Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford

Humphrey Stafford ( – 22 May 1458), generally known by his courtesy title of Earl of Stafford, was the eldest son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Lady Anne Neville (d. 1480).

Biography

Humphrey Stafford was born on 2 December 1425, the elder twin brother of Henry. His maternal grandparents were Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland. His maternal uncles included (among others) Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (father of Warwick, the Kingmaker), Robert Neville who was first Bishop of Salisbury and then Bishop of Durham, William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent and Edward Nevill, 3rd Baron Bergavenny. His most prominent maternal aunt was Cecily Neville, wife of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and mother to among others Edward IV of England, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, Richard III of England, Anne, Duchess of Exeter, Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk, and Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. Other maternal aunts included Eleanor Percy (née Neville), 2nd Countess of Northumberland, and Katherine Mowbray (née Neville), 2nd Duchess of Norfolk.

Lord Stafford fought under his father-in-law in support of the House of Lancaster during the First Battle of St Albans. He appears to have been badly wounded at this battle, but eventually died either of his wounds or from the plague, predeceasing his own father in 1458.

Ancestors