# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Say, Geoffrey de

​SAY, GEOFFREY de, Baron de Say (1305?–1359), second baron by writ, born about 1305, was a descendant of William de Say, who married Beatrice, sister of Geoffrey de Mandeville, earl of Essex [q. v.], and eventually coheir of her nephew, William de Mandeville, third earl. Of this marriage there were two sons, the elder being William de Say, ancestor of Geoffrey FitzPeter, earl of Essex [q. v.]; and the younger, Geoffrey, who was the father of Geoffrey de Say, one of the twenty-five barons for the execution of the Great Charter. This Geoffrey, who died in 1230, was the great-grandfather of Geoffrey de Say, summoned to parliament in 1313, who married Idonea, daughter of William de Leybourne [see Leybourne, Roger de]. Of this marriage were two sons and two daughters, the elder son being Geoffrey, the subject of this article, who was seventeen at his father's death in 1322. He had livery of his lands in Kent, which were extensive, and in other counties in 1326, was summoned to serve against the Scots in 1327, and received summonses to parliament in and from the seventh year of Edward III (1333). In that year he attended the tournament at Dunstable, his coat being quarterly or and gules, as borne by Geoffrey de Mandeville III, earl of Essex (d 1216). In 1333 he obtained view of frankpledge and other liberties within his demesne at Burham, Kent, which manor he held of the king in capite. On 10 April 1336 he was appointed captain and admiral of the fleet ​from the Thames westwards, being then a banneret with a retinue of four knights, twenty men at arms, and three archers. In September he was ordered to protect the English ambassadors crossing to France, and, some of the ships under his command having been taken by the French off the Isle of Wight, he was in October appointed on a commission to impress ships and men. Another admiral was appointed in January 1337, but from 30 May till the following August he was again in command of the western fleet, conjointly with Sir Otho Grandison. He was employed in Flanders in 1338, and in 1342, being in Brittany with the Earl of Northampton, he was by him placed in command of the castle of Goy la Forêt. In May 1345 he was again about to sail to Brittany with the earl, and was then styled ‘chivaler.’ In 1349 he was engaged to serve the king during his life with twenty men at arms and twenty archers at a yearly payment of two hundred marks. He was styled in 1354 Geoffrey de Say dominus de Cowdham; was constable of Rochester Castle in 1356, and was at Roxburgh on 21 Jan. of that year [see under Baliol, Edward de], being then styled Lord de Say. He died on 26 June 1359, being seised of the manors of Birling, Cowdham, Burham, and West Greenwich in Kent, besides manors in Sussex, Middlesex, and Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire. By his wife Maud, daughter of Guy de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick [q. v.], he had a son, William, who succeeded him, and three daughters: Idonea, who married Sir John Clinton, lord de Clinton (d. 1397); Elizabeth, who married Sir Thomas de Aldon; and Joan, who married (1) Sir William Fiennes or Fienes, grandfather of Sir James Fiennes, first lord Say and Sele [q. v.], and (2) Sir Stephen de Valognes. William de Say, his son, died in 1375, leaving a son, John de Say, who died, a minor and without issue, in 1382, and a daughter, Elizabeth, lady Say, who married (1) Sir John de Falvesey, and (2) Sir William Heron, and died without issue in 1399. Sir John Say (d. 1478) [q. v.] was probably Geoffrey's descendant through a female line. The barony of Say is in abeyance between Lord Clinton, the eldest representative of Idonea, and the descendants of Joan, daughter of Geoffrey de Say.
W. H.