Richard de Willoughby

Who was Richard de Willoughby?

Sir Richard de Willoughby was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for three periods between 1332 and 1340. His father, another Richard, served as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas from 1323 until his death in 1325. He is probably best known for an episode in 1332 when – while serving on a commission in the east midlands as a justice of the King’s Bench – he was abducted by the infamous criminal gang the Folvilles. He was released for a ransom of 1300 marks.

Willoughby fell victim to Edward III's purge of the administration in 1340–41, where he was stripped of his office and heavily fined for certain ill-defined accusations. He was, however, restored to the common bench in 1343, where he served until 1357. He died on 14 March 1362, and was buried in the church of Willoughby on the Wolds, Nottinghamshire, where his imposing effigy can still be seen. Willoughby was married three times, and his marriages brought him substantial landed wealth.