Ralph FitzStephens
Male 7 Mar 1122 - 7 Mar 1124 - 1190
Born, Wapley, Gloucestershire, England.
Died, Gloucestershire, England.
Father of Fitz FitzStephens. Son of Ralph FitzStephens.
Ref: 'Some Descendants Of The Fitz Stephen Family In England And New England', by C. Ellis Stevens, LL.D., D.C.L. F.S.A. (Edinburgh) Knight Comander Of The Order Of Christ Of Portugal. New York, nure, great grandson of Airard Fitz Stephen, was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1171, the eighteenth year of the reign of King Henry II, conjointly with his brother William Fitz Stephen. Through him the family seems first to have become residents of the shire of Gloucester, with which they remained connected for so many generations. A clue to the cause of settlement in the county may be found in the fact that he became treasurer of the great Abbey of Malmesbury (in Wiltshire), Gloucestershire, not far from the time that the historian William of Malmesbury was resident there. He had charge as a layman of the feudal relations of the Abbey, and the administration of its estates.er says,"The local chiefs gave way to the King's representatives. One local officer indeed grew into increased activity. This was the officer who in each shire had always been especially the King's officer, the shirereeve, or sheriff, who looked after the interests of the King, while the ealdorman or earl represented the separate being of the shire. Under William the Conqueror earls ceased to be appointed save where they had distinct military duties. Under his successors earldoms gradually sank into merely honorary dignities. But the sheriff was in the Norman reigns the busiest of all officers". The office was of such power as to be held only by persons of rank, high in the King's favor, and differed essentially from that of the same name in modern times. In matters of administration its responsibilities necessitated that the sheriff be at the head of a body of knights and armed retainers.e. In the latter part of the reignon was the chief seat, andtshire, its income to beg. It is suggested that the instant Ralph is one in the same with the Ralph FitzStephen referenced in the will of King Henry II. This Norman baron died 1190, in the first year of the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, having married ? de Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle, County Gloucester, near Eastington, by whom he had at least one son.
Sources
- Mason, Taylor P..ged - provided by LifeTimes Research
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