Ela Longespee, Lady of Ashby (1244 – c. 19 July 1276) was a wealthy heiress and daughter of Stephen Longespee, Justiciar of Ireland. She was the wife of Sir Roger La Zouche, Lord of Ashby.
Ela was born in 1244 at Salisbury, Wiltshire, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Stephen Longespee, Justiciar of Ireland, Seneschal of Gascony, and Emmeline de Ridelsford.[1]Her paternal grandmother was Ela, Countess of Salisbury, who had founded Lacock Abbey, and for whom she was named. Ela had a younger sister, Emmeline, who became the second wife of Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly in 1273.
In about 1266 in Northamptonshire, she married Sir Roger La Zouche, Lord of Ashby, the son of Sir Alan La Zouche and Helen de Quincy. Their marriage produced one son:
Ela died on about 19 July 1276 at the age of 32. Her younger sister Emmeline, co-heiress to their father and the wife of the 3rd Lord of Offaly, did not bear any children; thus when she died in 1291, her property was inherited by Maud La Zouche, Baroness Holland, the daughter of Ela's only son, Alan.