John Lestrange
John III Lestrange, of Knockin in Shropshire, landowner, administrator and soldier, was a marcher lord defending England along its border with Wales.Origins
Not of Norman blood, his family may have come from Anjou. They first appear in Norfolk where Roald or Rivallon Lestrange was a tenant in Norfolk of Alan fitz Flaald and married the heiress of Hunstanton.
His son John I Lestrange, twice sheriff of Shropshire, held the castles of Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth for King Henry II in 1174.
His son John II Lestrange and his three other sons all acquired lands in Shropshire and over the Welsh border in Powys, with John II making his headquarters at Knockin where he and his successors built a castle, church and village. He served as sheriff of Shropshire and of Staffordshire.Career
John III was the son of John II and served in 1214 in King John's failed campaign in Poitou, taking part in the
Battle of Roche-au-Moine.
In 1231 he was granted by King Henry III the fiefdom of Wrockwardine, and between 1233 and 1240 was in turn constable of the royal castles at Montgomery, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and Chester.
In 1245 he served as the king's negotiator in the military campaign against Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd. During the rebellion of Simon de Montfort in 1264, he backed the king in the Second Barons' War.
After serving like his father as Sheriff of both Shropshire and Staffordshire, he died in 1269.Family
He married Lucy, daughter of Robert Tregoz. They had four sons and two daughters:
