de la Warres of England

The Lord de la Warres are referenced in, "History of The County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster," by Edward Baines, as distinguished soldiers who came to England with the Plantagenets in the twelfth century.  In the "History of the City of Dublin,"  by Warburton, Whitewall and Walsh, they are referred to as an old French family.

The family name de la Warre is believed to be descended from the Norman race. They were commonly believed to be of French origin but were more accurately, of Viking origin.

The people of Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) found it difficult to produce enough food their needs. In the 8th century, Scandinavians, who became known as Vikings or Northmen, began to send out raiding parties in search of food and plunder. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland about the year 870 AD under their chief, Stirgud the Stout.

Later under the Earl, Thorfinn Rollo, also known as Rollo the Ganger, they invaded France about 910 AD.  Rollo was considered the first great Norman leader. When they discovered the superior quality of land in Europe, some Vikings decided not to return to Scandinavia. The French King, Charles the Simple, after Rollo laid siege to Paris, finally concedes defeat, and in exchange for Rollo becoming a Christian, the Normans were granted their own lands on the northern French coast.

The Vikings who stayed in France became known as the Normans (Northmen). The Normans married local women and gradually adopted the French language. They sometimes fought for the French king but, were an independent people and preferred to follow their own leader who became known as the Duke of Normandy. Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy, the territory of the North Men. 

The Normans were successful farmers but they still felt the need to raid other lands. The main reason for this was their belief in primogeniture - when a Norman died all his property was given to his eldest son. This often resulted in younger sons leaving to go in search of their own lands. 

As Christians, Normans feared that when they died they would be punished for stealing land and for other crimes they had committed. To help protect themselves, the Normans used some of the wealth they obtained from their raids to build churches and monasteries. Norman leaders also went on pilgrimages to the Holy Lands. 

In 1035, Robert the Devil, fifth Duke of Normandy, died while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Robert was a direct descendant of Rollo the Ganger. Traditionally, the duke's eldest son became the next leader. In Robert's case this proved a problem as he had not produced any sons in marriage. However, he did have an illegitimate son called William. Leading Normans decided that William, who was only seven years old at the time, was to become the new Duke of Normandy. 

William, Duke of Normandy, invaded and defeated England in 1066.  In 1086, he ordered a census be taken of most of England and recorded it in the Domesday Book. A family name capable of being traced back to this document, or to Hastings, was a single honor for most families during the Middle Ages, and even to this day. 

The de la Warre name does not appear as one of the known commanders on the Battell Abbey Rolls, including Wace, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Seigneurs who attended William at Hastings.  These commanders were the elite who had provided ships, horses, men and supplies for the venture, and were granted Lordships. The de la Warres were most likely included with the estimated 12,000, Standard Bearers, Men at Arms, Yeomen, Freemen and other ranks, who were granted smaller parcels of England.

William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in 1066, his successor was his son William (Rufus) II, who was born in Normandy. Upon the death of William II, his younger brother, Henry I, seized the Crown.  Henry I, was in constant battle with his brother, Robert of Normandy.  His only son, William, drowned while at sea, and his daughter, Matilda became his heir. She married Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. Matilda and Geoffrey's son, Henry II, became King of England at age 21.  His children were Richard Lionheart and John Lackland (thus nicknamed because he lacked land).  King John battled with his childhood friend, Fulk Fitzwarin, whose great granddaughter,  Clarice de Tregoz daughter of Mabel Fitzwarin, married Roger de la Warre.  The story of Robin Hood is said to be based upon their lives.

Wicken Manor, was located in the hundred of Grumbald’s Ash. During Athelstan’s reign (925-940) it was held by Hailward Maew whose son Algar succeeded to it during Ethelred the Unready’s reign (979-1016), eventually passing to his son, Brictric, a powerful nobleman, who held it during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). Before the Conquest, and while in Flanders, he refused to marry Matilda, later the wife of William the Conqueror. A bitter Matilda persuaded the king to bestow all Brictric’s lands upon herself, and had him imprisoned at Winchester where he died.  Queen Matilda later bestowed the manor upon Humphrey, the Chamberlain, who passed it to his son, Richard.  Richard died in 1177, leaving the inheritance to his son, Walter de Cormeilis, the last of the male line.  In 1185, John, Earl of Gloucester, granted the manor to Sir John de la Warre.  It was at this time that Wicken Manor became known as Wickwar Manor.  The manor eventually passed to the West family when Joan de la Warre married Thomas West, and their son became Thomas, Lord de la Warre.

Pictured is the earliest known Warre Coat of Arms, dating back to Sir John de la Warre of Wickwar.  The arms are described as: Gules (red) a lion rampant, between eight crosslets, argent (silver). Crest: Out of a ducal coronet (crown), or (gold), a griffin's head, azure (blue).  The lion represents deathless courage and the griffin, a fabled creature, denotes a valiant hero, unyielding to the enemy; in heraldry it represents strength and vigilance.  Medieval wisdom offered every noble the lion quality; therefore this animal was chosen by many knights, and often by royalty of England and Scotland.  The motto "je trouve bien" meaning "I find well,” was later changed to "jour de ma vie" meaning "day of my life," to commemorate Lord de la Warre's part in the battle of Crecy in 1346 under the Black Prince.  It was also chosen to remember his part in the capture of King John of France at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

The English system mandated that the first-born son of the first-born son were entitled to display the undifferenced arms; that other descendants change a color or add a crescent or otherwise “differenced” the arms.  A descendant at will often changed the family motto.  It has been said by some that you are not entitled to display the coat-of-arms of a family unless you can trace your lineage back to the person to whom it was granted. In a sense that is true, but you should also remember that the first arms were not granted by anyone, and that there has been over three centuries of a gap in any serious usage. You may hang the arms of a king over the fireplace without fear of arrest. Proving your entitlement is another thing.

In "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain & Ireland” by John Burke, Volume IV, he states the following: "The family of Ware claims descent from Roger de la Ware, Lord of Isefield, and Baron of Parliament in the reign of Edward I.  The founder was Jordan de la War of Wick, Gloucestershire, England, whose descendants enjoyed extensive grants of land in the southern, middle and western counties of England, for bravery in various wars, particularly on the fields of Crecy and Poitiers.  In early records the name is spelled:  War, Ware, Warr, Warre and Weare.”  

Early surnames in England date from about the year 1000. These surnames were generally introduced from Normandy, although there are records of a few Saxon names prior to the Norman Conquest. During the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) and the Domesday record of 1085-1086, there are some combinations of Saxon forenames with Norman family names.

By the end of the twelfth century, hereditary names had become common in England. During the reign of Edward V, a law was passed to compel certain Irish outlaws to adopt surnames: "They shall take unto them a Surname, either of some Town, or some Colour, as Blacke or Brown, or some Art or Science, as Smyth or Carpenter, or some Office, as Cooke or Butler." 

Another class of family names is one derived from the place of residence of the bearer. Such names were popular in France at an early date and were introduced into England by the Normans, many of who were known by the titles of their estates. The surnames adopted by the nobility were mainly of this type, being used with the particles de, de la, or del (meaning "of" or "of the"). The Saxon equivalent was the word atte "at the".

Early Lineage 

JOHN? DE LA GUERRE II (c1050-c1100)  He was most likely a standard bearer while in Normandy, and although it remains unproven, it's quite possible he assisted William the Conqueror during the conquest of England, and from which he derived his name. Gu is used in place of the letter W by the French, therefore, since the de la Warre's were of French Norman origin, "de la Guerre" was the original spelling of the name which translates, "of the War."  William I (The Conqueror) ascended the throne in 1066.  One can be certain if he was with William the Conqueror, he was among those  who returned to his home in Normandy after the conquest, as his descendants are shown arriving in England with the Plantagenets in the 12th century.  Most likely his father served Geoffrey II Martel, Count of Anjou from 1040-1060, and both his father and grandfather served Fulk III, Count of Anjou, between 987-1040.

JOHN? DE LA GUERRE II (c1075-c1125)  He was probably in the service of Baldwin of Le Bourg, later King of Jerusalem.  By 1096, the first crusader wave of Vatican-sponsored French fighters attacked the Muslim enemy north of Palestine prior to invading Jerusalem.  The main contingents were men of Lorraine under the brothers Godfrey of Bouillon, Eustace and Baldwin of Boulogne; Flemings under Count Robert II of Flanders; northern French under Robert of Normandy (older brother of King William II of England), Stephen of Blois, and Hugh of Vermandois (younger brother of King Philip I of France); Provencals under Raymond of Toulouse; and Normans of Italy under Bohemund of Taranto and Tancred of Hauteville. On Jul 15, 1099, in the only fully coordinated operation of the First Crusade, Godfrey's forces succeed in scaling the walls of Jerusalem, near Herod's Gate, through the effective use of a massive siege tower and ladders.  Once inside, the Crusaders massacre the garrison of Fatimid Moslems and a large percentage of the Moslem and Jewish population.  Godfrey was proclaimed Guardian of Jerusalem. The Crusaders held firmly to the belief that they were assisted by God upon the discovery of the Holy Lance inside the city.  

JOHN? DE LA GUERRE III (c1100-c1150)  E. Barnes provides us with the first recorded reference to the "La Warres" in The History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, “They were distinguished soldiers and came to this country with the Plantagenets in the twelfth century.”  The Plantagenets married into the royal family with the marriage of Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England to Geoffrey Plantagenet on May 22, 1127 in Le Mans, France, their son Henry II ascended the throne in 1154. Geoffrey V (August 24, 1113 - September 7, 1151), Count of Anjou and Maine, and later Duke of Normandy, called "Geoffrey the Fair" or "Geoffrey Plantagent", was the son of Fulk V, Count of Anjou and King of Jerusalem. Prior to Henry I's death in 1135, his Barons took the oath to uphold the succession of his daughter Matilda and her husband Geoffrey. After his death, Stephen, son of Henry's brother Stephen, claimed the throne and these same Norman barons soon rallied round him. Matilda arrived in England in September 1139 to claim the throne, and found herself in the middle of a civil war which lasted eight years. Although at one point preparations were in hand for her coronation, it never happened. Under siege at Oxford, she managed to escape from the castle by rope though an open window, and then, cloaked in white as camouflage against the snow, made her escape. Matilda returned to Normandy the following spring and never returned to England. She continued to fight for the right of succession of her son, and outlived Stephen to witness her son succeed to the throne as Henry II.  

JOHN? DE LA GUERRE IV (c1125-c1175),  It is known that the de la Warre's arrived with the Plantagentet's, but it is unknown whether they arrived with Matilda in 1139, or with Henry II in 1151 during his ascension to the throne.  Henry II was the first monarch of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet, he was born in Le Mans, France. John Burke states, "many of that family under the name de Warr, de Warre, and le Warre were in succeeding reigns summoned to parliament as Lords thereof; which may be seen in numberless instances in the abridgment of the Tower Records collected by Sir Robert Cotton, and published by Mr. Prynne."  As per John Burke, the following is the lineage for the early de la Warres of England. Descending son:  John.

JOHN DE LA WARRE (c1150-d. 1212/13), Lord of Bristolton. was the first of the family discussed by John Burke. He had ratification of a grant which King John had made, prior to his coming to the throne, of the Lordship of Bristolton and was a member of the Honor of Gloucester, to hold by the service of half a knight's fee in 1206/7.  He died in 1212/13. He died six years following the ratification of his lordship according to Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, One Hundred and Third Edition, pg. 688. Burke states that Prince John granted Wicken Manor in Gloucester to John de la Warre for his loyalty and bravery, in fulfillment of a promise made to John by his brother King Richard. It was only after the de la Warres assumed ownership that Wicken Manor became known as Wickwar Manor. John la Warre may have traveled to Jerusalem with King Richard during the 3rd Crusade (1189 - 1192).  French and English crusaders brought back flasks of the Jordan River water from the Holy Land to baptize their children and invariably the male infant was christened with the name Jordan.  The bible states Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River,  therefore the Crusaders considered it to be holy water. At the start of the 3rd Crusade, 1189-1192, the Christians of western Europe were stunned by the success of Saladin, a Muslim leader.  The Pope, Gregory VIII, ordered this crusade to regain the Holy City for the Christians. This crusade was led by Richard the Lionheart, Emperor Frederick Barbaroas of Germany and King Philip II of France, three of the most important men in western Europe. Richard, the Lionheart (1157-1199) was far more interested in his holdings in France and in his Crusading endeavors than he was in governing England, where he spent about six months of his ten-year reign. He nearly depleted the treasury left by his father in order to fund his Crusade. Though he scored some successes in the Holy Land, Richard and his fellow Crusaders failed to recapture Jerusalem from Saladin. On his way home,  in March of 1192, Richard was shipwrecked, captured, and handed over to Emperor Henry VI. A large portion of the 150,000 mark ransom was raised through heavy taxing of the people of England, and Richard was freed in February of 1194. Upon returning to England he had a second coronation to demonstrate that he still had control of the country, then promptly went to Normandy and never returned. On April 1205, John de la Warre was given command of a flotilla of seven British ships as shown by the British naval report.  In 1207, after Prince John became King of England, he received ratification of the grant of the Lordship of Bristolton, Gloucestershire. According to the Complete Peerage, by John Burke, in 1185 John (de) la Warre “received the manor of Brislington, Somerset from John, Count of Mortain, later King John of England, when Count John was holding the honour of Gloucester.”  It has been said he married Joan Gresley of Drakelow Derbyshire.  It is my belief this is incorrect.  Sir John de la Warre born 1277 married Joan de Grelle, a name which has also been called Gresley, which may have caused confusion.  Descending son: Jordan de la Warre.   

JORDAN DE LA WARRE,( c1185-1231), Lord of Bristolton, he paid two hundred pounds for livery of his father’s lands in 1212/13, he died between 23 Aug & 6 Sep 1231, leaving a widow Emma and his heir underage, son and heir of John La Warre. In 1215 he took up arms against King John, with the other barons, but on paying a fine, with two palfreys, was re-admitted into favor.  Magna Carta is often thought of as the corner-stone of liberty and the chief defense against arbitrary and unjust rule in England. In fact it contains few sweeping statements of principle, but is a series of concessions wrung from the unwilling King John by his rebellious barons in 1215. However, the Magna Carta established for the first time a very significant constitutional principle, namely that the power of the king could be limited by a written grant. King John's unsuccessful attempts to defend his dominions in Normandy and much of western France led to oppressive demands on his subjects. Taxes were extortionate; reprisals against defaulters were ruthless, and John's administration of justice was considered capricious. In January 1215 a group of barons demanded a charter of liberties as a safeguard against the King's arbitrary behavior. The barons took up arms against John and captured London in May 1215.  By 10 June both parties met and held negotiations at Runnymede, a meadow by the River Thames. The concessions made by King John were outlined in a document known as the 'Articles of the Barons', to which the King's great seal was attached, and on 19 June the barons renewed their oaths of allegiance to the King. Meanwhile the royal chancery produced a formal royal grant, based on the agreements reached at Runnymede, which became known as Magna Carta (Latin for the 'Great Charter'). It is thought he married Isabel Peverel, daughter of Sir Payn (Pain) (Pane) (Pagan) Peverel.  Fulk Fitzwarin, the younger, mentions after Payn Peverel’s death that his sister’s son, William Peverel, took over Payn Peverel’s inheritance. Descending  son John de la Warre.   

SIR JOHN DE LA WARRE, (c1215-Aft 27 May 1277) Sheriff of Herefordshire,  In 1264 he came to the aid of Simon de Monfort, Earl of Leicester and helped to defend Kenilworth castle during the siege by the King, from 27 June till its surrender on 13 Dec 1266. 

The siege of Kenilworth Castle was a major incident in the Barons’ War against Henry III. The barons were unhappy that the King was asking them for money to fund a papal crusade and for campaigns in Wales and France. In return for giving Henry the money he wanted, they insisted on political reforms. However, Henry did not keep his word. War became inevitable when he declared that the barons opposing him were rebels. The siege of Kenilworth Castle, home of Simon de Montfort, was the climax of this dispute. Simon de Montfort was born in Normandy, and arrived in England in 1230. He had a claim through his English grandmother to the earldom of Leicester. King Henry’s youngest sister, Eleanor, married him in 1238 and for a while, he was on very good terms with the King and even acted as his royal ambassador. King Henry III made him Earl of Leicester, giving him custody of Kenilworth Castle in 1244 and a lifetime grant in 1253.  A council was summoned in 1244 to try and oversee the King’s royal activities and spending. Simon de Montfort agreed with the other barons that more control was needed over the King’s spending. A further council was called in 1258 by 24 barons, including Simon de Montfort and John de la Warre, who produced the ‘Provisions of Oxford’. Henry, with the support of the Pope, rejected these proposals. Under the leadership of Simon, the barons went to war against the king. At the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Henry and his son, the future Edward I, were captured and imprisoned in Kenilworth Castle. However, Edward escaped and fled to Worcestershire, where he raised an army. Meanwhile, Simon de Montfort’s son, also called Simon, advanced from London to do battle. With his army, he camped outside Kenilworth because there was not enough room for them inside the castle. No scouting parties were sent out because it was thought that Edward and his supporters were at least 30 miles away. Edward had a very good intelligence system and marched on Kenilworth Castle at night. Many men in the de Montfort army were killed or captured. Simon the Younger and a few others were lucky to escape by swimming across the Great Mere. Three days later, on 4 August 1265, Edward won the Battle of Evesham, at which Simon the Elder was killed. Simon the Younger then released the captive Richard of Cornwall, the king’s brother, as a peace offering. Simon the Younger tried to reach a compromise with the king, but the garrison at Kenilworth Castle, supported by locals, would not accept the agreement. Knowing that the castle was well equipped with food and arms, they stayed put, claiming that the castle belonged to Simon’s widow, Eleanor. The King offered reasonable terms of surrender but the garrison refused, cutting off the hand of the royal envoy. This was a clear breach of the rules of war. The King went to Kenilworth in person and took with him huge siege engines and a supply of weaponry. The Archbishop of Canterbury even excommunicated the Kenilworth garrison, but they still refused to surrender. Their surgeon dressed up as the Archbishop, stood on the battlements of the castle and ‘excommunicated’ the King, the bishop and their followers. The siege of Kenilworth Castle lasted for almost nine months. A great council was held in Coventry to work out the terms of the surrender. Although these terms were lenient, the garrison refused them and King Henry ordered further storming of the castle. Before the final assault could begin, disease broke out inside the castle. The garrison were forced to surrender shortly before Christmas. When they finally left the castle, they only had enough food to last them for two more days. The siege of 1266 was the longest in English medieval history. The barons, who in opposing the king could have lost everything, were allowed to return to their lands and the political situation returned mostly to normal. Although the barons were defeated, the war was an important stage in English constitutional development. Many of the reforms they demanded were granted by Edward I, Henry’s son. 

Sir John de la Warre married Olimpia (Olympia), daughter of Sir Hugh DeFokinton, of Folkington, Isfield & c. Olimpia was married before 20 January 1242/3, and was living in August 1265. Hugh was son and heir of Hugh de Fokinton, of Folkington, Isfield, Tarring, Exceat, and Cholington, who died before 1 June 1214, leaving a widow, Egeline.  John was knighted by King Henry IIIt. During the reign of Edward I, he was given the title of Sheriff of Herefordshire, and was granted considerable lands in southern midland and western counties of England for this service. King Edward I came into conflict with William Wallace, highlighted recently in the motion picture “Braveheart.”   He granted Clarice, wife of his son Roger, that, if she survived Roger, she might hold the manor of Brislington (assigned to her in dower), free for life from a certain rent.  He conveyed the manors of Wickwar and Brislington to himself for life. As to Wickwar, to Roger la Warre in tail general, rem. To his own next heirs, rem as to Brislington to Roger la Ware in fee. Other Children: Matilda born about 1250 in Warwick, England who married Peter de Montfort, II.  Descending son: Roger.

Roger la Warre

Roger la Warre ( de la Ware), died 1320, appears in The Caerlaverock Poem, K23 & The Camden Roll, D158, where he bears:

Gules crusilly and a lion rampant argent.  His father, John de la Ware bears the same arms in St George's Roll, E164

SIR ROGER DE LA WARRE (1255-6/20/1320) Lord of Isfield, he was of Wickwar, Gloucestershire, Brislington, Somerset, Milton, Folkington, Isfield,  Sussex, son and heir.  Walter Harris, having access to the private records of Sir James Ware II, states the following:  "The family of Ware claims a descent from Roger de la Warre, Lord of Isefield, and a baron of Parliament in the reign of King Edward I.  The founder of this house being Jordan de la War of Wick, in the county of Gloucester. “  Roger married Clarice de Tregoz c1276 in Somersetshire, England, elder daughter and coheir of John de Tregoz of of Ewyas Harold, co. Hereford, Allington, Wilts, Albrighton, Salop, Great Doddington, Northants, & c and his first wife Mabel Fitzwarin.  Clarice was born c1260 in Ewias Lacy, Herefordshire, England.  John de Tregoz was born c1235 and died 21 Aug 1300, his parent were Baron Robert de Tregoz II and Julianna de Cantalupe.  Mabel Fitzwarin was born c 1232 in Whittington, Shropshire, and died 24 May 1297, she was the daughter of  Clarice de Auberville and Baron Fulk Fitzwarin II who was  born c1210 in Alveston, Gloucestershire, and died 14 May 1264 in Ouse River, France at the Battle of Lewes. Mabel was the widow of William de Crevequer by  6 Apr 1263. 

From "The Topographer and Genealogist,"  Pedigree of the Tregoze Family, “John de Tregoze married Mabel, daughter of Lord Fulk Fitzwarin".  The manor of Weston in Bedfordshire was granted to Mabel by her father, and she owned the Hamlet of Sturden, in Gloucestershire, per her post mortem in 1296-7. Lord John Tregoze and Mabel had two daughters, one of whom was Clarissa de Tregoze, who married Roger de la Warre, and predeceased her father, leaving by her husband a son and heir, John de la Warre, on his grandfather's death in 1301. 

Lord Fulk Fitzwarin I, born c1169 in Hertfordshire, built Whittington Castle:  "The Outlaws of Medieval Legend," by Maurine Keen,  includes a chapter on the romance of Fulk Fitzwarin, and several on the Robin Hood ballads. Fulk married Maude le Vavasour 1 Oct 1207 in York Co., England.  She was born in born 1176 in Edlington, Yorkshire, England.  Maude’s parents were Sir Robert le Vavasour, Lord of Hazelwood and High Sheriff, and Julian de Ros.    

The present castle ruins (pictured) date from 1221 when Fitzwarin applied to King Henry III for permission to build a stone fortress.  The castle had 7 towers, 18 meters high, with walls 3.7 meter thick and a drawbridge over 12 meters long.  Fulk had a love hate relationship with the English monarchy, and is reputed to have quarreled with Prince John, the future ill-fated king. The feud eventually caused him to flee to France to avoid certain death. Years later, he was granted a pardon and was able to return to Whittington Castle. The tale of "Robin Hood" is said to be based upon the life of Fulk and King John. Fulk’s castle fell into decay after the Civil War and it is recorded that one of the towers collapsed into the moat after a severe frost in 1760. The ruins were later plundered for stone to surface roads and build houses. The present condition of the castle is a result of restoration and clearance work dating from 1967.

In 1276 Roger founded the chapel of St. Anne-in-the-Wood near the holy well, which was said to have healing powers.  The chapel was visited twice by Henry VII and his wife.  The medieval, moated and fortified manor of the de la Warre's stood in West Town Lane, now demolished and is the Imperior Sports Ground at the bottom of Sturminister Road. Roger was holding a knight’s fee in Sussex and received knighthood on or before Christmas in 1278.  He did homage and swore fealty to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the manor of Isfield on July 1279.  He was with the King in the Army of Wales in 1282.  Being about to set out for Santiago, he had letters of protection for one year, 10 Aug 1290, and again 18 Jan 1291.  He was in Gascony on the King’s service 1294- 1297, being Captain of Bourg-sur-Mer in 1297, and was at the siege of Carlaverock in July 1300, being then a banneret.  He was summoned for Military Service from 6 Apr 1282 to 22 May 1319 to Councils, 14 Jun 1287 to 8 Jan 1308, to attend the King wherever he might be 8 Jun 1294, to attend the Coronation 18 Jan 1307, and to Parliament from 6 Feb 1298 to 16 Jun 1311 by writs directed Rogeru la Warre, whereby he is held to have become Lord La Warre.  He held the following manors:  Milton, or the King in Chief, by featy and the service of a sore sparrow-hawk yearly, Isfield, One fee, of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Wickwar, one-half fee, of De Gournay and afterwards of Ap Adam, as of the manor of East Harptree.  Brislington one-half fee, as of the honor of Gloucester, Folkington, Sussex as of the honor of L’Aigle, Whitechurch, Oxon (this he sold), as of the honor of Wallingford, Rushall, Wilts (this he sold) in 1311, one-fourth fee of the King in Chief, and some lands in Strensham, co. Worcester and Lambourn, Berks.  After the year 1311 he held nothing of the King in chief as of the Crown by Military Service. Roger was summoned to Parliament in 1294, and appointed Governor of Burgh Castle in 1298.  He was appointed an envoy to the Court of Rome in Jul 1304, but the embassy was delayed until Jul 1305, owing to the death of Bendict IL.   Wickwar Borough Market town Charter granted 2 Jan 1285, by King Edward I to Roger la Warre, to be held at the manor.  In 1287, Roger la Ware claimed the market by right of the charter.  

As Rogerus la Warre dominus de Isefeld he took part in the Barons’ Letter to the Pope 12 Feb 1300/1.  Following their defeat at the Battle of Falkirk, 22 Jul 1298, the Scots addressed a letter to Pope Boniface VIII, attempting to persuade him that Edward had no right of superiority over the Scottish king. The Pope sent a letter to Edward from Agnani, dated 27 Jun 1299, almost a year later. In it, following advice from the French, he claimed the feudal superiority of Scotland for himself. The letter was entrusted to Robert Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, who gave it to Edward at Sweetheart Abbey, shortly after the siege of Carlaverock, on about 26th Aug 1300. At a Parliament summoned by Edward at Lincoln on 13th - 20th Jan 1301, the letter was composed and sealed, but not sent, probably because the Pope's attention had been diverted elsewhere and Edward had consequently decided to ignore the problem. Seven earls and sixty five barons sealed the letter, which is now in the Public Record Office. The following eight barons were signatories to the Baron's letter, but their seals were not appended: Robert FitzRoger. Roger la Warre, John de Riparis, Ralph Pipard, John Engayne, Nicholas de Engayne, John ApAdam, Nicholas de Segrave and John de Lisle. 

According to “Knights of Edward I,” Vol. V, Harl. Soc. Series, Vol. 84, there were daughters of the marriage of Roger de la Warre and Clarice de Tregoz.  The record of Sir Roger de la Warre names only his sons John and Roger, but does state on page 158:  “Going to Gascony for K(ing Edward) he has grant that if he dies there, leaving his heir a minor, his exors. May hold Wykewarre Manor, Glou., and Brystlyington Manor, Som., during such minority, and apply the revenues for the marriage of his daughters,” dated 9 Nov 1295.   Other Children: Roger and at least two or more daughters. "In a pedigree of the de la Warre family, I find a certain Thomas Uvedale of Sussex,...who (Henry III) married Margaret, daughter of Rodge de la Warre." Harl. MSS 1544.  Gower, Granville Leveson, 1865, Notices of the family of Uvedale of Titsey, Surrey and Wickham, Hants. Page 5.  Descending son: John.

SIR JOHN DE LA WARRE, (1277-5/9/1347)  Sir John de la Warre, 2nd Baron de la Warre, son and heir, was born in Brislington, Somersetshire, England.  He married on or soon after 19 Nov. 1294, Joan de Grelle, sister, coheir, and eventually sole heir, of Sir Thomas de Grelle of Grelley (Lord Grelle), and elder daughter of Sir Robert de Grelle, of Manchester and Cuerdley, co. Lancaster, Swineshead, Sixhills, and Bloxholm, co. Lincoln, Woodhead, Rutland, & c. by Hawise, daughter and coheir of Sir John De Burgh, of Wakerley, Northants, Portslade, Sussex, Walkern, Herts, & c.  Joan was born 1277 in Manchester, England, she died 3/21/1352. She was of Weston Flavell Northants, England, daughter of Sir Robert de Grelle (Grelley or de Greille) and Hawise de Burgh; her parents were John de Burgh and Cecily de Baliol.  In 1300 he inherited, on the death of his mother, a moiety of the property of his grandfather, Baron John de Tregoz (to which barony he was co-heir), viz. Ewyas-Harold, Herefordshire; Alyngton, Wiltshire; and other lands in Somersetshire, Salopshire and Northamptonshire. He did homage for his purparty of the lands of his grandfather, Sir John Tregoz, 26 Nov. 1300, being then 23 years of age, succeeded eventually to Harold Ewyas castle and lordship, with a right to quarter the Tregoze arms, as borne by his ancestors. During this time, he was involved with his Aunt Sybil in the settlement of his grandfather’s vast estate.  Partition of these lands was made 21 Dec following, when he was assigned the castle and manor of Ewyas Harold, the manors of Allington, Albrighton, & c.  He claimed, however, all the knights’ fees and advowsons pertaining to the castle of Ewyas; but the Council in Chancery ordered them to be divided.  He then petitioned the King in Parliament in the summer of 1302, when award was again made that these knights’ fees should be divided, and they were partitioned, 29 Oct. 1302; but he refused to sue out a writ for his purparty until 20 Jan. 1305/6.  The ancient village fair in Albrighton Village Green was initiated by John in 1307. Between 8/1307–2/1342 he was summoned to Parliament.  

In Jul 1300 under Edward I, Sir John was in the siege of Carlaverock, and in 1303/04 in the expedition in Scotland when King Edward I came into conflict with William Wallace highlighted in Braveheart,  He with others, withdrew before the end of the war; it was therefore ordered, 18 Oct 1306, that he should be arrested, and his lands taken into the King’s hands.  He recovered them, 23 Jan 1306/7.  He was knighted by the Prince of Wales, 22 May 1306, at Westminister Abbey.  He was summoned for Military Service from 21 June 1308 to 21 Mar 1332/3 to attend the Coronation, 18 Jan 1307/8 to Councils from 8 Jan 1308/9 to 25 Feb 1341/2 and to Parliament from 26 Aug 1307 to 25 Aug 1318 by writs directed Johanni la Warre, de la Warre, or le Warre, whereby he is held to have become Lord la Warre during his father’s lifetime.  He had respite of homage for the tenements which he held of the honour of Lancaster, on petition in the Parliament of 15-15 Edward II.  In 1336 he was falsely reported to be dead.  He died 9 May 1347, will and codicil dated At Wakerley, 11 Aug 1345 and 6 Mar. 1346/7, pr. At Lincoln, 24 May 1347.  His widow, with whom he had held jointly divers manors, had these liberated to her, 10 Jun 1347.  On 22 May 1351 she was stated to be so feeble from age that she could not sue, nor defend her right in person.  She died 20 or 21 March 1352/3.  

The Plague or "Black Death" wiped out most of Europe 1347-1350; it's possible Sir John died from this disease. At Westminster  Waring le Latimer and Katherine his wife, querents; and John la Warre, deforciant; for the manor of Cheleworth which Adam de Cheleworth held for the lives of William de Bello Campo and Joan his wife. John granted that the said manor the heritage of John, which after the death of William and Joan to John ought to revert shall remain to Waring and Katherine and their issue to hold of the lord the King, and if they die without issue then the same to revert to John and his heirs. For this Waring and Katherine gave John one hundred marcs of silver.  John de la Warre was included in Openshaw in the grant of Bradford to Thomas de Booth of Barton of Mancester.  Ancient Openshaw was included in the Salford hundred part of the Barony of Robert de Grelley. Their daughter Catherine de la Warre married Sir Warrin le Latimer, Lord Latimer, son of Thomas, Lord Latimer and Lora, daughter of Henry de Hastings by his first wife, Joan de Cantelou.  Catherine and Waring had Elizabeth le Latimer who married Thomas Griffin, through whom the title of Lord Latimer descended.  Other children:  Catherine and John.  Descending son:  Robert la Warre. 

In the "Chandos Herald: Life of the Black Prince," the following is written: "Now it is very right that I should recount to you the names of these noble barons: first of all the Prince and the King Don Pedro, whom I should rightly name, and the King of Navarre also these three passed without delay. Messire Louis de Harcourt and Eustace d'Aubrechicourt, Messire Thomas Felton and the Baron de Parthenay, and all the brothers De Pommiers, that were noble knights, and then the Lord de Clisson and the good Lord de Curton. The right courageous Lord de la Warre was there, and Messire Robert Knolles, of short speech. The Viscount de Rochechouart was also there, and the rightful Lord of Bourchier and many other honourable knights, and the Seneschal of Aquitaine, a noble captain, and the Seneschals of Poitou, the Angoumois, of Saintonge, Perigord, and Quercy, he that was bold and loyal; moreover, I will also name to you the High Seneschal of Bigorre. These I mention were assuredly in the Prince's division, and good four thousand others, whose names I will not give, but they were good twenty thousand horse that all passed on the Tuesday. And the King of Navarre also crossed with the Prince, and escorted and guided him beyond the passes. And God, who was merciful, permitted them all to cross, but great hardships did the noble Prince of Aquitaine suffer in the passage."

The title of 3rd Baron de la Warre did not passed down to John de la Warre (1295-6/1331) who married Margaret de Holland in 1326, daughter of Sir Robert de Holland, Lord, and Maud La Zouche, as he died before his father, therefore the title passed to his son.  John and Margaret were the parents of Roger and Joan de la Warre.

Roger de la Warre (11/30/1326-8/27/1370) became the 3rd Baron de la Warre after the death of  Sir John de la Warre (1277- 5/9/1347), his grandfather.  Since Roger's father, John de la Warre (1295-bfr. 6/24/1331), died prior to his father, he never acquired the title of Baron  Roger married Elizabeth Welles in 1338, daughter of Lord Thomas Welles, he married his second wife Alinore de Mowbray (1327-1387) in 1358, daughter of Lord John de Mowbray, Baron de Mowbray, and Joan Plantagenet, granddaughter of King Henry II.  From The Complete Peerage, we learn that Roger de la Warre, age 20, was in the retinue of the Prince of Wales at the battle of Crecy in 1346, and at the siege of Calais (4 Sep 1346-4 Aug 1347). 

In 1356 Roger was at the battle of Poitiers. Prince Edward outwitted the French by using mounted knights while their opponents were on foot. The French broke; survivors fled the field, but King John was captured.  It is written the King of France surrendered himself at Poitiers to Denis de Morbek, a knight of Artois.  Family tradition states that Roger de la Warre and John Pelham were in the crowd which surrounded the King, the former getting the King's sword and the latter his belt, and that Roger therefore took the crampet or chape of a sword and John a buckle, as their badges. After the battle of Poitiers, Roger de la Warre changed the family motto from, "Je Troube Bien," meaning "I find well," to "Jour de ma vie," meaning, "day of my life," to commemorate his part in the battle of Crecy with the Black Prince. Family tradition also states that when Roger confronted the King he said, '' C'est la jour de ma mort'' (It is the day of my death), and Roger replied, ''Non Sire, c'est la jour de ma vie'' (No King, it's the day of my life). 

The Complete Peerage, states in Sep 1355, Roger, (then age 29), accompanied the Prince of Wales to Gascony, and in 1356 was in the skirmish at Romorantin in Sologne when the English managed to destroy the strongpoint of Romorantin by using cannon to send "Greek fire" into the courtyard. He was with the King in the invasion of France Oct 1359-1360, and was taken prisoner in the later year by Sir Jean Haubert.  He was again in Gascony with the Prince of Wales in 1364, 1366 and 1368/9, and served under the Duke of Lancaster in his raid into Picardy and Caux, Jul to Nov 1369, and was with the Prince of Wales in Gascony in 1370 at the time of his death.

After Roger’s death at Gascony in 1370, title passed to his eldest son John who then became 4^th Baron de la Warre.  In 1398 John died without heirs, and his brother Thomas became 5^th Baron de la Warre.  Thomas, a priest, died in 1426, leaving the title to Reynold West, son of his aunt Joan de la Warre.

Joan de la Warre married Lord Thomas West (1365-1405), first Baron West. Their second son Sir Reynold de West (1395-1450) became 6th Lord de la Warre on the death of his uncle Thomas, the priest. Reynold also became the 3^rd Baron West, when his elder brother Sir Thomas West, 2^nd Baron West, died of his wounds in 1416. The name West originated with Thomas de West, an early medieval warrior. West descents from the Kings of Burgundy (450 AD), France (732 AD), England ((800 AD), Italy (850 AD), Scotland, descended from Holy Roman Emperors, including Charlemagne (742-814 AD), William the Conqueror (1060 AD), Alfred The Great, King of Wessex (r. 849-899), St. David, Ann of Russia, the Plantagenets, and also kings of earlier Anglo Saxon English and Welsh kingdoms, and counts of Flanders.  Thomas West, Lord de la Warre and Governor of early Virginia, was the namesake for the state of Delaware. The titles and estates of the de la Warres are now held by Herbrand Edmond Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 8th Earl de la Warre and 23rd Baron de la Warre. 

I am of the opinion that the lineage to Christopher Ware descended through Robert, son of Sir John de la Warre and Joan de Grelle, acquiring his estate through his grandfather, Lord of Isefield, while the heirs of the eldest son, John, acquired the title of Lord de la Warre. 

The following lineage is from, “Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry,” by Sir Bernard Burke:

ROBERT LA WARRE (c1300-c1350) Robert married the daughter and heir of Kentesbeere, Devonshire.  Under Edward III, the English longbow had achieved its glory; and the king was determined that it remain undefeated. During the reign of this sovereign, the famous battle of Crecy in 1346 was fought; and the stunning victory achieved by the English on that occasion have been, with global consent, attributed mainly to the archers.  Kentisbere, Kentesbeare, or Kentisbeer, Devon, is three miles east by north of Collumpton, a village, sheltered on the west by lofty hills.  Its parish contains about 4000 acres of land, including Sainthill hamlet.  Descending son:  Matthew Warre.

MATHEW WARRE (c1325-c1375) According to Burke's Family Records by Ashworth P. Burke, 1897, page 616, Mathew was Serviens ad Legem (Sergeant at law). This title indicates Mathew chose to practice law, an honorable and distinguished English profession, possibly attending Oxford University. This title would have been given under appointment by the Crown, a life office bestowed because of professional attainments and worth of character. He married Alice daughter of William Denbauld.   Descending son:  John Warre.

JOHN WARRE (c1350-c1400) John married Eleanor, daughter and heir of Meriet.  Eleanor was the daughter of John de Meriet, and Eleanor Beauchamp of Hatch, Somersetshire, England, and granddaughter of Sir John Beauchamp and Margaret Saint John.  Margaret was the daughter of John de Saint John and Isabella de Courtenay. 

The following is found in the Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516 Somerset: On 18 Oct 1303, at the request of John de Meriet, son and heir of John de Meriet, K(ing) Edw(ard), I sent an order for the records of the justices in Eyre at Somerton, Somerset, in 1280, at which time the fair held at Lopen by John de Meriet, the father, had been taken into the king’s hands.  On 29 Mar 1328, it was stated that George de Meriet, lord of Meriet and Great Lopen, lately dead, had claimed that his ancestors had held a fair at Lopen from time out of mind. After the death of his grandfather John de Meriet, his father, John, was a minor and was taken into the king’s ward for eighteen years. During this time the fair was taken into the king’s hands. It was not restored to John when he reached his majority. John died soon after, leaving his son, George, a minor. George was taken into the king’s ward for sixteen years. George had now died, leaving his son John as a minor in the king’s ward. Fair survived, in greatly reduced form, until the 19th century (VCH Somerset, iv, p. 168).  Descending son:  Richard Warre.

RICHARD WARRE (c1375-c1425) Richard was of Hestercombe, Somerset, England.  Married Joan of com. Stafford, daughter and heir of John Atwood by his wife Gamilda, heir of Henry Perryhaye (Percehay). Burlescombe in Burlescombe parish and Halberton hundred was held by Walter the Wild from Walter de Claville. In 1242 William de Claville held one fee in Boehill, Appledore and Burlescombe of the honor of Gloucester. On the death of the last member of the elder branch of the Claville family about 1370 the tenure of the manor was in litigation. In 1398 it was allotted to Richard Warre, one of the co-heirs of Sir Henry Percehaye.

Eycot, an ancient manor along the river Churn in the county of Gloucester, England, belonged to Thomas Burton who died in 1375 leaving his estate to his son Thomas, a minor. In 1385 John Atwood claimed the manor was his because of a grant made by John Russel to his ancestors Robert and Margery Crook in the reign of Edward II. John Atwood was awarded seisen (ownership under rightful title) from Burton. The following year the land was granted to John Pouger who died in 1405. In 1410 his son John settled an ownership dispute with John Warre, nephew and heir of the younger Thomas of Burton. The land returned to the Burton heirs. By 1421 the land was in the possession of the Abbey at Winchcombe. Warre's sister Catherine and another Burton heir, Robert Andrew challenged the Abbey who had to settle with them for ownership.  It appears this John Warre was possibly a son of Richard Warre and Joan Atwood.

Hestercombe is situated on the southern slopes of the Quantock Hills with extensive views over the Vale of Taunton to the Blackdown Hills beyond.  It was first mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 854 and from 1391 until 1872 was continuously owned by one family, the Warres.  Descending son: Richard Warre.

RICHARD WARRE (c1400-c1450) Richard was of Hestercombe, Somerset, England.  He married Joan, daughter and heir of John Combe of Dalwood, Dorset.  Another Richard Warre, born c1430 married Joan Stourton, born in Witham, Somersetshire, daughter of the first Baron Stourton, born c1404.  This Richard was possibly the son of Richard Warre and Joan Combe.  Descending son:  Robert Warre. 

In the south chapel at St. Mary's Church in Somerset there is a large 14th century chest tomb topped in Purbeck stone decked out with the family shields of the Warre's of Hestercombe, Somerset (see photo).  Until quite recently, it was in the parish of Kingston.   The painted coats of arms, repainted in 1936, records the families into which they married.  

ROBERT WARRE (c1425-c1475) of Chipley, Somerset, England,  married Thomasine (Thomazin), daughter and heir of Thomas Chipley. Patent Rolls· p 247 - 20 Jan 1444, Westminster - Comm. to Edward Stradelyng, knight, Alexander Hody, Robert Warre, John Sydenham and Richard Clyvedon, setting forth that, whereas Fernandus Dalvys of Vermia, Spain, master of a ship called Seint Anton of Biskay, Spain, sailing with the ship and merchants, mariners and merchandise therin with letters of safe- conduct, touched at the port of Dalkey, Ireland, and sold their merchandise to merchants of Dublin and caused to be delivered to them all thereof save 40 tuns of wine and 300 quarters of salt, and afterwrds John Colwell in a ship, wherof Thomas Cradok of Bruggewater is owner, and William Cooke in a 'spinace' with divers the kings lieges attacked the said ship and took the same with the said wine and salt to the port of Bruggewater, disposing therof at will, they are to make inquisition in the county of Somerset into whose hands the ship and cargo have come, and to cause restitution therof to be made, committing to prison such refuse the same. Descending son:  John Warre.

JOHN WARRE (c1450-c1500) John was of Chipley, Somerset, England. He married Alice, daughter of William Gascoigne; and 2) Joan, daughter of Philip Mawbanke.  Other children:  Sir Richard Ware, Knight-Bach (1501) of Hestercombe who married 1) Margery, daughter of John Brockman of Witham, Essex and 2) Joan, daughter of Sir William Huddy, Knight, Baron of the Exchequer.  Descending son:  John Ware.

JOHN WARE (c1475-c1525) John was of Chipley, Somerset and Greenwich, Kent, England heads the 1634 Essex Visitation carried out by the Heralds, and Armorial Bearings were officially confirmed in favor of Anthony Ware of Rayleigh, Essex.  Descending son:  John Ware.

JOHN WARE (c1510-c1560) John was of Greenwich, Kent, England, he married the daughter and co-heir of Whittington of com. Stafford.  The Armorial Bearings owned by George Stawell Ware, a descendant of Christopher Ware, are virtually identical to those in the 1634 Essex Visitation. Descending son:  Christopher Other children: John who married Margaret, daughter of ... Standon, and they were the parents of Anthony Ware of Thundersley who married Agnes, daughter and heir of Humphrey Drywood of South Benfleet in Essex, according to the 1634 Visitation, (pictured). 

In the 1634 Essex Visitation carried out by the Heralds, Armorial Bearings were officially confirmed in favor of Anthony Ware of Rayleigh, Essex.  A pedigree entered at the 1634 Visitation was headed by his father John Ware of com. Kent (Greenwich).  Greenwich is about 10 miles west of London, while Rayleigh is approximately 25 miles east of London.  The Armorial Bearings were described as:  Gold two lions passant azure a bordure gules charged with eight escallops gold.  The Crest:  A dragon's head couped gold, pierced through the neck with a stake proper.  The Armorial Bearings owned by George Stawell Ware, a descendant of John Ware and Mary Owen, are virtually identical.  The Armorial Bearings belonging to Sir James Ware of Ireland are described as:  Gold two lions passant azure a bordure also azure charged with nine escallops gold.

Humphrey Drywood of South Benfleet in Essex was born about 1533 according to the Latter Day Saints, Mormon Church genealogical records, and his will was dated 1595 based on the book "Elizabethan Life," by Dr. Frederick George Emmison.  The birth year of John Ware of Greenwich appears to be about 1533, as he would be in the same generation as Humphrey Drywood. This would place him as the elder brother of Christopher Ware.