John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp

Who was John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp?

John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster was an administrator and landowner. He came from Holt, Worcestershire, and belonged to a cadet branch of the great family of Beauchamp, whose head was the Earl of Warwick. He was the son of another John, whom he succeeded in the 1360s. A favourite of the ailing King Edward III, in the years 1370 to 1375 he received several grants of offices, including the constableship of Bridgnorth Castle. He was elected for Worcestershire to Edward III's last parliament and Richard II's first.

Richard II regarded him warmly, and acted as godfather to his son. Retained in the household, Beauchamp soon received substantial further patronage, and by 1384 he had been made Receiver of the Chamber and Keeper of the King's Jewels. He took the order of knighthood on Richard II's entry into Scotland in 1385. That December he was granted for life the office of Justiciar of North Wales, to which was added in August 1386 a charter of liberties within his recently purchased estate at Kidderminster.