Scrope – 14th and 15th centuries

The Scrope family were from the north of England, owning land in both Yorkshire and Northumberland. Sir Stephen Scrope was the third son of Richard II’s minister, Lord Richard Scrope, and owned Hever Castle from 1399 to 1408. Richard II appointed him Lord Justice of Ireland and Henry IV made him Governor of Roxburgh Castle in 1400.

Sir Stephen’s older brother, William, was given the title of ‘King of the Isle of Man’ after their father purchased it for him for £10,000 in 1392. In 1397 Thomas de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick, was charged with treason and sentenced to banishment to the Isle of Man. Sir Stephen and his brother were responsible for taking the Earl of Warwick to the island and to “safely keep” the Earl on the Isle of Man “without departing therefrom”. Sir Stephen was later charged with imprisoning the Earl of Warwick on the Isle of Man after Richard II’s death in 1400.

Sir Stephen travelled to Ireland in 1402 as Lord Deputy to Thomas of Lancaster, the third son of Henry IV. When Sir Stephen died in Ireland in 1408 he left a teenage son, also named Stephen. His widow, the wealthy heiress Millicent Tiptoft, then married Sir John Fastolf.