Baron Willoughby of Parham

Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. The second creation was by writ in 1679, without the restriction on inheritance by gender. The creation of the barony gave right to an hereditary peerage and seat in the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament.

The barony was created on 20 February 1547 for Sir William Willoughby, a descendant of William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby living 1370 to 1409. His son Charles Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby of Parham had married Lady Margaret Clinton and through her all descendants thereafter can trace their ancestry to Edward I, King of England.

The family of Willoughby, by a pedigree drawn up in the time of Elizabeth I, appears to be descended from Sir John De Willoughby, a Norman knight, who had the lordship of Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, by gift of the William the Conqueror between 1066 and 1087.

The first creation of the Barony, 1547 is considered extinct as having no male heir on the death of the 17th Baron, George Willoughby, on 29 October 1779. There may still exist a male heir.

Theobald, son of Robert Lord Valoins, founder of Hickling Priory, in Norfolk, in 1185, endowed it with the churches of Parham and Hasketon. He was owner of the lordship of Parham, and a descendant of Peter de Valoins, a Baron, in the Conqueror's time. Cecily, the daughter of Robert de Valoins married Sir Robert de Ufford, Steward of the Household to King Edward II, and inherited this estate in right of such marriage. It continued in the house of Ufford until the decease of William d'Ufford, Earl of Suffolk when it descended to Cicely, his eldest sister, who married John, 3rd Lord Willoughby de Eresby. Robert their son, 4th Baron Willoughby de Eresby succeeded to this estate, as nephew and co-heir of the said William de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk. This Earl built Parham church, and bequeathed his body to be buried at Campsey Abbey, under the arch of St. Nicholas Chapel, behind the tomb of his father and mother.

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