De La Warre family

De La Warre family

John la Warre was the son of Roger la Warre who held estates in the south and south-west of England. After the death of his grandfather, Sir John Tregoz, he received several properties including the castle and manor of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire.

In 1294 he married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert de Grelle, who owned extensive estates in Manchester and Guerdley, Lancashire, and in Swineshead, Sixhills and Bloxholm, Lincolnshire. The couple acquired lands by charter from Roger la Warre and from Joan's brother, Sir Thomas Grelle, including the manors and advowsons of Manchester and Swineshead, in 1310.

The Lincolnshire connections were reinforced through the marriage of their son, John, to Margaret de Holand. John la Warre died in 1347 and the manors of Wakerley and Swineshead were inherited by his grandson,Roger la Warre in 1353. John, Lord la Warre, son of Roger la Warre and his first wife Elizabeth, came into possession of his father's lands in 1370. The Lincolnshire holdings were further increased by his second marriage, prior to 1389, to Elizabeth de Neville of Grimsthorpe, who had estates in Gosberton as a result of her previous marriage to Simon Symeon. The heir to the lands of John la Warre in 1398 was his brother, Thomas, who pursued a career in the church, holding various livings, including the rectory of Swineshead three times, and the rectory of the free chapel of Barthorpe. Upon the death of Thomas in 1427 the successor to the title of Lord la Warre was Reginald West, preference being given to him over John Griffin who was apparently the next heir general of John and Thomas la Warre. It would appear that the estate was sold in 1579 to a John Lacy of London and then passed from Lacy to the Mosley family.

Further research (August 2018) would suggest that the Swineshead deeds were once part of the Moore Deeds. The links between the families of de Grelle, Griffin and de la More (Moore) have not yet been fully explored. The papers of the Moore family of Bankhall, Liverpool, were acquired by Robert Hart Logan, MP (d. 1838), presumably when he purchased the Kentwell estate (Suffolk) from the descendants of the Moore family, c. 1820. Hart Logan was uncle to the famous Canadian geologist, William Edmond Logan. William’s sister, Agnes, had married Alexander Stewart and it was their son, James, who purchased Alltyrodyn, Cardiganshire, c. 1880.
The majority of the Moore deeds are at Liverpool Record Office and other papers are at Liverpool University Special Collections and Archives.