Baron St John of Basing

Baron St John de/of Basing is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England.

On 29 December 1299 John St John was summoned to parliament. On the death of the third baron the barony fell into abeyance in 1347. Only fourteen years later, the abeyance was terminated in favour of Isabel Poynings, née St John, in whose right Lucas de Poynings, her husband, was summoned. And at the death of the fifth baron, who was the son-in-law of the third Earl of March, the barony fell into abeyance again.

GENERAL AND HERALDIC DICTIONARY THE PEERAGES OF ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND By John Burke Published 1831 Original from Oxford University

ST. JOHN— BARONS ST. JOHN, OF STANTON ST. JOHN, IN THE COUNTY OF OXFORD. By Writ of Summons, dated 24th December, 1264, 49 Henry III, Lineage:

THOMAS DE ST. JOHN, of Stanton St. John, in the county of Oxford, was father of ROGER DE ST. JOHN, who, in the 22d Henry II., was amerced one hundred and thirty-three pounds, six shillings and eightpence, for trespassing in the king's forests, in the county of Oxford. This Roger was s. by his son, JOHN DE ST. JOHN, who was s. by his son, ROGER DE ST. JOHN. This feudal lord having taken up arms with the barons against King Henry III., was summoned to parliament after the victory of those lords at Lewes, on the 24th December, 1264, and appointed governor of the castle of Oxford. He was slain, however, the following year, at Evesham, where his party sustained so signal a defeat. His lordship m. — , sister of Richard de Lucí, by whom he acquired a moiety of the lordship of Wolnestede, to the county of Surrey, and had an only son, JOHN, who was never summoned to parliament, nor were his descendants. The BARONY OF ST. JOHN, OF STANTON, EXPIRED therefore with the first lord.

ARMS.— Ar. on a chief gules, two mullets or, and a file of three points of the field.

ST. JOHN— BARONS ST. JOHN, OF BASING. By Writ of Summons, dated 29th December, 1299, 28 Edward I. Lineage. At the time of the General Survey, HUGH DE PORT held five lordships of the crown, in Hampshire, whereof BASING was one, and the head of the barony. He had also lands in the counties of Dorset and Cambridge. In the reign of Rufus, he took the cowl at Winchester, and was succeeded in his worldly affairs by his son. At the time of the General Survey. HENRY DE PORT, Lord of Basing, who was s. by his son, JOHN DE PORT, who, in the 12th of Henry II., contributed for his knights' fees (seven in number) to the assessment for marrying the king's daughter, fifty-seven marks. He was s. by his son, ADAM DE PORT, Lord of Basing. This feudal baron was governor of the castle of Southampton, in the I5th of King John; and in the 22d Henry П., he was fined three hundred marks, for trespassing in the king's forests. In the 26th of the same reign, he gave a thousand marks to the king for livery of his wife's inheritance in Normandy; and that he might be restored to the king's favour, and do his homage. He m. Mabel, daughter of Reginald de Aurevalle, and grandchild and heir of Roger de St. John; and his posterity ever afterwards bore the surname of ST. JOHN. By this lady he had two sons, William and Robert. The elder, WILLIAM DE ST. JOHN, assuming that surname, wrote himself Willielmus de Sancto Johanne filius et haeres Adae de Port, and in the 15th John, gave five hundred marks to the king for livery of all the lands of Adam de Port, his father. The two following years he executed the sheriff'ss office for the county of Southampton : but was subsequently in arms with the other barons against the crown, and did not return to his allegiance until some time after the accession of HENRY III. He made his peace, however, effectually, for we find him in the 11th of that king, appointed governor of the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. He m. Godchild, daughter of N. Paganell, and was s. by bis son, RORERT DE ST. JOHN, who had a military summons, in the 42d Henry III., to oppose the incursions of the Welsh, and in three years afterwards, obtained a licence to fix a pale upon the bauk of hie moat, at BASING; as also to continue it so fortified, during the king's pleasure. In the 50th of the same reign, he wae constituted governor of PORCHESTER Castle, and dying soon after, was s. by his son, (by his wife Agnes, daughter of William de Cantilupe,) JOHN DE ST. JOHN, Lord of Basing, who succeeded likewise to the governorship of Porchester Castle. This baron acquired high military reputation in the wars of EDWARD I. ; and in his capacity of lieutenant of Acquitaine, achieved some important conquests. In 1296, he took the city of Bayonne by assault, and its castle surrendered after a siege of eight days. Thence marching to BELLEGARD, at the time invested by the Earl of Arras, he was made prisoner, and conveyed to Paris ; being, however, redeemed, (it was said, by Alfonsus*, King of Castile,) he was again in the wars of Gascony, as well as in those of Scotland ; and was afterwards deputed ambassador to France, with John, Earl of Warren, and other persons of rank. He m. Alice, daughter of Reginald Fitz-Piers, and had issue, JOHN, his successor; William, who obtained from his father the castle of Beaumont, in Glamorganshire, and is considered the ancestor of the St. Johns of Bletshoe. The elder son, JOHN DE ST. JOHN, had been summoned to parliament as a BARON, in the life-time of his father, from 29th December, 1299, to 12th November, 1303, under the designation of "John de St. John, Junior," but afterwards as " St. John of Basing." This nobleman was eminent in the wars of Scotland, temp. Edward I. and Edward II. His lordship espoused Isabel, daughter of Hugh de Courtenay. and d. in 1329, was s. by his son, HUGH DE ST. JOHN, second Baron St. John, of Basing, who d. in 1337, leaving, EDMUND, his successor; Margaret, m. to John de St. Philibert, and had a son, John, who d. in infancy; ISABEL, m. first, to Henry de Burghersh, who died s. p., and secondly, to Lucas de Poynings, who was summoned to parliament, it is presumed, "jure uxoris," 24th February, 1368. His lordship was s. by his elder son, EDMUND ST. JOHN, third Baron St. John, of Basing, who dying in minority, 21st Edward III.. then a ward of the king, his sisters, MARGARET and ISABEL, became his heirs. The elder sister, Margaret, did not long survive, and her only issue, John de St. Philibert, dying an infant, the whole of the inheritance centered in the younger sister, Isabel, then married to her second husband, LUCAS DE POYNINGS, who in her right was summoned to parliament, and the BARONY OF ST JOHN, of Basing, was thus conveyed to the family of Poynlngs (see Poynings, Barons St. John).

The second creation was in 1539 for William Paulet, who was later created Earl of Wiltshire and Marquess of Winchester, with which titles the barony has remained united, although the Marquesses of Winchester were also Dukes of Bolton from 1689 to 1794, when the dukedom became extinct.

Barons St John de Basing (1299)

By Writ of Summons dated 29 December 1299, 28 Edward I:^[1]

• John St John, 1st Baron St John (d. 1329) - His arms and name were recorded as Argent, on a chief gules, two mullets or...Sire Johan de Sein Johan.^[2]
• Hugh St John, 2nd Baron St John (d. 1337)
• Edmund St John, 3rd Baron St John (d. 1347) (abeyant 1347)
• Isabel St John, 4th Baroness St John (m. 1350, d. 1393) (abeyance terminated 1361 in her favor as sole surviving sister of the 3rd baron)
  • Lucas de Poynings (d. c.1385) (summoned to parliament in her right 24 February 1368 - 20 January 1376)
• Thomas Poynings, 5th Baron St John (d. 1428/1429) (abeyant 1428/1429)

Barons St John of Basing (1539)

On 9 March 1539 the Barony of Saint John of Basing was created for:

• William Paulet, 1st Baron St John of Basing (later created Earl of Wiltshire and Marquess of Winchester)

for further succession, see Marquess of Winchester

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages