John Lestrange

John III Lestrange (died 1269), of Knockin in Shropshire, landowner, administrator and soldier, was a marcher lord defending England along its border with Wales. Origins The surname of this family indicates that they were "foreign" and therefore originally not from Normandy. Various proposals have been made about their origins, including Brittany, Lorraine, and Anjou. They first appear in Norfolk where Rolland, Roald or Rivallon Lestrange (died before 1158) was a tenant in Norfolk of Alan fitz Flaald and married Mathilde (or Maud) the heiress of one part of the two parts of Hunstanton. Roland's son John I Lestrange (died before 1178), twice sheriff of Shropshire, held the castles of Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth for King Henry II in 1174. John I's son John II Lestrange (died 1223) and his three other sons all acquired lands in Shropshire and over the Welsh border in Powys, with John II making his headquarters at Knockin (pronounced Nuckin) where he and his successors built a castle, church and village. He served as sheriff of Shropshire and of Staffordshire. He also joined his neighbour, Robert Corbet, on the Third Crusade.