Nigel Stafford1

M, b. circa 1078, d. 1115
FatherRobert de Tosni b. c 1036, d. Aug 1088
MotherAvice de Clare b. c 1058
     Nigel was born circa 1078 in Leicestershire, England, at Belvoir Castle. He was the first of this family to take on the name of de Gresleye. He resided at Drakellwe in Derbyshire. Nigel departed this life in 1115 in Drakelow, Staffordshire, England.

Citations

  1. [S1032] Falconer Maddan, The Gresleys of Drakelowe, Preface: page viii - A Nigel de Stafford who also appears as an extensive landowner at the time of the Domesday Survey, was in all probability the son of Robert, and was certainly the father of the first who bore the name of Gresley. The curious legend of the Devil of Drakelowe suffices the reason why the family name was Gresley rather than Drakelowe.
    page 19 - It may be noted also that the Belvoir Chartulary contains a final concord of 1224 about the advowson of Norton which proves that Geoffrey de Gresley, then alive, was the heir of Nigel de Stafford — an important corroboration of the connexion between the Gresley's and Staffords.
    page 20 - The above may be said to represent all the facts which we at present know about the Nigel de Stafford of Domesday; what remains is more or less probable conjecture. We can only say that it is very improbable that Nigel had no connexion with Robert de Stafford, and that if he was a son of the latter, all the facts we know about him fall into their places. The rather rare name Nicholas, it may be noticed, occurs in both Nigel's and Robert's families.
    Page 21- [children of Nigel] 1. William fitz-Nigel de Gresley, 2. Nicholas fitz-Nigel de Gresley - Nicholaus de Greseleia'' with the consent of his brother William and his wife Margaret and for the soul of his father Nigel confirmed his wife's grant. Nicholas must have died soon after, for we find his widow with a son William in a deed" of about 1160-70 (Eyton thinks 1166)
    page 24 - The earliest Gresley bore the name of William. No account whatever has come down to us of the reason for his assumption of that surname, although we have seen that it was perhaps naturally due to the depopulation of
    Drakelowe, and the migration of its inhabitants to Gresley. The village itself (now divided into Church Gresley and Castle Gresley, both in Derbyshire)
    Page 25 - Almost the only definite dated fact about William de Gresley is the following entry in the earliest Pipe Roll (1129-30).