Roger Ratcliffe

Ratcliffe was in the service of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and in February 1510 was rewarded with the office of Bailiff of Fremington in Devon.

He was granted the lands of Withcote and Sewey, the properties of his wife's first husband, and made Ranger of Rutland Forest.

[4] Roger Ratciffe was described as a gentleman usher of the privy chamber to Henry VIII with Anthony Knyvett in the Eltham Ordinance of 1526.

After his death, Withcote was inherited by his stepson John Smith and his son Roger, and Ratcliffe left him his bed of velvet and chamlet silk paned.

Around the year 1534 Henry VIII allowed him to bring building materials from Rockingham Castle, where his brother Geoffrey had a lease of the site.

It used to be thought that Ratcliffe had acquired the glass from Owston or Osulveston Priory, but it seems more likely that he employed the court glazier to complete the chapel.