Line of Descent from Edward I
Joan of Acre, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, was born at Acre in the Holy Land in April 1272 during the Crusades. She married twice, firstly to Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, who died in 1295; and secondly in 1297 Ralph de Monthermer, a Welsh-born squire (c1270-1325) thereafter created 1st Baron Monthermer. Joan died at Clare, Suffolk, in 1307.
Their son Thomas, 2nd Baron Monthermer, was born 4 October 1301 at Stoke, Ham, Wiltshire. First cousin of Edward III, he married Margaret de Brewes, daughter of Sir Peter de Brewes, and died of injuries at the Battle of Sluys on 24 June 1340.
His daughter and sole surviving heir, Margaret de Monthermer, was born on 14 October 1329 at Stokenham, Devon. Margaret married Sir John Montagu (or Montacute) 2nd Earl of Salisbury on 2 July 1343 and died at Salisbury on 24 March 1394. This John Montagu had been born in February 1329 at Donyatt, Somerset, son of Sir William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and his wife Catherine de Grandison. He was buried at Salisbury in 1389. (His father, the 1st Earl, was a founder of the Order of the Knights of the Garter, wife Catherine being the lady whose garter fell off while dancing with Edward III.)
The Montagu family were descended from Drogo de Montague, c1040 – c1125 of Montegules, Normandy. Following the Norman Conquest of 1066 they were granted extensive estates in Somerset.
The son of Sir John Montacute and Margaret de Monthermer was John, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, born at Salisbury c1350. A prominent Lollard, he was husband of Maud Fraunceys, daughter of Sir Adam Fraunceys, Mayor of London (c1326 – 1375) and he was a supporter and favourite of Richard II. After the Epiphany Rising (a plot to kill the usurper Henry IV and restore Richard to the throne) Montacute was captured at Cirencester and summarily executed by beheading on 7 January 1400. The attainder against his estate was not reversed until the accession of Edward IV in 1461.
One of their younger sons, Robert de Montacute or Montague was born c1388. He married Mary de Courtenay (otherwise Mary de Devon) and died c1445.
The son of Robert and Mary was John Montague, who was born c1421 in Devon. He married Agnes More (c1425 – 1481) and died c1485.
Their son was William Montague who was born in Devon c1450 and married Mary Sutton c1489. He died in 1505 at Montacute in Devon.
William Montague their son was born c1490 at Otslow in Somerset. He married Margaret Peverell (1494-1588) c1514 and died in 1581. Margaret Peverell was born in Devon, daughter of John de Peverell and Elizabeth neé Butterworth; her paternal grandparents were William de Peverell and Margaret Catherine Montague.
William Montague’s daughter and co-heiress was Emma Montague, born in Devon c1517. Around 1537 she married James Duport of Shepshed, Leicestershire (born c1513) and their son Thomas Duport (birthdate unknown) a noted lawyer and MP, became steward of his kinsman Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset and later Duke of Suffolk. Thomas Duport married Cornelia Norton and died on 5 September 1592, followed by Cornelia in 1595. They were buried at Shepshed church and have a prominent monument there.
Their granddaughter Cornelia married Ralph Seagrave in 1604. She died in 1620. Through this line was descended Elizabeth Seagrave (born Frisby-on-the-Wreake 1675) who married William Dalby of Hoby in 1700. Their daughter Elizabeth (born 1702) married Joseph Bestall at Leicester in 1733 (see BESTALL family) and I am directly descended from this couple.