1st Dec 2025: Baron John de Lacy

John de Lacy, born 1192, seventh Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Halton Castle and hereditary constable of Chester, was one of the earliest Barons to take up arms at the time of Magna Carta. He was also appointed to see that the new statutes were carried correctly into effect and observed in the counties of York and Nottingham. King John complained to the Vatican, and the Pope excommunicated John de Lacy. Upon the accession of King Henry III, John joined a party of noblemen and made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, rendering valuable service at the Siege of Damietta. For this service, his excommunication was repealed. In 1232, John de Lacy inherited the title of Earl of Lincoln, which had been held by his wife, Margaret, following her father's death in 1240. He became governor of Chester and Beeston Castles.
He died on 22 July 1240 and was buried in the Cistercian Abbey of Stanlaw near Chester. The monk, Matthew Paris, records: "On the 22d day of July, in this year (1240), which was St. Magdalen's Day, John, Earl of Lincoln, after suffering from a long illness, went the way of all flesh". They buried John de Lacy next to his father, Roger de Lacy, at Stanlaw Abbey on the family's Halton estates, according to his wishes. Following flooding, the bodies of John, his father Roger and John's son Edmund were moved to a new Abbey on de Lacy land at Whalley near Clitheroe when the Stanlaw monks transferred there.