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John de Stokes was commonly known as John Fitz Robert and appears as such, being one of the twenty-five sureties of the Magna Charta in 1215. He was lord of Clavering and Warkworth, Northumberland, and Sheriff of Northumberland, Norfolk and Suffolk from 1215-1227. He was also Baron of Walton.
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John Fitz-Robert, to whom King John in the 14th year of his reign (1213), ratified the grant of the castle and manor of Warkworth, made by King Henry II to his grandfather, Roger Fitz-Richard, as also of the manor of Clavering. In three years afterwards, he was appointed joint governor with John Marshall of the castles of Norwich and Oxford; but joining in the insurrection of the barons, and being chosen one of the twenty-five appointed to exercise the regal authority, his lands were seized by the king and a part confiscated. Returning, however, to his allegiance in the next reign, his castles and estates were restored to him. In the 9th of Henry III (1225), he was constituted sheriff of Northumberland and governor of the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and in the 13th of the same monarch (1229), he was one of the great northern barons appointed by special command of the king to wait upon Alexander, King of Scotland, at Berwick-upon-Tweed, and to conduct that prince to York, there to meet the king of England, "to treat upon certain affairs of great importance." His lordship m. Ada, dau. and heir of Hugh de Baliol, and grand-aunt of Baliol, King of Scotland, and had issue, Roger, his successor; Hugh, surnamed "de Eure," from whom the Lords Eure descended; and Robert, ancestor of the Eures of Axholm, in Lincolnshire. He d. in 1240, and was s. by his eldest son, Roger Fitz-John. (Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 121, Clavering, Barons Clavering.)

By 1199 he was an adult

He was the 2nd Baron of Warkworth, Lord Clavering, sheriff of Northumberland. According to Burke, Robert "held three knight's fees of the Bishopric of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, Oxon and Berks in 1208-9, gave land at Aldham, Essex, to St. John's Abbey, Colchester, and served as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk from 1191 to 1200."

In Burke's Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, he states, "Robert Fitz-Roger, who m. Margaret, only child and heiress of William de Cheney, by whom he acquired the Barony of Horsford, co. Norfolk, and had an only son, John. This Robert obtained a confirmation, upon the accession of King John, of the castle and manor of Warkworth, of the manor of Clavering, in Essex, and of the manor of Eure, in Buckinghamshire, to hold by the service of knight's fee each. And in that monarhc's reign he served the office of sheriff for Northumberland, Norfolk and Suffolk; for each county thrice.

In the conflict between John and the barons, this powerful person, although indebted to the crown for immense territorial possessions, took part in the first instance with the latter, but under apprehension of confiscation, and the other vistations of royal vengeance, he was very soon induced to return to his allegiance." p. 121.

According to Sanders, "Henry II granted Warkworth to Rogert fitz Richard father of Robert fitz Roger, for the service of 1 knight in 1157; this grant was confirmed for Roger fitz Robert in 1199. Robert was granted Newburn for the service of 1 knight in 1205 and he held Rothbury for 1 knight's fee. Sometimes Warkworth and Newburn were called baronies" p. 150 note 4.

According to Burke, "Margaret was the only child and heiress of William de Chesney." She was the widow of Hugh de Cressi and married Robert Fitz Roger as her second husband. Sanders states she died in 1230.

SEE 246D-27.

Hugh was Lord Gainford. He died before Easter 1229.

Hugh de Baliol, was certified to hold the barony of Biwell of the crown by the service of five knights' fees, and to find thirty soldiers for the gmacrd of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as his progenitors had done from the time of Rufus. He held likewise the lordship of Hiche, in Essex, in capite, as an augmentation of his barony, by the gift of Henry II. From King John, he obtained the lands of Richard de Umfraville, and of Robert de Meisnill, in the county of York, in consideration of his services in the baronial war. In the 18th of that monarch's reign (1217), he was joined with Philip de Hulcotes in defence of the northern border towards Scotland; and when the King of Scots had subjugated the whole of Northumberland for Lewis of France, those generals held out stoutly all the fortresses upon the line of the Tees, particularly that of Barnard Castle, where Eustace de Vesci (who had married the Scottish monarch's sister), coming with his royal brother-in-law to the siege, was slain. Hugh de Baliol, styled by Matthew Paris, "dives et potens," was s. by his son, John de Baliol. {Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 21, Baliol, Barons Baliol}

According to Sanders, "In 1212 it was said that Hugh held Bywell for the service of 5 knights, owing 30 knights to the castle-guard of Newcastle upon Tyne," p. 25 note 5.

She is also known as Cecilia de Fontaines.

Roger was an "adult" by 1157. He was the 1st Baron of Warkworth and held lands in Nottingham, Warwick, and Northampton. The lordship in Northumberland was granted to him by King Henry II.

According to Sanders, "Henry II granted Warkworth to Rogert fitz Richard for the service of 1 knight in 1157," p. 150 note 4.

Her father gave as a marriage portion land at Ugley Essex. She m. 1stly, as his 2nd wife, Robert de Essex, lord of Rayleigh, for whose soul and the souls of her father and her borther Robert de Vere she gave land in Ugley to the order of the Hospital; and, 2ndly, Roger FitzRichard, lord of Warkworth, with whom she gave a salt-pan at Warkworth to Newminster. As a widow she joined her sister Rohese at Chicksand Priory, but moved to Walden Abbey at the behest of her nephew William, Earl of Essex. She attested charters for Colne issued by her mother and her sister Rohese. She was living in 1185, a widow whose age was returned as 80 in Essex and 60 in Northants." CP X Appendix J 116

See also Magna Charta Sureties 156-1.