way of the toilet chute and new chapel window, Philip instructed his generals to penetrate the English defence. Once inside Gaillard, the small French force was reported to have overcome the guards and released the drawbridge, allowing the main body of the French army to enter the fortress. Most of the English garrison were said to have been massacred, apart from those leading Barons and Knights who could later be ransomed back to their family’s or held as hostages. Roger de Lacy was reported to have been held by the French King until such time as an exorbitant ransom was paid for his release, much of which was met by Roger’s ally Earl Ranulph of Chester.   

It is also thought that Ranulph III was the first Norman Earl to officially recognise the townspeople’s Guilds which were said to have existed in the city for decades. These Craft Guilds were reported to have started as Merchants Guilds, but had later separated in order to promote and protect the wages and conditions of the workers involved in them. Local statutes and ordinances were also introduced which set out appropriate standards for workers benefits and training.          

By 1215 Llewellyn and his allies were said to have recovered the bulk of their estates and were even thought to have added additional English possessions to their lands, including the vitally important border town of Shrewsbury. Within 12 months Llewellyn was thought to have been widely acclaimed as the pre-eminent ruler in Wales and was regarded as having such authority that following John’s death at Newark in 1216, the agents of his 9 year old son and successor Henry III almost immediately set out to arrange a formal peace agreement with the Welsh Prince, which was finally signed in 1218.

As part of this agreement and in order to underpin future relationships between the two nations, around 1222 a union was arranged between Llewellyn’s daughter Helen and the Earl of Chester’s nephew John Scot, who would later become the eighth and final Norman Earl of Chester. A second daughter of the Welsh ruler was also said to have betrothed to another of Henry’s leading nobles, William de Lacy, who was a major landowner in Ireland and the Welsh Marches.

With this peace treaty in place, both Llewellyn and Ranulph III benefited from the security that each offered the other and with their respective borders guaranteed, the Earl of Chester was able to concentrate more fully on the English political scene which had been in almost permanent crisis both before and after John’s death from dysentery at Newark on the 18^th October 1216. As one of the king’s leading retainers, Ranulph was known to have attended John’s later interment at Worcester and to have been named as one of the 3 executors of the king’s last will and testament, which dictated John’s legacy and final wishes.

Although the young Henry III was the legitimate heir of the late King John, his succession to the English throne had not gone completely unchallenged. Despite John’s signing of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter in 1215 at Runnymede, there remained a body of Barons and landowners that chose to support an alternative candidate to the 9 year old Henry, the French Prince Louis, who was the husband of John’s niece, Blanche de Castile, who had landed in England in 1216 in order to pursue his claim.

Perhaps in normal circumstances the young Henry might have been swept aside by the tide of unrest that had washed over England, but fortunately for the young king he had the loyalty and presence of two of England’s greatest knights of the age, Ranulph III of Chester and Earl William Marshall. Following the young Henry’s coronation at Gloucester on the 28^th October 1216, both Ranulph and William were said to have been the first of his subjects to pay homage to the new king, as was their right as the leading knights of the kingdom.

In view of the new monarch’s minority, a council was said to have been formed, which would act on the young king’s behalf and also elect a Regent as guardian for Henry. Legend suggests that Earl Ranulph was initially offered this role, but he chose to defer in favour of Earl William, who he believed was a more suitable and better qualified candidate for this vitally important role. Instead, Ranulph chose to simply remain as an advisor to and protector of the young prince, a role he was more than qualified to play. In May 1217 he was reported to have been granted the Earldom of Lincolnshire, which was in addition to his appointment as Sheriff of Lancashire, Staffordshire and Shropshire which had been awarded to Ranulph in April 1216, some 5 months before King John’s death.

The same year, 1217, also saw a final resolution of the ongoing dispute between those noblemen that were loyal to King Henry III and the rebel Barons that had chosen to support the cause of the French candidate Prince Louis. In May 1217, a royalist force, thought to have been commanded by Earl Ranulph besieged the castle at Montsorel, which was reported to have been held by men loyal to the French Prince. A relief force, headed by some of Louis’ leading French knights and rebel English Barons was then thought to have begun a march towards the blockaded position, intent on raising the siege and engaging Ranulph’s force.

However, rather than meeting these foreign forces on their own terms, the Earl was said to have lifted the siege and withdrawn his forces to Nottingham Castle, where he could safely watch the approach of his enemies. Shortly afterwards, the Anglo-French troops of Louis arrived at Montsorel, only to find that the blockade had been lifted and their enemy’s forces vanished. Having secured the castle, they were then said to have moved towards the castle at Lincoln and along the way destroying and seizing everything of value that they came across. Finally reaching their objective, the rebels were reported to have laid siege to the royal castle, but were unable to capture the position, due to the valour of its garrison, who were said to have rained missiles and stones down on top of the attackers.

Meanwhile, the king’s guardian William Marshall ordered that all loyal Englishmen should muster at Newark in order to relieve both the castle garrison and citizens of Lincoln. When his army was finally assembled, Marshall was reported to have gathered together over 400 knights, 300 crossbow men and thousands of foot soldiers who had all answered his call to arms in support of the young Henry III. Marshall the Elder, along with his son, also called William and known as the Younger, as well a number of England’s leading aristocrats, foremost of which was Ranulph of Chester, William of Salisbury, William of Ferrars and William of Abermarle were said to have stood at the head of this enormous military force.

For three days this army were thought to have gathered and rested at Newark, taking communion and receiving the blessings of their religious leaders. Finally, when all was ready, the army of the young king moved forward to meet their enemies, ready to repudiate the claims of the French Prince, Louis, by their force of arms.

There is a legendary tale, which tells of a meeting between Earl Ranulph and one of Louis’ leading retainers, the Count of Perche, shortly before the second Battle of Lincoln commenced on the 20^th May 1217. Being aware that a large English force was approaching their position, the Count and a number of his peers were thought to have moved forward to a spot close to a local church, to watch the arrival of Henry’s army and the leading knights that were in its vanguard. On spotting the diminutive Earl Ranulph in the forefront of the royalist ranks, the Count of Perche was reported to have publicly slighted Blundeville by calling aloud to his companions; “Have we stayed all this time for such a little man, such a dwarf?”

Outraged by this insult, Ranulph was said to have forewarned the French noble of the fate which awaited him and his comrades by replying; “I vow to God and Our Lady whose church this is, that before tomorrow evening, I will seem to thee to be greater and stronger than that church steeple”. It proved to be a prophetic warning, as the Count of Perche was later reported to have been slain during the ensuing battle, having been stabbed through the eye by Sir Reginald Crocus, whose sword thrust killed the French knight instantly.

As the day of the battle dawned, Earl Ranulph was said to have declared that he would not fight the French, unless he could have the privilege of launching the first attack on Louis’s Anglo-Norman forces. Although he was thought to have been prevented from leading the first charge individually, the Earl was known to have accompanied the two William Marshall’s as their army advanced inexorably towards Louis’ forces, who had largely remained close to or within the fortified city of Lincoln itself.

As the main part of the king’s army engaged the Anglo-French troops of Louis, a separate division was reported to have made straight for the northern gate of Lincoln’s historic castle, in order to reinforce the loyal garrison that lay within and to fully employ the position against the rebels. Having successfully managed to gain entry to the still besieged castle, the royalist commander was said to have placed his troops and more importantly his crossbow men in positions where they could effectively target the attackers from above. So effective were the English bowmen that within a short time, a large number of French knights and rebel Barons were either dead or captured, having been caught beneath the bodies of their dead horses.

With great numbers of their commanders either dead or imprisoned by the royal forces, the foot soldiers and retainers of the rebel lords began to flee the city, only to be cut down by the English soldiers that were outside of Lincoln. For those that did manage to evade capture or death at the hands of Henry’s battalions, their escape route to London proved to be equally treacherous, with many of them falling foul of the numerous outraged loyal subjects who lived along the way. Of the hundreds of leading knights and Barons who had constituted his army at Lincoln, barely 300 survived the battle and subsequent journey back to report their defeat to the French Prince Louis. The second Battle of Lincoln proved to be a turning point for the French leader and perhaps realising that the young King Henry was now totally secure on the throne, within months Louis was said to have left England and relinquished his claim to Henry’s crown.

With the country and the king now secured, Ranulph was now able to concentrate his mind and efforts on maintaining and administering his vast lands and titles. Having received the honour of Leicester in 1215, the honour of Lancaster in 1216 and been granted the Earldom of Lincolnshire in 1217, there were few but the king and his regent William Marshall that could rival him for power and influence. In 1218 though, Ranulph decided to honour an earlier pledge to visit the Holy Lands and the city of Jerusalem, a journey that would unexpectedly bring him even greater fame and renown as a leading Christian knight.

Taking part in the 5^th Crusade which began in 1218, Ranulph was thought to have been accompanied by the Earl’s of Arundel and Winchester, as well as John de Lacy. Pope Innocent III, who had authorised the campaign, put a Spanish legate called Pelagius in command of the Crusader forces, despite the fact that he was a poor military leader, who was autocratic and singularly failed to take the advice of his more experienced commanders. Often described as a religious zealot, Pelagius believed that God was guiding his actions and as a consequence he did not need to employ either sound military tactics or any sort of commonsense. It must have been a deeply frustrating experience for highly pragmatic and battle hardened soldiers such as Ranulph and his companions to have their tactics simply dictated by pure chance or some sort of divine intervention, but they were said to have accepted the legate’s unorthodox approach nonetheless.

These crusader forces under Pelagius were reported to have got involved in the siege of the Egyptian city of Damietta in May of 1218, although the blockade itself was said to have been initiated some months earlier. Despite having taken the outskirts of the city, the inner defensive core of Damietta remained in the hands of its Moslem defenders, who were thought to be anxious to reach a negotiated settlement with the Christian attackers led by Pelagius. The sultan was said to have offered the legate, the return of the city of Jerusalem to Christian hands, providing that the Crusader army would leave Egypt. Unfortunately, Pelagius, no doubt guided by some sort of spiritual guidance refused the offer, consequently causing many more men on either side to die needlessly.

In later misguided military manoeuvres against the city, Pelagius was only saved the loss of more of his men by the timely interference of Earl Ranulph and his companions, who were said to have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. On two later occasions the Pontiff’s agent was offered the opportunity to negotiate a settlement with the besieged Sultan, but both times refused to bargain with the Moslem leader. Finally, in the November of 1218, the city’s defenders, no doubt worn down by months of fighting and siege were said to have been unable to resist the Crusaders repeated attempts to take their city and Damietta finally fell to Pelagius and his forces. For their part, Ranulph and his companions were said to have remained in Holy Land well beyond the fall of Damietta and were not thought to have returned home to England until 1220.

It was while they were returning home, that yet another legend attached itself to the Earl of Chester which further added to his personal reputation and general standing in England. The tale relates that the ship which was carrying Ranulph and his companions was caught in a violent storm which threatened to capsize the ship, causing the whole company to be lost. The ship’s captain was even said to have advised the Earl to make his peace with God, so sure was he that all would be drowned. Instead, Ranulph was said to have retired to his quarters in the company of his monks and within a short time the storm began to abate and their journey continued uneventfully. On his return to Chester in 1220, the Earl and his party were said to have been received with great honour and joy and throughout England generally was reported to have been venerated by poets and minstrels who related his exploits in both words and music.

However, in spite of his joy at being restored safely to his family and friends, the Earl was immediately aware that England was not the same country that he had left two years earlier. William Marshall the elder, who had acted so successfully as the young kings guardian was reported to have died while Ranulph was away and been replaced by a less worthy and honourable character called Hubert de Burgh. Under his guidance, the teenage Henry III had initiated moves to take control of the castles and fortresses which were in the hands of England’s leading Barons and Earls and held on behalf of the young monarch. Despite their consternation at these proposed moves, at King Henry’s second Coronation which took place in May 1220, the nobles agreed to surrender these defences “as and when it pleased the king”. The matter continued to remain a sensitive issue for some time, with the king and his agents opposed by the Barons and Earls, many of whom believed that their personal control of these castles and fortresses was safer and more effective for the country. However, by the December of 1224 and said to be under the threat of excommunication by the church, Ranulph and his fellow lords were thought to have finally surrendered these positions to the Crown. Ranulph himself was reported to have been ordered to surrender control of his castles at Bridgenorth, Shrewsbury and Lancaster, although Chester itself does not appear to have been specifically mentioned, suggesting that only the royal castles of the king were demanded by Henry.

Regardless of any perceived loss of control on his own part, or any personal antipathy that Ranulph may have felt towards Henry’s new advisors, notably de Burgh, the Earl of Chester does not appear to have harboured any resentment towards the king himself. He continued to offer both his loyalty and obedience to the monarch and remained so highly thought of by Henry, that Ranulph was often able to act as surety for other noblemen who were less trusted and was known to have interceded with Henry on behalf of those that had offended the young king.

Ranulph was not without resolve however, and the recovery of the royal castles at Bridgenorth, Shrewsbury and Lancaster by Henry remained a slight on their relationship. Perhaps to reinforce the point with the young monarch, the Earl was thought to have begun construction of Beeston Castle in 1224, the same year that he lost control of the three royal possessions. A number of historians have suggested that there was little practical purpose for this castle, either in terms of its actual location or its military use, which only points to the fact that it was built as a public rebuff, both to the king and his advisors. Having completed the castle by around 1225, the Earl was also thought to have withdrawn from the national stage and concentrated instead on consolidating his family estates and holdings.

Two years later, Ranulph was recalled to the centre of court politics to act as an arbitrator in a dispute between King Henry III and his younger brother Richard, the Duke of Cornwall. Richard was reported to have illegally seized a manor in Cornwall which had been granted to a nobleman called Waleran by their father King John and which the young Duke refused to return, even on the orders of his brother, King Henry. Refusing to accept the king’s authority, Richard demanded that the matter should be resolved by the magnates, including Ranulph III of Chester, who perhaps surprisingly upheld Richards claim, forcing the king to withdraw his royal command for the return the manor to its original owner.

In 1229 the Earl was once again at odds with the monarch, following Henry’s introduction of a Papal Tax which was commonly known throughout England as “Peter’s Pence”. Not only did Ranulph refuse to pay the tax, but was reported to have threatened the arrest of any revenue collector who tried to gather the levy within his jurisdiction. Despite these problems though, relations with the king were thought to have remained intact and later the same year Earl Ranulph was said to have been ready to accompany Henry on his military campaigns against the French. Due to unforeseen delays however, the expedition was thought to have been delayed until 1230, when Henry’s army finally left England.

By June of the same year and having departed from Henry’s main force, Earl Ranulph was reported to have recovered and refortified his family’s ancestral castle at Avranches, a possession he had lost during the unsuccessful campaigns of King John some years earlier. John had compensated the Earl for the loss of his ancestral lands by granting him properties in Lincolnshire, but with his French possessions recovered King Henry now relieved Ranulph of his Lincolnshire estates and granted them instead to one of his leading retainers Peter of Dreux.

For the remainder of 1230 Ranulph was said to have been ransacking and raiding along the borders of the Anjou region of France, but in 1231 was thought to have been elevated to overall commander of the English army, following the death of William Marshall the younger. It was Ranulph that was reported to have ordered the wholesale destruction and burning of French settlements throughout the Normandy and Anjou regions. However, time was beginning to run out for the valiant and steadfast Earl and by the July of 1231 he was said to have returned home to England.

Even though he only had a little over 12 months to live, his combative and righteous nature remained undimmed, with Ranulph reportedly quarrelling with the king over the continued unrest in Wales which was said to have been instigated by the Welsh Prince Llewellyn ap Iorwerth. The following year and just months before his own death Ranulph was said to have interceded with Henry on behalf of Hubert de Burgh, the king’s former counsellor, who had himself fallen foul of newer, more powerful enemies who were lobbying against him. The Earl rather unselfishly reminded King Henry of de Burgh’s fidelity and service to the Crown in earlier years, an intervention that perhaps typified Blundeville’s general nature which was often both forgiving and generous to his former enemies.

As his life drew towards a conclusion and being a practical man, Ranulph was said to have begun to put his worldly affairs in order and prepared his estates for those that would inevitably follow him. As he had no legitimate heirs of his own, he began to make provision for those people within his extended family that would succeed him. He was thought to have bequeathed his estates and titles in Lincolnshire to his sister Hawise, the widow of the late Robert de Quency and who was later said to have ceded the title of Earl of Lincolnshire to John de Lacy, her son in law and the son of the famous Constable of Chester, Roger de Lacy.

When he died at Wallingford in Berkshire in October 1232, Ranulph’s final wishes were to have his body buried at Chester’s magnificent Norman Abbey, with the exception of his heart, which was to be interred at Dieulacres, the Cistercian Abbey he had founded on the Cheshire/Staffordshire border. Historical records suggest that this religious centre was inhabited by the monks who had previously occupied the earlier Cistercian Abbey at Poulton near Chester, which subsequently disappeared following the brothers relocation to the new Abbey at Leek.

Throughout his tenure as the Earl of Chester, Ranulph was said to have been fairly generous to the religious houses that lay within his authority and in addition to Dieulacres, had founded two separate charities in the city. St John’s without the Northgate had been founded by Blundeville in 1191 when he was still Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, for the sustenance of the poor and silly people. In later years and during the reign of Edward III the charity was said to have been required to house 13 “poore and feeble” people, each of which was entitled to a loaf of bread, a dish of pottage, half a gallon of competent ale and a piece of fish or flesh, depending on the day.

His second charity was St Giles’ Leper Hospital at Boughton, a home for those afflicted by the highly contagious disease, as well as operating as an Alms House for the poor. The inhabitants of St Giles’ were reported to have been entitled to levy tolls against goods coming into the city and to demand a proportion of each merchants cargo as they made their way into Chester.

The hospital’s cemetery was known to have become the final resting place for many notable and infamous individuals, notably the Lancashire preacher George Marsh who was burnt at the stake in the mid 16^th Century for his heretical beliefs. The chapels close proximity to the site of the city’s public gallows also ensured that many of Chester’s condemned felons, who breathed their last in Boughton, were finally laid to rest in the grounds of St Giles’ ancient precincts. During the English Civil War siege of Chester, the church and hospital were said to have been demolished by the city’s royalist defenders, thereby ensuring that the buildings could not be used by the Parliamentarian forces that were blockading Chester.  

Randle Caldecott

Caldecott was renowned as the illustrator for the “Graphic” publication. Born in Chester in around 1846, he was thought to have been a pupil at the King’s School in the city.

Randle Holme I ( 1571-1655)

Born around 1571 Randle I was the first of a line of antiquaries and heralds who shared the same name and were residents of Chester. Their family home was reported to have been the modern day Ye Olde Kings Head in Lower Bridge St.

Around 1587 he was apprenticed to Thomas Chaloner, who was a Herald and had been Ulster King at Arms. Following his master’s death in 1598, Holme inherited Chaloner’s papers as well as marrying his widow. It has also been reported that Holme may have succeeded Chaloner as Deputy of the Heralds College in Chester around 1600.

Randle served as a city Sheriff in 1615 and was elected Mayor of Chester between 1633 and 1634. He was interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, close to the city’s medieval castle in 1655.

Randle Holme II ( -1659)

Holme was a key Royalist supporter during the English Civil War and the subsequent siege of Chester. He was a member of a family of Heraldic painters and local historians, who was thought to have assisted his father in his role as Deputy of the Heralds College in the city. He was elected as Mayor of Chester in 1643 and 1644 and did not live much beyond his fathers death. He was interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, close to the city’s medieval castle.

Randle Holme III (1627-1699)

Born in 1627 he was the third generation of local historians, writers and heraldic painters that lived at Chester and has been called “The Great Randle”. He was co-author of a book titled “The Academy of Armour” which was published in an unfinished form in 1688, due to insufficient funds. The manuscript is now held by the British Museum and forms part of their library. He also wrote a series of memoirs about the city detailing the civil war siege of Chester

It was this particular Randle that was thought to have owned the “Old Lamb’s Row”, which was known to have stood close to the “Falcon” in the city. Unhappily for the family’s heirs, the building was reported to have fallen into a state of great disrepair and simply collapsed around 1821. The family no doubt despaired, but other locals were said to have celebrated its demise, as it had blocked easy access along the street for over 150 years.

Married three times Randle died in 1699 and upon his death was interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, along with his father and grandfather.

Randle Holme IV (1659-1707)

He was the fourth generation of the local family who were Heraldic painters and local historians in the city. He was thought to have been a member of the Stationers Company and Deputy to Norroy, King of Arms, but does not appear to have been as successful as his predecessors.

The Holme family had been prolific collectors of historic materials relevant to Chester and three earlier generations had managed to amass thousands of pages of information on the subject.

It was reputedly this Randle that sold the family collection to Robert Harley, the Earl of Oxford, because he was impoverished and needed to raise funds. Fortunately for the history of the Holme family, these archives were later donated to the British Museum and now form part of the Harleian Manuscript. In 1700 it was recorded that Holme had sold his Heraldic Painting business to a Mr Bassano and following his death sometime around 1707 he was said to have been interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, close to the city’s medieval castle.

Randle Richardson ( -1645)

Richardson was a Sheriff of Chester, who during the siege of the city was said to have been killed by a musket ball fired by a Parliamentary sniper located at the nearby St John’s church.

Ranulph de Ghernon

Unlike his father, Ranulph II was neither an unremarkable or forgettable Earl of Chester, but rather was renowned as probably the most ruthless and ambitious individual ever to hold the title. He succeeded to the Earldom in 1129 and in the following 24 years, up until his death in 1153, he rose to become one of the most powerful and influential men in England.

When the monarch Henry I died in 1135, he was succeeded to the English throne by his nephew, the young Prince Stephen. However, his entitlement to rule was immediately challenged by Henry’s daughter, the Empress Mathilda, the widow of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V who had later married Geoffrey of Anjou. And who believed that her son Henry of Anjou was the legitimate heir to the Crown. She had found support amongst a large number of the leading Barons of England and her cause had been further helped by Stephen’s decision to seize the lands and estates of these already disaffected noblemen. Mathilda was also the aunt of Ranulph’s wife Maud and a sister of Robert Earl of Gloucester, De Gernon’s father in law.

Between 1139 and 1145 England was in an almost continuous state of crisis, as the two parties vied with one another for control of the country and the support of the country’s leading noblemen. Robert, the Earl of Gloucester who was the father-in-law of Ranulph II was reported to have been a noted campaigner for the Angevin claims of Mathilda and this relationship was thought to have been factor in Ranulph’s later decision to back the claim of the Empress.

The Earl of Chester’s loyalty to Stephen had already been seriously undermined by the new king’s earlier decision to grant the Earldom of Carlisle to the son of the King of Scotland, rather than reinstate the title to Ranulph himself. His father, Ranulph de Meschines had been forced to surrender these very same titles and estates by Henry I after he had accepted the more lucrative and influential grant of Chester. Unlike his father though, Ranulph II was a far more independent and ambitious individual who was happy to exploit any situation for his own benefit.

De Gernons had inherited extensive properties and lands throughout England from his predecessors, including those he held in Lincolnshire and it was here that Ranulph finally announced his division with King Stephen, in the most public way. Sometime in 1141 the Earl made the decision to seize the royal Castle at Lincoln ostensibly in support of his own claims within the county. Unfortunately for him, Ranulph’s actions soon became embroiled in the much larger dispute that was dividing the country, that of the right of succession to the English throne.

Historical records suggest that Ranulph’s seizure of the royal castle was a fairly peaceful affair and one that might have been regarded as slightly farcical, had the repercussions not been so serious for all the parties involved. The Earl was said to have sent his wife Maud to the castle, supposedly to visit the wives of the garrison’s commanders, a visit that would almost certainly have distracted the husband’s as well. Sometime later Ranulph and a small number of unarmed men called at the castle on the pretext of collecting the Earl’s wife and escorting her home. Totally unaware that anything was amiss, the guards allowed the Earl and his retainer’s access to the inner precincts.

Once inside the castle Ranulph and his small number of supporters were reported to have picked up heavy tools and implements which were lying nearby and used them to incapacitate the unsuspecting guards. Once they were in control of the castle’s entrances, Ranulph was then able to summon additional men who soon took complete control of the castle complex. As soon as this had been completed, the Earl then took steps to gain some level of control over the civilian population in the nearby city.

Surprisingly perhaps, on hearing the news of Ranulph’s seizure of the royal castle King Stephen appeared to be largely undisturbed by the Earls illegal actions and was even reported to have been prepared to acquiesce to Ranulph’s demands on the subject. However, having received news that the citizens of Lincoln were being mistreated by De Gernon and his supporters, the monarch was finally forced into some sort of military action against the unruly Earl and after gathering his forces began the march to Lincoln.

Perhaps believing that Stephen would not take action against him, for fear of alienating him from the royal cause, Ranulph was thought to have been caught somewhat unawares when the king finally arrived at Lincoln accompanied by a substantial military force with which to besiege the castle. Although regarded as a highly combative individual, the Earl of Chester was no fool and quickly realised that his hold on the castle was tenuous at best and that he needed to reinforce his position as soon as possible.

Leaving his wife, his brother and most of his retainers to hold the castle, Ranulph was thought to have escaped the siege at dead of night and made his way back to the relative safety of Chester. Having reached the security of the city, he immediately began to assemble a military force with which to raise Stephen’s siege of Lincoln Castle, including troops supplied by the Welsh Princes Madog ap Maredudd of Powys and Cadwaladwr ap Gruffudd the exiled prince of Gwynedd who were no doubt eager to exploit the king’s weaknesses and perhaps gain greater benefits for themselves and their people, as well as expanding their own personal spheres of influence.

One of Ranulph’s first acts was to send word to his father-in-law, his wife Maud’s father, Robert the Earl of Gloucester, regarded as one of the most powerful magnates in England. Not surprisingly, having been told of his daughter’s plight at Lincoln Robert agreed to join Ranulph in his venture and began to assemble his own forces, which would later join the Earl of Chester in the battle that lay ahead. Content that he now had the means with which to defeat Stephen, Ranulph’s final act was to openly declare his support for the Angevin claimant Mathilda, a public declaration that would inevitably lead to bloodshed between the two men. In return for her military support at Lincoln, Ranulph was reported to have sworn fealty to the foreign Empress and her son Henry of Anjou, as well as his future collaboration in her claim for the English throne.

At Lincoln itself, King Stephen’s forces were still trying to capture the castle complex which was being resolutely held by Ranulph’s brother William of Roumare and his relatively small garrison of men. On hearing that a large force of men, led by the Earl’s of Chester and Gloucester, was approaching the city the king ordered that efforts to capture the castle should be intensified and took the advice of his leading nobles. Despite being advised to withdraw in order to raise a greater military force with which to confront the rebels, instead the king chose to confront the two Earls and their army with the resources at his disposal, a move that would later prove to be flawed.

As the two sides faced one another on the field of battle, the royalist forces were reported to have been led by their commanders William of Ypres and Alan of Dinan, who were faced by the Welsh Princes Maredudd and Cadwaladwr, along with the Earl’s of Chester and Gloucester. Despite being heavily outnumbered by the his adversaries Stephen and his entourage were said to have dismounted and placed themselves in full view of their enemy determined to hold their ground whatever the cost.

Almost immediately Stephen’s royal forces began to fragment from the onslaught unleashed by the Welsh foot soldiers that seemed to have no fear of the knights facing them. Even a number of Stephen’s most trusted lieutenants; supposedly men of character and valour were reported to have fled the field before the hordes of rebel troops overwhelmed them. Only the brave remained, including Stephen and his most ardent supporters who were said to have held their ground and resisted the tide of soldiers that came against them. Almost inevitably though one by one the king’s retinue was reduced as the individual knights succumbed to the weaponry that was employed against them. Finally, even the king, exhausted from fighting with both sword and axe was said to have been worn down by the sheer numbers of his enemies and was forced to surrender his arms to his enemy Robert of Gloucester.

Having won the day and captured the king, the Earl’s of Chester and Gloucester were reported to have held Stephen prisoner, before handing him over to his enemy, the Empress Mathilda. For the victorious Earl’s though, the capture of the king appears to have been poor reward for their efforts and shortly after Stephen was taken their troops were reported to have ransacked the whole of the city of Lincoln, slaughtering those citizens who had been foolish enough to remain within its precincts, their livestock and causing untold damage to its fabric, including the ancient cathedral.

With Stephen a prisoner, it seemed that there was little to prevent the Empress Mathilda from seizing the throne on behalf of her son Henry of Anjou. However, the demands of her new subjects and her own autocratic personality, reflected in an unwillingness to concede to such demands, would almost inevitably lead to a widespread public rejection of the Empress herself and preventing her from taking control of the country. She was reported to have managed to stay in London for about a week, before concerns for her personal safety forced her to withdraw fro the capital and ultimately undermining her ability to take full control.

Not only did she alienate the citizenry of England, but in a relatively short time had caused a great deal of disaffection amongst the leading Earl’s and magnates who had helped her to seize control of England in the first place. Her dictatorial manner deepened the continuing unrest and inadvertently aided those royalist factions in the country that were seeking to reinstate the captive Stephen. Helped by Stephen’s Queen, resistance to the Angevin candidate Henry of Anjou began to build and arrangements were made for the seizure of Mathilda’s brother, Robert the Earl of Gloucester by those still loyal to the king. Having managed to capture the Earl, he was then reported to have been exchanged for Stephen, an event which fundamentally marked the end of Mathilda’s tenuous grasp on the English throne.

For his part, Ranulph II of Chester appears to have distanced himself from the events which resulted in his father-in-law being exchanged for the captured king, possibly because he had already achieved his own singular objective of gaining possession of Lincoln Castle. Perhaps believing that these gains would remain in his hands regardless of who was on the throne, De Gernon clearly expected that his rebellious actions against Stephen would soon be forgiven and seems to have taken very little part in the restoration of the monarch.

Despite what Ranulph may have thought, Stephen was determined to avenge his humiliation at the hands of the Angevin supporters, many of whom had been granted extensive rights by him. The king had learned from his earlier mistakes though and knew that he had to secure his position within England, before he would dare to confront those that had rebelled against, notably Ranulph II, Earl of Chester. 

By 1146 the king’s position and authority within the country was once again safe his having reached an agreement with the Empress Mathilda, which would see her son and heir Henry of Anjou succeed to the English throne on Stephen’s death. With no further cause of dispute to divide the kingdom, Stephen now chose to confront and deal with those Earls and Lords that had acted against him. In the same year, the Welsh Prince Owain ap Gruffudd was reported to have rebelled against the Norman Marcher Lords of North Wales, forcing Ranulph II to approach Stephen for his help in suppressing the outbreak of violence. However, instead of receiving offers of help from the monarch, the Earl was immediately arrested for his part in the Battle of Lincoln and the subsequent imprisonment of the king.

Having been held at Northampton for some months, surprisingly Ranulph II was thought to have escaped any serious punishment for his wrongdoings against the king, save from having to surrender those properties he had illegally seized, deliver hostages to guarantee his future behaviour and pay compensation for the damage that he had caused to Lincoln’s cathedral building. Despite the apparent leniency of the demands levied against him by King Stephen, the loss of his hard won properties, the demands made on his purse, plus the loss of reputation were all difficult things for the Earl to bear. His displeasure was even greater, having found out that during his enforced imprisonment, that the Welsh rebels were said to have captured the vitally important township of Mold.

Somewhat typically and despite having given hostages to the king to guarantee his future behaviour, as soon as he was released from his captivity, Ranulph was reported to have begun a series of malicious raiding campaigns designed to bring disorder and mayhem throughout his holdings until such time as his seized and sequestered lands were returned to him. It was reported by one source that;

“Having been released by King Stephen, the Earl Ranulph followed his inclination and flew straight away to arms. In one district he seized the king’s castle and in another, the new castles he built in haste could be seen rising and he passed rapidly from one region to another with his army and by his ravages he turned everything to desert and bare fields. In front of the city of Lincoln, which he had returned to the king for his freedom and in which Stephen had stationed the flower of his troop’s, he made frequent raids and won a glad and victorious triumph over the kings men”

It was only after much death and destruction had been wrought by the malevolent Earl, that the king finally relented and ordered the return of many of Ranulph’s assets and lands. Having had most of his losses restored to him, De Gernon’s was thought to have ended his tyrannical raids and an uneasy peace began to descend on the country once again.

In 1149 Ranulph was thought to have met with King David of Scotland and his nephew, Prince Henry of Anjou, who was the legitimate heir to the English throne and who was trying to develop future alliances within England. As a consequence of this meeting Ranulph was reported to have been granted Northern Lancashire by the Scottish monarch, presumably for his future support of the Angevin prince, which further enhanced and extended his northern holdings. A noted historian, Henry of Huntington described Ranulph II thus;

“He is a man of reckless audacity, ready for a plot, not to be depended on for carrying it out, prepared to rush into war, careless of danger with designs well beyond his powers and aiming at impossibilities”

Although he has often been regarded as a military gambler who more often than not turned most situations to his own advantage, the ruthless Earl was not always a winner when it came to battles. Around 1150 he was thought to have come into direct confrontation with Prince Owain ap Gruffudd the ruler of the Gwynedd area of North Wales. At the Battle of Lincoln, Ranulph had employed Owain’s exiled brother Cadwaladwr and his sponsor, the ruler of Powys Madog ap Maredudd in his force, which immediately put Ranulph and Owain at odds with one another. The Earl had chosen to ally himself once again with Maredudd, this time in the Powysian leader’s dispute with Owain which would prove to be a military error for De Gernon’s. The two warring sides were reported to have met at the Battle of Coleshill in 1150, with Owain ap Gruffudd proving to be victorious over Maredudd and Ranulph II.

Despite the unfortunate outcomes of previous ventures, Ranulph continued to be the most unreliable of subjects, who was constantly seeking new opportunities that would enhance his purse, holdings and influence. In 1153 Henry of Anjou, the son and heir of the Empress Mathilda arrived in England to pursue his rights and entitlements which had been previously agreed between his mother and the monarch, King Stephen. The Earl of Chester was in the vanguard of those that offered their support to the young Prince, in the hope of gaining further rewards in return for his fealty. Unfortunately for Ranulph, he was reported to have cast an envious and prospective eye on the lands of William Peverell of the Peak, the Lord of Nottingham, an act that would ultimately have fatal consequences for De Gernons. In the same year, it has been suggested that Peverell arranged for the acquisitive Earl to be poisoned, but whether or not that was at Peverell’s own hand or through a third party isn’t entirely clear. What is known though, is that Peverell was later said to have entered a monastery in order to either escape divine retribution or to make reparation for his actions.

At the time of his death there is a suggestion that De Gernon was under threat of excommunication by the Pontiff, despite the fact that throughout his life he was reported to have been a generous benefactor to the church. He has been credited with the foundation of St Mary’s Benedictine Convent at Chester, but most experts believe that this particular religious house had been in existence for some years before that. This accreditation for Ranulph II may well simply reflect the later grant of lands in the southwest quadrant of the city, overlooking the River Dee, rather than the initial foundation of the order.

Ranulph II was reported to have been survived by his wife Maud and his two sons Hugh of Gyffyllioc and Richard. It was his older son Hugh that would succeed to his title and to the extensive lands and holdings which Ranulph had managed to accumulate throughout his lifetime.  

Ranulph de Meschines

Ranulph I was thought to have been born around 1070 in the Briquessart region of Normandy and succeeded to the Earldom of Chester following the untimely death of his cousin, Richard D’Avranches, in the ill-fated “White Ship” disaster of 1120. He was the eldest son of Mathilda, who was also known as Margaret, the sister of the 2^nd Earl Hugh D’Avranches, who had married Ranulph de Meschines and was said to have had 2 younger brothers William and Geoffrey.

Also known as Ranulph of Briquesart, prior to being granted the Earldom of Chester he was reported to have previously held the title of Earl of Carlisle, as well as Viscount of Bayeux. However, on receiving the Earldom of Chester, Ranulph was required by King Henry I to surrender his holdings and titles in northern England, which he was said to have done gracefully.

Although the historical records of both his tenure and achievements are minimal, the lack of evidentiary materials seems to have little to do with Ranulph I himself, but appears to be a reflection of the shortness of his tenure as Earl and the fact that the northwest region of England was remarkably settled. Unlike earlier and later holders of the Earldom, the turbulent border region between England and Wales was reported to have been reasonably peaceful, apart from a dispute in 1121 which necessitated the king, Henry I having to lead a military campaign into the region to confront the forces of the Welsh ruler Gruffudd ap Cynan, who was busily engaged in extending his power and influence in North Wales.

National and international events seem to have preoccupied Earl Ranulph during his time at Chester, notably the military campaigns undertaken by Henry I in Normandy, fighting the forces of his nephew William, as well as the Duke of Anjou and King Louis of France, all of whom disputed the English monarch’s right to rule on the continent. By 1124 Ranulph I of Chester was reported to have been the military commander of Henry’s royal forces in Normandy, reflecting no doubt his martial skills, strategic abilities and his personal importance to the English crown. At the Battle of Bourgtheroulde in that year Ranulph was the English commander who was credited with the capture of both Anaury de Montford and Waleran de Meulan two of Henry’s leading adversaries who were later held prisoner by the king.

The ongoing dispute between Henry and the French nobles had begun in 1087, following the untimely death of William I and the division of his kingdom between his two sons, Robert of Curthose who was granted William’s Normandy estates and William Rufus who was given the Crown of England. In the following years the two brothers were in almost constant dispute with one another over their respective inheritances, with the young Henry being torn between the warring siblings. Around 1096 Robert was reported to have renounced his entitlement to his Normandy estates, choosing instead to crusade in the Holy Land and leaving his French estates to be assimilated into the English kingdom of William II.

However, following William’s accidental death whilst hunting on 2^nd August 1100, Henry succeeded to the English throne on 6^th August 1100, having been crowned at Westminster Abbey. At around the same time, Henry’s brother Robert was said to have returned from the Holy Land, seeking reinstatement to his kingdom of Normandy, but he later proved to be so unpopular with his Barons that they asked Henry’s help to remove Robert from power. Having successfully removed his ineffective brother from power, Henry still found his authority increasingly challenged by a number of rebellious nobles within the region, as well as by King Louis of France, who regarded the English monarch as a direct threat to his own lands.

Although he attempted to strengthen his position through the marriage of his daughter Mathilda to the German Emperor Henry V in 1114, Henry of England still had to divide his time between his two kingdoms and found it necessary to wage sporadic military campaigns against King Louis, the Duke of Anjou and William the son of Henry’s dispossessed brother Robert Curthose. It was during one of these cross channel forays that disaster struck the royal family when the “White Ship” carrying Henry’s son and heir William, along with Richard D’Avranches, the young Earl of Chester, was reported to have sunk with the loss of all those on board. Not only had the monarch lost his legitimate heir to the English throne, but the incident would later cause dispute over the right of succession, which would result in division and conflict between the leading nobles of England. The sinking of the ship also heralded the loss of Chester’s young Norman Earl, Richard, who would be subsequently be replaced by Ranulph de Meschines, the kings military commander in Normandy and a relative of both Hugh and Richard D’Avranches.  

In common with his predecessors Ranulph was recorded to have been a faithful and loyal servant to the Crown and overall his reign as Earl was thought to have been fairly unremarkable and untroubled. He no doubt acted as an advisor and counsellor to Henry I and was reported to have attended the king at Windsor in 1127 when the monarch summoned his leading Earls, Barons and Churchmen to attend him, a meeting which was said to have included the Scottish king, David.

He and his wife, Lucy Taillebois, who Ranulph was said to have married in 1097, were reported to have had 4 children, Adeliza, Agnes, Ranulph and William and it was his eldest son Ranulph that received the Earldom following his father’s death in 1129 at the age of 59. Following his death Ranulph’s remains were reported to have been interred in the Chapter House of St Werburgh’s Abbey in Chester.

Ranulph Higden

Higden was a 14^th Century monk and local historian at Chester’s medieval Abbey, who wrote his history of the world, the Polychronicon, which detailed the period from creation through to his own time. His work is considered to be the only serious publication produced by members of the community in Chester. Higden recorded that;

“The city of the legions, Chester, which lies in the marshes of England towards Wales, lies between two arms of the sea, which are named the Mersey and the Dee. The city, in the time of the Britons was head and chief city of all Venedotia that is North Wales. This city in British speech is called “Carthleon”, Chester in English, as well as the “City of the legions”.

For there, lay a winter the legions that Julius Caesar sent forth to win Ireland. After that, Claudius Caesar sent legions out of the city to win the islands that he called “Orcades”.

The city has plenty of corn, flesh and specially Salmon. This city receives great merchandise and sends out as much. The Northumbrians destroyed this city sometime, but Ethelfleda, Lady of Mercia, rebuilt it and made it much more than it was.

In this city wonderfully built, three chambered works lay underground with old names therein. This is the city that Ethelfrith, king of Northumbria destroyed and slew there, two thousand monks from the monastery at Bangor. This is the city that King Edgar came to, sometime with seven kings that were subject to him.

This work is thought to have been based on an earlier work written by a monk called Roger who was a member of the same Benedictine Abbey earlier in the 14^th century. Higden’s Latin history was later translated into English by a clergyman called Trevisa, who was the Chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley in 1887 and was published some time later by Caxton.

Higden has also been credited with authoring a great number of the Chester Mystery Plays, which during the medieval period were a major part of the city’s religious life. It was said, that Higden had to travel to Rome, in order to get permission from the Pope for the plays to be translated into and performed in the English language, as so few people that watched the plays spoke Latin.

These “Plays” or “Interludes” had originated in the middle Ages and were performed to help mark the intervals between separate Church Services. These Plays were specifically written to help illustrate and convey important biblical messages to the local population in an easy to understand format.

Initially, the Church had been actively involved in the performance of the plays, but as they became more popular they began to become more boisterous and noisy. Because of this, the Plays were moved out of the Abbey itself and relocated outside of the Church’s main doors. Local monks, who had in the past been involved in producing and performing the Plays were forbidden from further involvement and it was because of this, that the city’s local crafts became involved with them.

Most, if not all of Chester’s Guilds were actively involved in performing the city’s historic Mystery Plays and there was a highly competitive atmosphere between them all. The Drapers, Wrights, Tanners and Smiths all tried to outdo one another, in terms of their scenery, costumes and performances, to the extent that actors were often “poached” from one Guild to another. Each individual Guild would take responsibility for performing one particular scene or story from the Bible, which was designed to reinforce the preaching of the Christian message.

Eventually, these annual Plays became so well known and popular that they had to be performed over a period of consecutive days in the city. This later led to a number of stages being erected throughout Chester, so that all the citizens and visitors had the opportunity to see them enacted. Finally, the Guilds began to construct mobile stages or floats which could be transported throughout the city, thereby allowing each Play to be seen all over Chester.

Following Henry VIII’s suppression of the city’s Abbey around 1540, in later years there were more deliberate moves to stop these annual Mystery Plays from being performed. In 1575 the city’s Mayor, Sir John Savage, was cited by the Privy Council for allowing the round of Plays to be performed in the city. Following this intervention by the national authorities, Chester’s Council ordered their performances to be discontinued.

It isn’t entirely clear if these performances were always called “Mystery” Plays, which today we regard as some sort of medieval whodunit. It has been suggested that Mystery is a corruption of the French word “Mystere”, or Guild, which would seem a far more likely derivation.      

Higden has also been attributed as the source for the legend of King Harold returning to Chester following his defeat at the Battle of Hastings and remaining there as a blind Hermit until his death. Although the tale is an unlikely one, there were many people during the later medieval period that accepted it to be true.

Higden was thought to have died at the Abbey sometime around 1360 and his body was interred within its precincts.

R C Hussey

Hussey was an architect that undertook a restoration of Chester Cathedral in 1843

Reginald de Grey

The military commander of Chester at the time of the Welsh uprising in 1282

Richard II

Legend suggests that Richard was invariably a mean spirited and ruthless individual who was given to both erratic and violent mood swings. Despite the best efforts of his uncle, John of Gaunt, who tried to moderate the young king’s behaviour, Richard seems to have been unwilling to accept any sort of advice and was thought to have been responsible for the murder of the Duke of Gloucester, his uncle and John’s brother. Richard was also said to have been liable for the murder of the Earl of Arundel and the exile of the Dukes of Warwick and Norfolk.

The Earl of Derby had his period of exile extended from 10 years to life by the spiteful prince, who refused to allow Henry, the eldest son of John of Gaunt to succeed to his father’s titles and estates in 1385. It was a malicious act that would ultimately have disastrous results for the malevolent Richard and would lead him to lose both his kingdom and his life.    

The hapless king had been married to Anne of Bohemia, the daughter Emperor Charles IV, who unexpectedly died in 1394. Richard was so devastated by his loss, that he visited Ireland in 1394 to distract him from his loss. He appears to have been extremely fond of Chester and visited the city many times between 1398/9. This fondness for the city and county is best represented in his decision to employ 2000 Cheshire archers as part of his personal bodyguard.

Relations with the city were not always so cordial, it being reported that Richard ordered the Constable of Chester to march against the Duke of Gloucester with a force of 5000 local men. This force was subsequently beaten by Gloucester’s army at Radcote, with a large number of local men killed, forcing the king to pay the city 3000 marks in compensation.

While Richard was visiting Ireland, his nemesis Henry Bolingbroke had returned from exile and was met by a large number of nobles who were willing to support him in his feud with Richard. Making his way to London, Henry met with the Duke of York, who was acting in the king’s absence and persuaded him to support his claim against Richard. He was later joined by the Earls of Northumberland, Worcester and Westmoreland, as well as a large number of landed nobles and their retainers.  

Marching from Shrewsbury to Chester Bolingbroke was also joined by a number of Cheshire’s leading family’s, anxious to be on the right side, should the usurper succeed in his campaign against the monarch. Having reached the city and taken control of its military defences, Bolingbroke showed his true self and temperament, by ordering the execution of Sir Piers Legh of Lymme, a leading supporter of Richard II in the city. The dead knight’s severed head was displayed on one of the castle’s towers, a clear warning to his enemies and political opponents. The Duke of Surrey, who had been sent as a messenger to Bolingbroke by Richard, escaped a similar fate and was imprisoned for his opposition to the House of Lancaster.

In the meantime, Richard had returned from Ireland to settle his differences with Henry and landing at Conway had expected to be met by his own army. Unfortunately for him, his force had evaporated as the mood of the country had become clear. Instead he was met by the knight, Henry Percy, a relative with a distant claim to the crown himself. Although he was distrustful of Percy, Richard put himself in the knight’s care, having received a guarantee of safety from him.

Little did the monarch realise that Percy was acting in collusion with Bolingbroke and having first been taken to Rhuddlan Castle, Richard was later escorted to Flint Castle and his fatal meeting with the usurper Henry. The following day the two adversaries met face to face in the castle precincts, after which Richard was for all intents and purposes, condemned.

Along with the Earl of Salisbury, Richard was transported back to Chester, to be met by the jeers of Bolingbroke’s supporters. Put in the charge of the sons of the late Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Arundel, both of whom had perished on the monarch’s orders, Richard was held in a tower adjoining the castle gateway.

It was unlikely that his jailers had any sympathy for the unfortunate Richard, given he was said to be directly responsible for the early deaths of their fathers. Whether or not they greeted his impending fate with delight isn’t known. But it is certain that within a few days of his capture, Richard II, the rightful king of England was escorted back to London where he was later deposed and met his end on the orders of Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV.

Richard D’Avranches

When his father Hugh Lupus died in July 1101 his 7 year old son Richard became heir to the Earldom of Chester, but as he was a minor was reported to have become the ward of the new king Henry I who had ascended the English throne in 1100, around a year before Hugh’s death.

With Henry as his guardian, the young Richard was said to have been raised and educated along with the monarchs own children at court, whilst at the same time his inheritance and entitlements were administered by the king and his agents. Towards the end of his minority, the young Earl was reported to have been betrothed to Maud, the daughter of Stephen of Blois, a political union which was designed to further strengthen the relationship between King Henry and his young ward.

Having reached his majority Richard was thought to have spent a good deal of time at his family’s estates in Normandy, as well as at Chester. He was said to have taken part in the military campaign against the rebel Welsh Prince Gruffudd  in 1114, but the Anglo-Norman force was unable to engage the rebels in a decisive battle and so were forced to agree an uneasy peace, which was to last through to the Welsh Prince’s death in 1137.

Unlike his father, Richard’s relationship with the Abbots of St Werburgh’s was generally strained, largely through disputes over land ownership. When the first Abbot, Richard of Bec died in 1117, Earl Richard was reported to have refused to nominate his successor for well over 4 years because the monks refused to hand over their Grange at Saigton to the young Earl.

Around December 1120 Richard and his wife Maud were reported to have been visiting Henry’s court in Normandy, when the king and his entourage decided to return to England and made plans to take ship from France. The historian Orderic Vitalis reports;

“The master of the ship was Thomas, the son of Stephen, who came to the king who was then in Normandy and ready to take ship to England and offered him a mark of gold, desiring that as his father had transported The Conqueror when he fought against King Harold and was his constant mariner in all his passages between England and Normandy, that he too might have the transportation of the King and his attendants. He told the monarch that he had a good ship called the “Candida Navis”, otherwise called the “White Ship” which was well furnished for the purpose of carrying a king”.

“Henry thanked Thomas, but informed him that he had already chosen another ship for the purpose which he could not change. However, he would recommend Thomas’ ship to his two sons, William and Richard and their retinues”.

Thomas and his crew were so pleased at the news of the king’s commendation that they celebrated their good fortune with a great deal of drink. When the ship left Normandy the following day it was thought that many of the crew and her noble passengers were still largely incapacitated, leading to a mistake in the ships navigation which caused her to strike a rock outside of Barfleur. The stricken vessel was said to have sunk fairly quickly and taken with her all but one of her crew and passengers.

A legend suggests that Henry’s son, William the Atheling, actually survived the initial sinking and was saved by being placed in a small boat. However, desperate to save his friends and fellow nobles he was reported to have ordered the small boat back towards the wreck, where it was subsequently swamped by the sheer number of passengers and crew who tried to rescue themselves from the waters.

For days after the disaster, the bodies of those that had perished were thought to have been washed up on the French coastline. The body of Richard, the young Earl of Chester was reported to have been recovered and later identified by his clothing, but the body of Henry’s son, William, was never recovered from the waters and was lost forever. Not only did the disaster rob the monarch of his son and heir, but also put into doubt Henry’s carefully laid plans for the future rule of England.  

Richard Dutton

A member of one of Cheshire’s leading families, Dutton was Mayor of Chester in 1627. One of his many properties in the city included the former church of St Thomas a Beckett which stood at the junction of Liverpool Road and Parkgate Road. Known as “Jolley’s Hall, the house was later owned by John Fletcher who published one of the city’s newspapers. The building is now used as a public house, called the “George and Dragon”. One of his ancestors, also called Richard was reported to have been appointed as Governor of Barbados in the 1680's.

Richard Goodman

Goodman was elected Mayor of Chester in 1508 and issued a local ordinance that lamps or lanterns should be hung in the doorways of all Chester men that had been either Sheriff or Mayor of the city. Local Innkeepers were also requir