Richard de Willoughby

Sir Richard de Willoughby
22nd Lord Chief Justice of England
In office 28 March 1332 – 20 September 1332
Monarch	Edward III
Prime Minister	Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (as Lord High Steward)
Chancellor	John de Stratford
Preceded by	Geoffrey le Scrope
Succeeded by	Geoffrey le Scrope
24th Lord Chief Justice of England
In office 10 September 1333 – 1337
Monarch	Edward III
Prime Minister	Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (as Lord High Steward)
Chancellor	John de Stratford (1333-1334) Richard de Bury (1334-1335) John de Stratford (1335-1337)
Preceded by	Geoffrey le Scrope
Succeeded by	Geoffrey le Scrope
26th Lord Chief Justice of England
In office October 1338 – 21 July 1340
Monarch	Edward III
Prime Minister	Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (as Lord High Steward)
Chancellor	Richard de Wentworth (1338-1340) John de Stratford (1340) Robert de Stratford (1340)
Preceded by	Geoffey le Scrope
Succeeded by	Robert Parning
Personal details
Born	c. 1290
Died	March 14, 1362 (aged 71–72)
Resting place	Willoughby on the Wolds, Nottinghamshire
Nationality	English
Spouse(s)	Isabel Mortein Joanna Isabella
Parents	Richard de Willoughby

Sir Richard de Willoughby (c. 1290 – 14 March 1362) was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for three periods between 1332 and 1340. His father, another Richard, served as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas from 1323 until his death in 1325. He is probably best known for an episode in 1332 when – while serving on a commission in the east midlands as a justice of the King’s Bench – he was abducted by the infamous Folville Gang and ransomed for 1300 marks.^[1]

Willoughby fell victim to Edward III's purge of the administration in 1340–41, where he was stripped of his office and heavily fined for certain ill-defined accusations. He was, however, restored to the common bench in 1343, where he served until 1357. He died on 14 March 1362, and was buried in the church of Willoughby on the Wolds, Nottinghamshire, where his imposing effigy can still be seen. Willoughby was married three times, and his marriages brought him substantial landed wealth.

References

1. Patent Rolls 1232–1509.

Bibliography

• Payling, S.J. (2004). Willoughby, Sir Richard (c.1290–1362). rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Jan 2008. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 August 2006.