Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford | |
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Arms of Clifford: Chequy or and azure, a fess gules
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Spouse(s) | Joan Dacre |
Issue
John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford
Sir Roger Clifford Sir Robert Clifford Sir Thomas Clifford Elizabeth Clifford Maud Clifford Anne Clifford Joan Clifford Margaret Clifford |
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Noble family | Clifford |
Father | John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford |
Mother | Elizabeth Percy |
Born | 25 March 1414 |
Died | 22 May 1455 First Battle of Saint Albans |
Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, also 8th Lord of Skipton (25 March 1414 – 22 May 1455), was the elder son of John, 7th Baron de Clifford, and Elizabeth Percy, daughter of Henry "Hotspur" Percy and Elizabeth Mortimer.
Thomas Clifford was born 25 March 1414, the elder son and heir of John, Lord de Clifford by Elizabeth Percy, daughter of Henry 'Hotspur' Percy and Elizabeth Mortimer, daughter of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. He had a younger brother, Henry Clifford, and two sisters, Mary and Blanche. The Clifford family was seated at Skipton from 1310 to 1676.
Clifford inherited the barony and the title of High Sheriff of Westmorland at the age of seven upon his father's death at the Siege of Meaux on 13 March 1422. He made proof of age in 1435/6.
In 1435 Clifford campaigned with the Duke of Bedford in France, and about 1439 led the English forces which defended Pontoise against Charles VII of France. In 1450/51 he was sent as an embassy for King James III of Scotland.
Clifford was slain fighting on the Lancastrian side at the First Battle of St Albans on 22 May 1455, the first battle in the Wars of the Roses, and was buried at St Alban's Abbey. He was succeeded by his elder son, John, 9th Baron de Clifford.