Edward Stafford, 4th Baron Stafford (1572 – 16 September 1625), was the son of Edward Stafford, 3rd Baron Stafford, and Mary Stanley, daughter of Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, and Dorothy Howard. He became 4th Baron Stafford on the death of his father in 1603. He married Isabel Forster, the daughter of Thomas Forster of

Tong, Shropshire Tong is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located between the towns of Shifnal, Newport and Brewood. It is near junction 3 of the M54 motorway and A41 road. The population of the village which was included in the civil ...

. Isabel was reported to be a family chambermaid in a letter to the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creatio ...

which includes "My Lorde Stafford's son is basely married to his mother's chambermaid." A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance.by John Burke Publisher Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831
/ref> Edward Stafford continued on with his father's patronage of the Lord Stafford's Company, a travelling group of players, who were active until at least 1617.

Death and succession

Stafford had one son, Edward (1602 – 6 April 1621). This son married Ann Wilford, daughter of James Wilford, Newman Hall,

Quendon Quendon is a linear village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Quendon and Rickling, in the Uttlesford district, in the county of Essex, England. Quendon is located on the B1383 (formerly the A11 road (Great Britain), A11 trunk road) b ...

, Essex, and had two children: #Mary Stafford, who married Sir William Howard, younger son of Thomas, Earl of Arundel. Following her brother Henry Stafford's death, and the forced surrender of the barony, on the ground of his poverty, by the next heir, Mary's distant cousin Roger Stafford, 6th Baron Stafford in 1637, William and Mary were created Baron and Baroness Stafford on 12 September 1640. Two months later, William was created Viscount Stafford. # Henry Stafford, 5th Baron Stafford (24 September 1621 – 4 August 1637). Born after his father's death, he inherited the barony upon his grandfather the fourth baron's death in 1625.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Edward Stafford, 4th Baron 4 Edward 1572 births 1625 deaths People of the Elizabethan era Edward 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility