page_title: John Darras
section_title: Landowner
hierarchical_section_title: John Darras / Landowner
caption_attribution_description: Ribbesford Church
context_page_description: John Darras was an English soldier, politician and landowner, who fought in the Hundred Years' War and against the Glyndŵr Rising. A client of the FitzAlan Earls of Arundel, he served them in war and peace, helping consolidate their domination of his native county of Shropshire. He represented Shropshire twice in the House of Commons of England. He died by his own hand.
context_section_description: The inquisition following his father's death, taken at Bridgnorth on 19 March 1362, shows that the main estates Darras inherited from his father were the manors of Sidbury and Neenton, which were held of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. in return for providing a hobelar (a light cavalryman mounted on a hobby) for Wigmore Castle when there was war in the Welsh Marches. There were also a few other small, scattered holdings, notably a third of the manor of Linley, held of the Prior of Wenlock. This was a small patrimony and Darras fought legal battles, sometimes backed by force, at several points in his life to extend his holdings, although with limited success.
  In 1379, and again in 1383, Darras and his aunts Burga and Elizabeth contested ownership of the manors of Ribbesford and Rock, Worcestershire, which had been held by Sir Henry Ribbesford, also under the Mortimers of Wigmore. They were opposed by John de Resunden, the husband of their distant relative, Iseult. They won their suit but for reasons unknown the estates were both soon in the hands of Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, one of the Lords Appellant, who was temporarily stripped of all his lands during Richard II's counter-coup of 1397.
  Patronage of the churches on most of these estates, potentially a lucrative right, went to Darras. The rectory of Sidbury was in his gift and he is known to have made presentations to it. On 16 June 1386 Darras authorised an exchange of clergy, by which the local priest went to St Katherine's chapel in Hereford Cathedral and the former cathedral chaplain, Philip Kentles, became rector of Sidbury. St Katherine's chapel served the Bishop's Palace, so this exchange must have been of importance to John Gilbert, presumably earning Darras a modicum of episcopal favour. In April 1392 Darras appointed a successor after Philip's death. At Neenton too Darras held and used the advowson, presenting Roger Murimore as incumbent of the church in November 1399. Linley's church was a chapel of Holy Trinity Church in Much Wenlock, which was in the hands of Wenlock Priory, the feudal overlord, leaving Darras with no control. However, while he had effective control of Ribbesford, the advowson must have been his to exercise, as it went with the manor. In the case of Rock, however, the principal manor in the parish was not Rock itself but Alton, and the advowson of the church went with it: although there had been challenges from the Ribbesford family, the advowson was held by the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Normandy during the 14th century.
  As a substantial, if not grand, landowner, Darras was evidently enjoyed a degree of trust among the local landed gentry. He is known to have acted for others in land transactions, including Malcolm de la Mare, Thomas Whitton and John Meisy. His business associates tend to recur as personal and family allies throughout his known career.
caption: St Leonard's church at Ribbesford. The manor was the focus of early attempts by Darras to enlarge his holdings. There has been a small church on the site since about 1100. It was enlarged from the early 15th century, with modifications including the present nave.[13][14]
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