Founded by Sir Richard, younger brother of the 1st Earl of Stafford an active participant of the French Wars and fought at Crecy. He held the office of Seneschal of Gascony (1361-1362).

The Manor of Clifton came to him in marriage with a Camville heiress and he was summoned as a Baron in 1371. His eldest surviving son, Edmund (1344-1419), a churchman, became bishop of Exeter in 1395, and was Lord Chancellor from 1396 to 1399 and 1401 to 1403. He then devoted himself to his diocese till his death in 1419 and his patronage of learning is commemorated by Exeter College, Oxford.

The male line of the Stafford’s of Clifton ended about 1445.