He was the third son of Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford (c. 1344 – 16 October 1386); Hugh's second son Thomas inherited the earldom in 1390.
He died in 1392, still childless, and the title passed to William.
[1] He was still a minor, however, in the wardship of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester,[2] his dead brother's father-in-law, and the Stafford estates were administered by a ' group of senior officials and lawyers.
'[3] He was still so when he died on 6 April 1395 in Pleshey, Essex[1] of natural causes.
William also dying childless, the Stafford earldom descended to the next brother, Edmund, who became the fifth earl.