MUNCASTER, Richard, of Carlisle, Cumb.

Richard was probably a distant kinsman of Sir Robert Muncaster, and thus a member of a cadet branch of the influential Muncaster family of Torpenhow and Hayton in Cumberland. His putative father, John, had established himself in Carlisle by marrying a daughter or near-relative of William Arthuret (d.1369), sometime mayor of the city, and through her he became a landowner of note. Richard himself left a son named John, who was able to dispose of a sizeable estate in Carlisle and Bracken Hill, although it is not entirely clear if he inherited all this property. We do know, however, that Richard and John were in some way related to Alan Blennerhasset, another important figure in Carlisle.1Cumb. and Westmld. Antiq. and Arch. Soc. n.s. xviii. 119 and ped. facing p. 125.