[1] Born in 1094, Richard was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont.

[4] At the age of twenty, in 1114, Richard was on a military campaign and was styled the Earl of Chester.

Gruffudd, rather than risk battle, satisfied the King with an oath of homage and a suitable fine.

The line of the d'Avranches as Earls of Chester failed when Richard, his wife, and his illegitimate half-brother Ottuel, joined the young William Adelin, heir to the English King Henry aboard the doomed White Ship.

[6] Richard, aged twenty-six,[7] his wife Matilda, and half-brother Ottuel all drowned.