Nicholas de Peshall

     Nicholas de was born circa 1370 in Staffordshire, England. Nicholas married Helen de Malpas, daughter of Baron Hugh de Malpas and Margaret Blackenhall, in England. Nicholas was sheriff of Stratfordshire in 1436. He was actively engaged in the warefare then rampant in Staffordshire-Shropshire. Of course, he was an important factor in the party composed of his family and their associates. His brother, Richard appears to have been the family leader in this generation.
The seizure of the crown by Henry IV, [1399] divided Stratfordshire into two camps. As a fact, the war between the House of Lancaster and Northumberland which later developed into the War of the Roses [1455-1480's], continued to divide the gentry of Staffordshire for a long time after the accession of the Lancaster dynasty. As a result, the county was where the factions were divided the deepest both in political and family division, and where a substantial number remained openly hostile to the king.
The last few years of the reign of Henry IV [1399-1415] were peaceful in the whole of the kingdom but unfortunately not in Stratfordshire. There was escentially a civil war being waged between those families supporting Northumberland royalty and those supporting the Lancaster royalty.