Francis Rodes
Sir Francis Rodes (c. 1530–1588) of Barlborough Hall in the parish of Barlborough, Derbyshire, was an English judge who took part in the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. He built Barlborough Hall and was one of the founders of Netherthorpe School. Origins. He was the son of John Rodes of Staveley Woodthorpe in Derbyshire, Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1591, by his first wife Attelina Hewett of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Rodes family of Derbyshire was founded five generations before Francis by William Rodes, who married Emme Cachehors, daughter and heiress of John Cachehors/Cachehaus of  Staveley Woodthorpe. The Rodes family traced its ultimate descent from Gerard de Rodes, a prominent baron in the reign of King Henry II (1154-1189). Career. Francis was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, but did not graduate. In 1549 he was entered at Gray's Inn, and in 1552 was called to the bar. He was Lent Reader at his Inn in 1566, and double reader in 1576, and seems to have derived a considerable fortune from this practice. In 1577 Rodes purchased the manor of Hanley in the parish of Steveley from Edmund West. In 1578 he  was raised to the degree of the Coif, and on 21 August 1582 he was made Queen's Serjeant. On 29 June 1585 he was raised to the bench as Justice of the Common Pleas, and in October 1586 he took part in the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, though not as one of the main judges. Landholdings. His principal seat was at Barlborough, Derbyshire, where he built Barlborough Hall, which is still standing; he also purchased extensive estates at Billingsley, Shropshire, Darfield, South Yorkshire, Great Houghton, South Yorkshire and Little Houghton, South Yorkshire. Marriages and  children. Rodes married twice: Death and legacy. Rodes died towards the end of 1588 at Staveley Woodthorpe. His will, dated 7 June 1587, was proved on 28 April 1591. Among numerous other benefactions he made bequests to St. John's College, Cambridge, and to the newly founded the grammar school Netherthorpe School. His 'Reports' were among the manuscript collections of Sir John Maynard (1602–1690) and are now in the library of Lincoln's Inn. A quote from an 1857 directory: Netherthorpe School.—Francis Rodes, by will, 29th of Elizabeth, left a yearly rent charge of £20 per annum, to be  taken forth of his manor of Elmton; £8 thereof to the Grammar School, at Staveley Netherthorpe, £8 for two scholarships in St John's College, Cambridge, and £4 for the relief of soldiers who should be sent to the wars out of Staveley, Barlborough, and Elmton. Francis' gifts when combined with others from the Duke of Devonshire, Robert Sitwell and a local minister enabled the school to have an annual income of £29.