Richard was the eldest son of
Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare and Adeliza de Claremont. Upon his father's death, he inherited his lands in England and Wales. He is commonly said to have been created
Earl of Hertford by either
Henry I or
Stephen, but no contemporary reference to him, including the record of his death, calls him by any title, while a
cartulary states that a tenant had held "
de Gilleberto, filio Richardi, et de Ricardo, filio ejus, et postea, de Comite Gilleberto, filio Richardi" ("of Gilbert Fitz Richard, and his son Richard, and then of Earl Gilbert Fitz Richard"), again failing to call Richard 'Earl' while giving that title to his son. Thus his supposed creation as earl is without merit, although his status and wealth made him a great magnate in England. Richard was a strong supporter of King
Stephen and in the first two years of his reign Richard attested a total of twenty-nine of that king's charters. He was with King Stephen when he formalized a treaty with King
David I of Scotland and was a royal steward at Stephen's great Easter court in 1136. In 1136, Richard had been away from his lordship in the early part of the year. He returned to the borders of Wales via Hereford in the company of
Brian Fitz Count, but on their separating, Richard ignored warnings of the danger and pressed on toward
Ceredigion with only a small force. He had not gone far when, on 15 April, he was ambushed and killed by the men of
Gwent under
Iorwerth ab Owain and his brother
Morgan, grandsons of
Caradog ap Gruffydd, in a woody tract called "the ill-way of Coed Grano", near
Llanthony Abbey, north of
Abergavenny. Today the spot is marked by the 'garreg dial' (the stone of revenge). He was buried in Tonbridge Priory, which he founded. ==Aftermath==