There are undoubtedly in Scotland as many families of Saint Clair as there were communes in Normandy named after this saint, and will be unrelated. Any study of early Norman genealogy must consider Dudo’s assertion that they were ‘birds of many colours’, not of a distinct national identity, and, as such, any attempt to attach these Saint Clairs of Scotland to one is highly problematic, as is any claim that someone descends from a particular family of Saint Clair (Sinclair).

The ‘traditional’ account of the St Clairs of Roslin combines different families of Sancto Claro to give an impression of an unbroken line of ancestors associated with Scotland.

What appear to be ‘haphazard’ marriages were carefully planned to promote the interests of groups of families that had familial and tenurial connection, the former ensuring the latter. Although the Normans fought to control England and Scotland after 1066, their greatest battles were internal, with alliances of these various kinship groups competing for political control.

Any study of medieval families of rank, about which there is charter evidence supporting cousinship relationships, shows the same group of families connected by renewed intermarriages over time. Where charter evidence is not extant, if families were intermarried temp. Domesday [1086], and the same familes continue to intermarry in 1386, it is as certain that they were members of a kinship group, primed to keep wealth, power, and prestige within its confines, and to act as a safety net against the many viscissitudes of medieval fate. Medieval centuries were a continuous piece of fabric, made of a multitude of common kinship threads.

What should be asked about William de St Clair, Earl of Orkney, is in what way were his family connected to Robert de Sutherland, 6th Earl of Sutherland?, whose granddaughter he married, for this marriage would not have been a haphazard contrivance. The answer to this question can reasonably be presumed to rest on the fact that Philip de St. Clair’s wife, Joan Audley, was the sister-in-law of Elizabeth Beaumont, whose sister Katherine de Beaumont, m. David III Strathbogie, grandson of Margaret of Mar, relict of Kenneth, 4th Earl of Sutherland. These families were inextricably linked, and it is almost certain that Philip de St. Clair and William de St Clair, Earl of Orkney, were of the same family, this being only one of several examples which support this contention; as will be given hereinafter.

The bare facts are that the family of the said Philip de St. Clair had connections to Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem, and to families connected to the church of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. In Scotland, the Order was founded by a charter of King Alexander II. [1214-1249], its main establishment being in Linlithgow. St Lazarus was the brother of Martha, and Mary Magdalene. In stating this, this account does not seek to enhance legends surrounding the St Clairs of Roslin, it is a dry-as-leaves genealogical account, based on the well-established principle of ‘continuation of association’. These notes show that the family of St Clair of Roslin were almost certainly a family who held land in Thaon, as clearly stated in the cartulary of Savigny Abbey.

Most accounts of these St Clairs concentrate on Hamon and William de St Cair, sons of Gilbert de Thaon, yet the first discernible strand of the St Clairs of Roslin was Robert de Thaon, who was likely to be closely related to the said Gilbert. The associations of Hamon and William de St Cair are shared with the descendants of Robert de Thaon, as they were with the descendants of Nigel Fossart, who was closely associated with Hamon and William de St Cair, with his son ratifying their gifts to Savigny. Familial relationships are hidden under various toponyms, such as St Clair, Thaon, and Villiers, but are revealed through such gifts of land being ratified by family members with a shared interest in the land.

[1] ROSLIN

1. Guillaume de St Saveur (William de Thaon). Niellus vicecomes’ donated six churches on Guernsey to the abbey of Marmoutier, for the souls of and with the consent of ‘uxore mea Adila … filiis nostris Rotgerio … et Willelmo, alteroque Willelmo et Girardo … cum sororibus eorum Emma, Bilelde atque Mahelde, by charter of 1060 (Delisle, Pièces justificatives, 31, p. 34, 1867). Guillaume de St Saveur was the son of Vicomte Néel II de St Saveur and Adèle de Brionne, daughter of Gilbert de Brionne; Vicomte Néel being the brother of ‘Eudo vicecomes pagi Constantini’, who donated land to the Abbey of Marmoutier by a charter of 1081 [ibid., 40, p. 44]. Another charter of 1090 records donations to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur by ‘Nigellus vicecomes’ and ‘Eudo vicecomes’ (ibid., 45, p.50). A manuscript commemorating the death of Mathilde, daughter of William I, names ‘Nigello vicecomite, Eudone vicecomite’ among the deceased at ‘sancti Salvatoris de Constantino’ [ibid., p. 204]. The families of St Clair and Clare were thus ‘cousins’, the latter stemming paternally from Gilbert de Brionne.

Many families of close tenurial connection intermarried, and what is often witnessed in charters are inheritances passing down non-consanguineous lines of cousins – the principle of foedus inter consobinos heredes. William de Mandeville married a daughter of Eudes dapifer, a kinswoman of Hamon and William de St Clair. Raoul de Mandeville, a feudatory of the St Savours, of uncertain relation to the said William de Mandeville, witnessed a charter of 1081 by which ‘Eudo vicecomes pagi Constantini’ donated property to the abbey of Marmoutier [Delisle, ibid., 40, p. 44]. The Norman lands of Eudo dapifer appear to have been held by the Mandevilles [Crouch, D., ‘New Evidence Relating to the Honour of Eudes Dapifer, EHR ciii., 1988].

Other members of this particular kinship group were the Morvilles, who took their name from a parish in Valognes near to that of Magneville, and who donated to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur. Between Magneville and Morville is Néhou, which was the possession of Richard de Saint-Sauveur in the time of Rollo, this Richard being a reputed descendant of Rollo’s uncle, Malahulc. Another reputed descendant being Hugh de Cavalcamp, the father of – 1. Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen from 942 to 989, appointed to that see by William I., surnamed Longsword, the son of Rollo; and of 2. Randolph, on whom his brother, the Archbishop, bestowed the fief of Todiniacum, or Toeni, alienating it from the patrimony of the see [See Ada Arcliiepp. Rothomag., by a monk of St. Ouen, temp. Pap. Greg. VIL, ap. Mabillon, Vett. Analecta, p. 223]. Randolph was the father of Randolph de Toeny [Charter of Rich. 11.], father of Roger de Toeni, surnamed the Spaniard [Charter of Foundation of the Abbey of Conches, ap. Gallia Christiana, torn. xi., Instrumenta, col. 128.; and Gui. Gemet., lib. v. cap. 10., ap. Duchcsne, Script. Norm., p. 253.], who rebelled on the accession of William, Duke of Normandy [Gui. Gemet., lib. vii. cap. 3., ap. Duchesne, p. 268.]; and of whose sons- 1. Randolph, the eldest survivor, acquired large property in England at the Conquest, and became ancestor of the Lords de Toeni, extinct temp. Edw. II.; and 2. Robert, a younger son, obtained estates in Staffordshire and elsewhere. This latter Randolph is described as the hereditary standardbearer of the Normans [Orderic Vital., lib. iii., ap. Duchesne, p. 493, and lib. vi. p. 576; Rom. de Rou, vol. ii. p. 195]. Roger de Toeni, ‘the Spaniard’, is described by William of Jumieges as ‘de stirpe Malahulcii, qul Rollonis patruus fuerat, et cuni eo Francos atterens, Normanniarn fortiter acquisierat,’ i.e. he was of the stock of Malahulc, descendant of a daughter; and, as said, he rebelled against William being made Duke of Normandy, as did Hamon le Dentu, and Vicomte Néel II de St Saveur. There may have been a familial connection between the St Saveurs and the Toenis, the true nature of which is lost.

1.1. Richard de St Clair, s.l. 1085. Domesday Book records: ‘Richard de Saint-Clair holding Wortham from Ralph de Beaufour, in Suffolk (Domesday Translation, Suffolk, vi., p. 1204). Ralph de Beaufour was the husband of Agnes de Toeni. Keats-Rohan [D.P., p. 43] gives this genealogical summary: 1. Robert de Tosny, m. Adelais, daughter of Osulf fil Frane. 1.1. Berenger de Toeni, s.l. 1115. 1.2. William de Toeni. 1.3. Geoffrey de Toeni. 1.4. Albreda de Toeni, m. Robert de Insula fl. 1118, alias Robert de L’isle, who held the honor of Settrington under Henry I. ‘In Sendriton Turband had nine carucates of land to be taxed. Now Berenger has two ploughs in the demesne there and sixteen villens and two bordars, with six ploughs. Meadows 20 acres’. The list of Berenger’s lands in Yorkshire covered three and a half pages (see Robert H. Skaife, ‘Domesday book for Yorkshire, 1896. On the death of Albreda, the lands, including Settrington, were passed to Berenger’s sister Adelaise, who was married his namesake, brother-in-law to Hugh Bigod, the earl of Norfolk. 1.5. Adelaise de Toeni, obit. 1136, m. Roger Bigod, obit. 1107. 1.5.1. Hugh de Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, obit. 1177. 1.5.2. Gunnor de Bigod, m. (1) Robert FitzSwein, (2) Hamon de St Clair. 1.5.3. Cecilia de Bigod, heiress of Belvoir, m. William de Albini Brito. 1.6. Agnes de Toeni, obit. 1129 m. [1] Ralph I de Beaufour; [2] Hubert de Ryes.

Hamon and William de St Clair were second-cousins of Eudo dapifer, who was involved in the building of Colchester Castle, the largest and first stone keep in England, becoming its custodian until his death. Eudo married Rohais, daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare [Keats-Rohan, Domesday Descendants p. 194], son of Gilbert de Brionne. William de St. Clair gave the church of Hamerton, co. Huntingdon, to St. John’s abbey at Colchester, and also his ‘tenura’ in Greenstead, Essex, for the health of Hamo de St. Clair, his brother, mentioning his lord, Eudo Dapifer. The connection between the the Clares and St Clairs was a continuous one: Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford had the majority of the Giffard estates from his ancestor, Rohais [ I. J. Sanders, English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, pp. 34, 62, 1963]. Rohese de Clare, obit. 1121, m. [2] Hugh de Dammartin, their grandson, Alberic, m. [1] a dau. of Hamon de St Clair; Hubert de St. Clair, her brother being a witness to their charter [Colchester Chartul., i, 162]. Hubert de St. Clair was the father of Gunnor de St Clair, who m. William de Lanvallei; the associations of their progeny to be detailed hereinafter.

1.2. Robert de Thaon, possibly the same as ‘filius Willelmi de Taon, Thaon, arr. Caen’ [K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, D.P., p. 68]. William de St Clair endowed the abbey of Savigny, in the reign of Henry I., and, In 1139, founded the priory of Villiers-Fossart. Richard, bishop of Bayeux, son of Robert, Earl of Gloucester,in 1135, confirmed the donation of the land of Escure that Robert Toste had made to the abbey of Savigny a few years since, and Richard, son of Samson, his predecessor, had granted. This act was done in the presence of the canons of Bayeux and his barons. It was in the same year that William de Saint Clair, gave to Savigny the land of Thaon, with the consent of Hamon de Saint Clair, his brother, ‘and for their father, Gillebert de Villiers, his mother, his brothers and sisters, and all his ancestors and all his friends’. William de St Clair, ‘gives alms in perpetuity to the Church of the Holy Trinity of Savigny and its monks who serve God, all I possess in Thaon that my ancestors had, their estates, those of their vassals, and the use of roads to enjoy freely without taxes’. In 1139, William de St Clair and his brother, Hamon, ratified this donation, and added to it the land of Villiers-Fossart. They ask the bishops of Bayeux and Coutances to confirm these alms. Hamon de St Clair’s act stating: ‘To Richard, by the grace of God Bishop of Bayeux and AIgare, by the same bishop of Coutances, and to all the clergy and laity of Normandy, know that we, Hamon de St Clair and his son Hubert have given and ceded in perpetuity alms to God and the Church of Savigny the land of Thaon de Villiers that my father Gilbert Villiers possessed in entirety, and this gift and that of William Saint Clair, my brother, is made to this monastery in salutation to our parents …’.

1.2.1. Ralph de Thaon, son of Robert de Thaon of Domesday, probably the same as: Ralph de Saint-Clair: ‘Hamo de Sancto Claro et Hubertus filius eius’ donated ‘Eadgareslauue’ to Colchester St. John, for the souls of ‘Gunnoris sue conjugis et Eudoni dapiferi et Rohaise et patris et matris sue et fratrum suorum et omnium fidelium defunctorum’, by undated charter, witnessed by ‘Radulfus de Sancto Claro’ [Colchester St John, vol. I, p. 156]. 1.2.1.1. Robert de Thaon. Between 1154-1158, mentioned ‘at Caen [in a] Notification by Robert de Neufbourg, seneschal and justiciar of Normandy, that Robert, son of Ralph of Thaon, had, in the king’s court at Caen, restored to the abbot and monks of Savigny the tithes and lands at Thaon’ [Cart. Savigny, 219], testators inc. ‘Willelmus de Vilers’, i.e. William Fossart, son of Nigel Fossart, as follows, that is Néel Fossart, Néel being a derivative of Irish-Norvégien Niall, the latinisation of which is the prénom Nigellus, derived from de niger noir. Néel de St Saveur I. was a companion of de Raoul de Toesni I. and his son Roger, who were given the fortress of Tillières to defend by Duke Richard II., who subsequently entrusted this task to Gilbert Crispin I. 1.2.1.1.1. John de St. Clair.

1.2.1.1.2. Robert de Sancto Claro [i.e. Roberti de Bosco Thaon, see Bull of Pope Alexander III., dated May 17, 1181, re Burgo Achardi], before 1182, held two knights’ fees from Walter de Meduana, and John St. Clair another two. This is evidence of this family’s connection to the elite of Bretagne. Walter de Meduana’s father was Juhel de Mayenne, who appears in this charter: ‘Radulfus Filgeriensis’* with ‘his wife Avitia’ donated property to the abbey of Holy Trinity, Savigny by charter dated March 7, 1113, witnessed by ‘Hamelinus Meduanensis, Johellus frater eius’ [Round ,1899, 792, p. 287]. Juhel m. [before 1126], Clemence de Ponthieu, daughter of William Talvas, Comte de Ponthieu et d’Alençon, Sire de Montgommery et de Bellême. Walter de Meduana’s br. was Geoffrey III. de Mayenne [obit. 1169]. ‘Juhello principe Meduane et uxore eius Clementia et filio eorum Gaufrido primogenito’ witnessed a charter of 1128, under which property was restored to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Geoffrey went on crusade in 1163. He m. [1] Constance de Bretagne, daughter of Conan III., Duke of Brittany. Walter de Meduana’s sister, Mathilde de Mayenne, m. Andre de Vitré, son of Robert de Vitré & his wife, Emma de Dinan. *Founder of the Abbey, in 1112-1113. 1.2.1.1.2.1. John de St. Clair.

1.2.1.1.2.1.1. William de St. Clair, governor of Rochester Castle, which the barons seized temp. King John, and placed it in the custody of William de Albini Brito, grandson of his namesake, brother-in-law of the wife of Hamon de St Clair, as heretofore given. Henry III. gave the custody of Rochester Castle, in 1228, to Hubert de Burgh, justiciary of England, he also being the custodian of Hamon de St Clair’s great-granddaughter. Henry III. gave the custodianship of Rochester Castle, in the 48th year of his reign, to William de St. Clair; who died in his office of castellan that year, the 3rd of Edward I., 1274.

1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1. John de Sancto Claro, knight to William de Munchensi: Grant of his manor of Stanford, which is of the said William’s fee, with its appurtenances except the services of his tenants in Stone (Stanes), co. Bucks, and a marsh called ‘Wyntercote’, co. Essex. 1259-1261 [National Arch. ref. E 42/26]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records: ‘Hugh de Montecanesi’ holding land in Norfolk from Hugh Bigod, whose daughter, Gunnor, was the wife of the said Hamon de St Clair.

‘W comes Cicestrie … et regina Adelide’ granted land at Wymondham, Norfolk to the church of St Lazarus of Jerusalem by a charter of 1150, witnessed by ‘Hugh de Montechan, the great grandfather of William de Munchensi II., son of his namesake and Aveline de Clare, daughter of Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford, and Matilda de Saint-Hilaire. King John confirmed the ‘maritagium Aveline que fuit uxor ipsius Willelmi’, by a charter of May 7, 1204 [Rotuli Chartarum, 5 John, p. 133]. The Knights Templar encouraged its knights who contracted leprosy [a not uncommon event] to join the Order of Saint Lazarus, with the Templars paying these knights a pension. In Scotland, the Order was founded by a charter of King Alexander II [1214-1249], its main establishment being in Linlithgow. In 1308, King Phillip IV of France placed the Order under his protection. St Lazarus was the brother of Martha, and Mary Magdalene.

1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1. William de St Clair, obit. 1283, named in the Quo Warranto of 2 Ed. I., 1274. as holding from William Mountchesney in Kent, half a knight’s fee in Merston, and another half in Higham. In 1279, he was sheriff of Essex and Hereford. He married, in 1270, Felicia, daughter of Nicolas le Boteler, who brought with her a considerable dower. Hasted states that in 1279 William de St. Clair held Great and Little Okeley, and that soon after these estates were possessed by different branches of this family. Great Okeley, he says, descended to Nicolas, and afterwards Little Okeley also became his. Nicolas le Boteler was the son of Theobald le Boteler and Margery de Burgh [daughter of Richard de Burgh], cousin of John de Burgh, husband of the great-granddaughter of Hamon de St Clair.

1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Robertus de Sancto Claro, summoned from the County of Essex to perform military service against the Scots in 1298 … summoned from the Counties of Essex and Hertford to perform Military Service in person against the Scots. [Muster at Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 24 June 1301]. He appears in the Carta Robeerti I. Regis: ‘Robertus Dei gratia Rex Scottorum, Omnibus probis hominibus suis ad quos presentes litere pervenerint, salutem: Sciatis Nos inspexisse literas excellentiffimi Principis quondam Domini Alexandri Dei gratia Regis Scottorum illustris, in hec verba “Alexander Dei gratia Rex Scottorum omnibus probis hominibus tocius terre sue, clericis et laicis, salutem: Sciant presentes et fiituri Nos conceffisse et hac carta nostra confirmasse Deo et Sancto Kentegerno, et Waltero Episcopo Glasguensi, et singulis Episcopis ejus succesibribus, ut burgum habeant apud Glasgu … Testibus Waltero Olifard Justiciario Laudonie, Henrico de Baliolo Camerario, Johanne de Maxwell Vicecomite de Rokesburg, Henrico Marescallo, Alexandro de Seton, Roberto de Seton, Roberto de Sancto Claro, Willelmo de Hertisheved Vicecomite de Lanark [1329].

1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. William de St Clair, an English knight,* Sheriff of Edinburgh. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. ‘Henry de St Clare or Sinclair’ [‘Monsieur Henry de Seyntcler’], so titled having performed military service in France. He was ‘appointed Sheriff of the Shire of Lanark, in the Parliament at Westminster, in Eight Days of the Nativity of the Virgin, 15 Sept. 38 Ed. I.’ [Writs of Millitary Summons, 1310]. He died ante January 28, 1335, having married Alice de Fenton.* 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. William de St Clair, obit. August 28, 1330. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. William de St Clair, m. Isabella of Strathearn, daughter of Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Caithness and Orkney, and Marjory, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, whose younger brother, Iain, was given marriage to the Margaret Comyn, heiress of Buchan, sister of Alice Comyn, mother of Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont, as follows. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Henry de St Clair, Earl of Orkney, obit 1404, m. (1) Florentia, Princess of Denmark, (2) Jean, daughter of John Halyburton. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Henry de St Clair, Earl of Orkney, m. Egidia Douglas, daughter of Sir William Douglas of Nithsdale and maternal granddaughter of King Robert II. of Scotland. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. William de St Clair, Earl of Orkney, Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1454 to 1456, m. Marjory Sutherland, as follows. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2. Nicholas de S. Claro or St. Clair. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1. John de St Clere, obit. 1335, performed military service against the French in Cherbourg. 1.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Philip St. Clere, of Ightham, in Kent, married Margaret de Louvaine; daughter of Sir Nicholas de Louvaine, and Margaret de Vere, the widow of the aforesaid Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont, who had died on July 25, 1369; a daughter of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford and his wife Maud de Badlesmere. *The oaths of allegiance to Edward I. in 1292 were for both Scottish nobles [often of Norman origin], and English knights [often of Norman origin], who held land in Scotland. [See William de Sancto Claro’s ‘attestation of homage’, SC13/S740]. The Fentons were ‘feodo de Brus’ in Killingwik, Yorkshire. The St Clairs of Roslin were not ancient settlers in Scotland.

Aubrey de Vere II., obit. 1141, m. Adelisa de Clare, daughter of Gilbert FitzRichard, Lord of Clare and Tonbridge, and his wife Adelisa; Gilbert FitzRichard being the brother of, to repeat: Rohais, who m. Eudo Dapifer, second-cousin of Hamon and William de St Clair. Aubrey’s br., Robert, was the father of Hugh de Vere, grandfather of Alfonso de Vere, whose son, John de Vere, succeeded his uncle in 1331 as 7th Earl of Oxford. Alfonso was the br. of Hugh de Vere, obit. 1319, who m. (after June 12, 1294), as her second husband, Denise de Munchensy, daughter and heiress of William de Munchensy III.

1. Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem. 1.1. Louis de Brienne of Acre, in right of his wife Agnès de Beaumont, Vicomte of Beaumont in Maine and Seigneur of Beaumont-le-Vicomte (alias Beaumont-sur-Sarthe), Sainte-Suzanne, la Fleche, Fresnay, le Lude, etc. 1.1.1. Henry de Beaumont, m. Alice Comyn, before July 14, 1310, Countess of Buchan, obit. July 3, 1349, the niece and heiress of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and granddaughter of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Lord High Constable of Scotland. He was recognised as Earl of Buchan, jure uxoris. 1.1.1.1. John De Beaumont, 2nd Lord Beaumont. 1.1.1.1.1. Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont. 1.1.1.2. Elizabeth Beaumont, obit. 1400, m. Nicholas Audley, 3rd Baron Audley, 1328-1391, brother of Joan, wife [2] of Philip de St. Clair. 1.1.1.3. Katherine de Beaumont, m. David III Strathbogie, titular Earl of Atholl, 1st Lord Strathbogie.

1. John of Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl, m. Margaret of Mar, relict of Kenneth, 4th Earl of Sutherland. 1.1. David II of Strathbogie, m. Joan Comyn, daughter of Sir John ‘The Red’ Comyn. 1.1.1. David III of Strathbogie, m. Katherine de Beaumont.

1. Kenneth Sutherland, 4th Earl of Sutherland, m. Margaret of Mar. 1.1. William Sutherland, 5th Earl of Sutherland. 1.1.1. Robert de Sutherland, 6th Earl of Sutherland, m. (in 1389), Margaret, illegit. daughter of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan. 1.1.1.1. Alexander Sutherland, of Dunbeath. Papal dispensation, dated July 20, 1448, for the marriage of ‘Alexander de Sutherland, brother german of the Earl of Sutherland, and Margaret Macloide’. 1.1.1.1.1. Marjory Sutherland, m. William St Clair, Earl Of Orkney.

*Alice de Fenton was the daughter of William de Fenton: Petitioners: Robert Gray. Addressees: King. Gray seeks the restoration of property in Berwickshire. His father held a mill at Lauder and other tenements in Hydegate in Berwick in the time of King Alexander, but was ousted during the wars. This property is now in the king’s hands. He also held a third part of Simprim, as the heir of William de Fenton, which he lost at the same time. Regarding the land at Simprim they say that William de Fenton was seised in the time of King Alexander, and granted it to Geoffrey de Caldecotes and his heirs, who held it until they were dispossessed by the war of Edward I. William de Fenton re-entered it and enfeoffed Robert Gray, who was seised until he was removed by the war of Robert Brus. William de Fenton re-entered it for the third time, and Robert de Caldecotes, son and heir of Geoffrey, recovered it against the said William by assize of morte d’ancestor, and was seised until he went into Scotland [SC 8/115/5714A, 1334].

In the Ragman Roll occurs the name of Willielmus do Fenton, as among those barons of Scotland who swore fealty to Edward I. in 1296, this Sir William de Fenton, styled dominus de Beaufort, married Cecilia de Bisset, daughter of one of the barons of Lovat of that name … The name of Bizet, Biseth, or Byset, stands out in early Scottish history under circumstances of unusual prominence. The family, according to Anderson, was originally from England, and first settled in Scotland, it is said, under William the Lion … John de Bisset, first of Lovat, says one manuscript, was ‘a great courtier with William the Lion’ … actually marrying the king’s daughter … The Wardlaw MS. says her name was Agnes. To him succeeded his second son, John, who married, A.D. 1206, Jean Haliburton, daughter of the Lord of Culboynie. At this time the family had become sufficiently important as to have granted lands under conditions of vassalage to several smaller lairds, who were styled the Bysets’ barons, Fenton and Haliburton being among the number. John de Bisset had no sons that came to age. Of his three daughters, Mary, the eldest, married David de Graham; Cecilia, the next, William Fenton of Beaufort; and Elizabeth, the youngest, Sir Andrew de Bosco, Dominus de Redcastle and Eddyrdor … In 1280, William Fenton Lord of Beaufort, and Cecilia Bisset his wife, are excommunicated by the same bishop for unjustly retaining the lands of Kiltalargyn. About 1293 this lady, Cecilia Byset, then a widow, grants a charter to the monks of the third part of the lands of Altyre, which she had inherited. Somewhere about the same period a deed of gift appears in the Beauly Chartulary from … Sir David de Graham before his marriage, granting, with consent of Gilcrist MacGilliduff, to the brethren of Beauly all his estate of Auchterradale, namely, one half of theland which he held of the said Gilchrist. The witnesses are — The Lord Walter of Moray; the Lord Andrew of Moray; William, Earl of Sutherland … In the same register is a charter by William de Fenton (son of his namesake) Lord of Beauford, dated on St Valentine’s Fairday, 1328, granting to the monks two merks value of the Beauford multures [abridged from: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. 8, pp. 437-441, 1871].

The Inquisition of a jury in Ireland dated August 10, 1278 records that ‘John Byset son and heir of the late John Byset … [who] died 19 years ago’ held specified land in Ireland from Richard de Burgh, that before his death her ‘dowered Lady Agatha Byset his stepmother’ in these lands, and names ‘William de Fenton and Cecilia his wife, Andrew de Bosco and Elizabeth his wife, and David de Graham and Muriel his wife … his daughters and of age’ as his ‘nearest heirs’ [Calendar of Documents Scotland (Bain), Vol. II, 163, p. 49]. Richard de Burgh being, as given herein, the brother of the guardian of Gunnora de Lanvallei, whose son she married.

William de Fenton was the son of William de Fenton, Constable of Newcastle, 1255. The castle and town were retained by the King, under the government of a constable, which office, in 1255, was held be Henry de Audley, and afterwards by William de Fenton.

Petition of William de Fenton and Cecily his wife for restoration of the manor of Ovington, Yorks, under the terms of surrender of the Scots with endorsement to sue the heirs of Brian, son of Alan, now tenants, when of age [C 47/22/9/52, 1306-1307; Tower Misc Rolls no. 459/50]. He held the Yorkshire manor of Ovington under Walter Biset [C 132/13/6], and they of the FitzAlan lords of Bedale [Cur. Reg. R. Mich. 37 Hen. III, m. 30].

The Inquisitions for Walter Bisset dated 1252 named Thomas his nephew as his heir [Beauly, p. 48, citing Maxwell Lyte, H. C. ed., 1904; Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. i., 36 Hen. III.], m. — of Galloway, daughter of Roland, Lord of Galloway and Helen de Morville. The Liber Pluscardensis records the marriage in 1233 of ‘Alanus de Galwidia … sororem suam’ and ‘Waltero de Biseth’. The Chronicle of Melrose records in 1233 that ‘Alan of Galloway gave … his sister to Walter Biseth’ [Chronicle of Melrose, 1233, p. 60].

1. Henry de Audley, Constable of Newcastle. 1.1. James de Audley, Constable of Newcastle, m. Ela, dau. of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury. 1.1.1. James de Alditheley, d.s.p. in 1272 . 1.1.1. Nicholas de Audley, born in Newcastle, obit. 1299, m. Catherine Giffard, dau of John Giffard, 1st Lord of Brimsfield. 1.1.1.1. Nicholas Audley, obit. 1316, m. (1312) Joan Martin, dau of William Martin. 1.1.1.1.1. James Audley, 2nd Lord, obit. 1386, m. [1] Joane Mortimer, dau of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. 1.1.1.1.1.1. Nicholas Audley, 3rd Lord, obit. 1391, m. Elizabeth de Beaumont, obit. 1400, dau. of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Lord, Earl of Buchan. 1.1.1.1.1.2. Joane Audley, m. [1] Sir John Tuchet, [2] after January 1, 1361, Philip de St Clair.

1.3.2. Hamon de St Clair. Keeper of Colchester Castle after Eudo’s death, still living 1140-3, when Henry II addressed a charter to him and Geoffrey de Mandeville.’Know that we, Hamon de St Clair and his son Hubert have given and ceded in perpetuity alms to God and the Church of Savigny the land of Thaon de Villiers that my father Gilbert Villiers possessed in entirety, and this gift and that of William Saint Clair, my brother, is made to this monastery in salutation to our parents’ (Cart. Savigny, 1139). Hamon m. firstly as her second husband, Gunnor, widow of Robert FitzSwein Lord of Rayleigh, Essex, daughter of Roger Bigod of Earsham, Suffolk and his [second] wife Adelise de Toesni, daughter of Robert de Tosni, Lord of Belvoir and Adeliza FitzOsulf du Plessis, daughter of Osulf ‘fil Frane’ du Plessis. Robert de Essex, son of Swein of Essex. Robert fitzSwein founded the priory of Prittlewell as a cell of Lewes, for the souls of his wife, his parents and of his grandmother, Beatrice, attested by Alberic II. de Vere and his brother, Robert. 1.2.1. Hubert de Saint Clair, m. Clementia. 1.2.1.1. Gunnora, daughter and heiress of Hubert de St Clair, as the wife of William de Lanvallei, donated ‘terram … ad Galweidone in Lexedene … pro dimidia virgata terre quam Clementia avia mea … pro anima matris mee Gunnore de maritagio suo in Westone donaverat’ to Colchester St. John by undated charter’ [Colchester St John, vol. I, p. 199]. 1.2.2. Maude de Saint Clair, m. Alberic de Dammartin, whose aunt, Adele de Dammartin, was the mother of the wife of Anseau d’L’Isle.

1. Robert I. de Brus [July 11, 1274 – June 7, 1329], m. [2] Elizabeth de Burgh, dau. of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. Hawise de Lanvallei, great-granddaughter of William de Lanvallei and Gunnor de St Clair [granddaughter of Hamon de St Clair], married Elizabeth de Burgh’s cousin, John. Elizabeth de Burgh’s br., John, m. Elizabeth de Clare, the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford. 1.1. Margaret de Brus, obit. 1347 m. (1343) William, 5th Earl of Sutherland, obit. 1370. 1.1.1. Robert, Earl of Sutherland, m. (in 1389) Margaret, illegit. da. of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan. 1.1.1.1. Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath, mentioned in a Papal dispensation, dated July 20, 1448, for the marriage of ‘Alexander de Sutherland, brother german of the Earl of Sutherland, and Margaret Macloide’. 1.1.1.1.1. Marjory Sutherland, m. William St Clair, Earl of Orkney.

[3] FOSSART

1.2.2. Nigel (Neel) Fossart or Fossard, of Villiers-Fossard (from lat. vilarium, plural of villa; fosse = ditch), gave the church of Doncaster, with its appurtenances, to the abbey of St. Mary, at York; and Robert Fossart, his son, gave the advowson of the church of Bramham to the monks of Nostel, with fourteen oxgangs of land belonging thereto. This Robert was the father of William Fossart, who was acknowledged to hold his extensive possessions of the King, in capite. He was the father of his namesake who deceased temp. Richard. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, alongside ‘Bernard de Baliol, Roger de Mowbray, Richard de Courcy, William Peverel, and many others’, having sided with Mathilda against Stephen. William’s brother, Geoffrey, sold to Richard Hommet his holding in Villiers-Fossart, in 1142, which he had probably inherited on William’s imprisonment. Nigel Fossart was one of two major Domesday tenants in Yorkshire of Robert, Count of Mortain, holding extensive properties from the count in all three ridings. In the West Riding he had almost 60 carucates. After Count Robert’s rebellion and fall in 1088 Nigel Fossart’s tenancy was transformed into a tenancy-in-chief. Nigel held much of the Mortaine lands in other parts of the county. Besides the manor and soke of Doncaster, he had Rotherham, held of him by the family of Vesci [Hunter’s South Yorkshire]. It is probable that he survived until 1128, as his son and successor, Robert Fossart [obit. c. 1138], was having difficulties with his inheritance. Shortly before 1129, when the Fossart estate was in the king’s hands and Robert is recorded as making a fine to gain their recovery. It was in that year that the Fossart lands at Doncaster were leased to the crown for twenty years, although neither Robert nor any of his immediate successors was able to redeem the property. 1.2.2.1. Robert Fossart. William de Saint Clair’s gifts to Savigny are confirmed by Robert Fossart, William de Saint Clair’s likely cousin. ‘Dans le XII siècle, des seigneurs de Fossart étaient puissants en Normandie et en Angleterre. Peu de temps après la fondation de l’abbaye de Savigny, le seigneur de Villiers lui donna le prieuré qui a porté le nom de cette paroisse. Sa donation fut confirmée en 1139, par Guillaume de St-Clair, seigneur suzerain. On trouve, dans le cartulaire de Savigny, plusieurs actes de ces donations et confirmations, où figure le nom de Robert Fossart’ [Geographiques et Historiques p. 220, 1854]. Villiers-Fossart: La commune se compose d’un bourg principal [Villiers-Fossart] et de plusieurs écarts: Bonnet, la Choisy, la Viarderie, Tubois, les Champs de Villiers, la Guilberderie, Hôtel Mauger, Hôtel Foulon, la Pouletterie, Moulin Hyaumey, le Cantel, la Houssaye, Ferme de Saint-Clair, la Chitellière, Launay, la Ponterie, Caumont, les Hecquets, Hameau Secqueville, Hameau Diguet, le Mont, Moulin Chevalier, Hôtel Galot, Hôtel Durand, Pont Gaillard, la Nicollerie, la Régence, le Suppey, les Verendes, Bouligny, Moulin du Repas. 1.2.2.1.1. William Fossart (EYC ii. pp. 327-8), obit. c. 1169. He was a Crusader [Sym. of Durham, ii., 294]. He gave lands to the nuns of Watton ‘for the journey I am going to make to Jerusalem and for the remission of my sins and those of my relatives, living and dead’. William Fossard confirmed the gift of Eustace FitzJohn to Watton [EYC, ii., no. 1108].

1.2.2.1.1.1. William Fossart, obit. 1195, m. Beatrice, sister of Gilbert de Monte [R. de Dominabus, 15]. 1.2.2.1.1.1.1. Joan Fossart, m. [1197] Robert de Turnham, who founded the Hospital of St. Nicholas in Doncaster, and was a commander of the fleet of the 3rd. Crusade, under its admiral, his brother, Philip. 1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1. Isabel Turnham, m. Peter de Maulay. 1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. Hilaria de Maulay, m. Peter Brus III. 1.2.2.1.2. Geoffrey Fossart. Henri de Feravilla is a witness in a charter of Richard Hommet, who confirms with his wife and William, his son, to the monks of Savigny, land that had been given them by Geoffrey, son of Robert de Villers. 1.2.2.1.2.1. Geoffrey Fossart. Adam de Brus II. confirmed his tenancy in South Otterington. 1.2.2.1.2.2. Adam Fossart, donated to Mount St. John. Parish of Feliskirk, a Preceptory of the Knights Templars, founded by William Percy, temp. Henry I., to whom Robert Lord Ros gave the manor of Mount St. John, and Roger de Mowbray, Adam Fossard, Sir William Cantlow, knight, Alice Gaunt, and Odo de Boltby, gave very many lands there’ [George Lawton, ed., Collectio Rerum Ecclesiasticarum de Diœcesi Eboracensi, vol. 2, p. 438, 1842]. Adam Fossard held land in Bagby and Balk of the Mowbray fee [Yorks. deeds ii. no. 30], m. a niece of Robert de Stuteville III., obit 1183., whose son, Osmund, went on the 3rd. Crusade, and was killed at Jaffa. Roger de Mowbray granted Robert de Stuteville an undertenancy in Hessle which had been held by the Tessons. Robert de Stuteville’s grandson, Nicholas, m. a sister of Alan of Galloway and Helen de Morville, dau. of Richard de Morville [son of Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland], and sister of William de Morville, also Constable of Scotland. 1.2.2.1.2.2.1. Robert Fossard, benefactor of the Hospitallers (Yorks. Fines, John, p. 164). 1.2.2.1.2.2.2. Thomas Fossard. 1.2.2.1.2.2.3. Henry Fossard: ‘Omnibus videntibus vel audituris hanc cartam Robertus Fossart salutem. Sciatis me concessisse et presenti carta confirmasse Henrico Fossart fratri meo pro homagio et servitio suo toftum et croftum in Sutton’ [see Dodsworth MS.., vol. vii., fol. 215; charter dated 1209-1226.

[4] CLARE

1. Gilbert, Count of Brionne. As mentioned, his daughter, Adèle de Brionne, was the wife Vicomte Néel II de St Saveur , they the parents of Guillaume de St Saveur (William de Thaon), progenitor of the St Clairs. 1.1. Richard FitzGilbert, m. Rohese Giffard, daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Flaitel (Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 4). 1.1.1. Rohese de Clare, d. 1121, m. Eudo Dapifer (ibid.), overlord of Hamon and William de St Clair. She m. (2) Hugh de Dammartin, their grandson, Alberic, m. (1) a dau. of Hamon de St. Clair; Hubert de St. Clair, her brother being a witness to their charter (Colchester Chartul., i, 162). Hubert de St. Clair was the father of Gunnor de St Clair, as follows. 1.1.2. Gilbert Fitz Richard (obit. c. 1115), was styled de Clare, de Tonbridge, m. Adeliza de Claremont, daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont, and Margaret de Roucy (ibid.). 1.1.2.1.Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, obit. April 15, 1136, m. Alice, sister of Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester. 1.1.2.1.1. Roger de Clare [1116–1173], Earl of Hertford from 1153 until his death. He married Maud de St. Hilary, daughter of James de St. Hilary and Aveline [C.P., p. 236, 1910]. 1.1.2.1.1.1. Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford [c.1150–1217], m. Amice FitzWilliam, co-heiress, of William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, and Hawise de Beaumont. They were ordered to separate by the Pope on grounds of consanguinity, an order later rescinded. William FitzRobert was the son and heir of Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Mabel FitzRobert of Gloucester, daughter of Robert FitzHamon. Richard de Clare had the majority of the Giffard estates from his ancestor, Rohese [ I. J. Sanders, English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, pp. 34, 62, 1963].

1.1.2.1.1.1.1. Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, 5th Earl of Gloucester (1180 – October 25, 1230). He inherited from his mother, Amice FitzWilliam, the estates of Gloucester and the honour of St. Hilary, and from Rohese, an ancestor, the moiety of the Giffard estates [Clare, Gilbert. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900]. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Isabel de Clare (1226–1264), who married Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, obit. 1295. 1.1.2.11.1.1.1.1. Robert VI de Brus (July 1243 – bef. March 4, 1304); see Richardson, Douglas, Everingham, Kimball G. ‘Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, pp. 732-3, 2005).1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert I. de Brus [July 11, 1274 – June 7, 1329], m. (2) Elizabeth de Burgh, dau. of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. Hawise de Lanvallei, great-granddaughter of William de Lanvallei and Gunnor de St Clair [granddaughter of Hamon de St Clair], married Elizabeth de Burgh’s cousin, John. Elizabeth de Burgh’s br., John, m. Elizabeth de Clare, the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, as follows. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Margaret de Brus, obit. 1347 m. (1343) William, 5th Earl of Sutherland, obit. 1370. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert, Earl of Sutherland. He m., in 1389, Margaret, illegit. da. of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath. Papal dispensation, dated July 20, 1448, for the marriage of ‘Alexander de Sutherland, brother german of the Earl of Sutherland, and Margaret Macloide’. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Marjory Sutherland, m. William St Clair, Earl Of Orkney.

1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2. Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester [August 14, 1222 – July 14, 1262], m. (1) Hubert de Burgh’s daughter, Margaret; of whom no issue; (2) Maud de Lacy, daughter of the ‘Surety’ John de Lacy, and Margaret de Quincy. On his father’s death, when he became Earl of Gloucester [October 1230], he was entrusted first to the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh. Margaret de Burgh, as noted, was Hawise de Lanvallei’s sister-in-law. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2.1. Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester, 9th Lord of Clare [September 2, 1243 – December 7 1295], m. 2. Joan of Acre, a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife Eleanor of Castile. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Elizabeth de Clare, m. John de Burgh.

1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2.1.2. Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester and 7th Earl of Hertford [obit. June 24, 1314, killed at Bannockburn], was an English nobleman and a military commander in the Scottish Wars. Gilbert de Clare had married Maud de Burgh, the daughter of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. The couple left no surviving issue, so his death marked the end of the de Clare family. The lands went into royal possession while the matter of inheritance was being settled. By the entail of 1290, the lands could only be inherited by direct descendants of the seventh earl and Joan of Acre. The late earl’s sisters, Eleanor, Margaret and Elizabeth were by 1317 all married to favourites of Edward II: Hugh Despenser the younger, Hugh de Audley and Roger d’Amory respectively. The three were granted equal parts of the English possessions, but Despenser received the entire lordship of Glamorgan in Wales, politically the most important of the de Clare lands.

1.1.1.2.1.1.1.2.2. Thomas de Clare, he was born in about 1245 in Tonbridge, Kent, England, the second eldest son of Richard de Clare and Maud de Lacy.Thomas was a close friend and intimate advisor of Prince Edward of England, who would in 1272 accede to the throne as King Edward I. Together they went on Crusade. He held many important posts such as the office of the Governor of Clochester Castle [1266]. He married Juliana FitzGerald, daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly and Maud de Prendergast. 1.1.1.2.1.1.1.2.2.1. Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Thomond [February 3, 1281–1308], m. Isabel Despencer [Calendar of Close Rolls 1296-1302, pp. 272, 366; ibid. 1302-1307, p. 17; Calendar of Fine Rolls 1272-1307, p. 427]. The escheators in Ireland and southern England were ordered to ‘take into the king’s hands the lands late of Gilbert son of Thomas de Clare, deceased, tenant in chief’ [Fine Rolls, 1307-1319, pp. 8, 10]. His heir was his younger brother Richard, who in Gilbert’s Inq. Post Mortem, at the beginning of 1308, was said to be either twenty-two or twenty-four years old, placing his date of birth somewhere between 1283 and 1285 [Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem 1307-1327, p. 13;, p. 13]. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2.2.2. Richard de Clare, Steward of the Forest of Essex, 1st Lord Clare, Lord of Thomond, 1281 – May 10, 1318. 1.1.2.1.1.1.1.2.2.2.1. Thomas de Clare [Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem 1300-1307, pp. 54-55]. Thomas died underage in 1321, so that Gilbert of Thomond’s ultimate heirs were his sisters Maud, Lady Clifford and Margaret, Lady Badlesmere.

[5] LANVALLEI

1. Alain (de lanvallei) Dinan. Alain, dit fils d’Henri possède une terre à Abington en Angleterre, terre relevant de l’Honneur l’abbaye de de Richemont. Sur l’acte qui re Lanvallei. Cette terre, obtenue par Henry le grand-père de Jean de Lanvallei. Cette terre, obtenue par Henry sous le règne d’Henry 1er d’Angleterre Alain de Lanvallei, le petit-fils d’Alain dit fils de Henry sera propriétaire de la terre dite de Harel sise en le comté de Bretagne, puisque l’on voit ce dernier transmettre cette même terre à son fils Hamon et cela en tant que frère ainé de Jean de Lanvallei. ‘Alain, se croisa en 1224 et fonda les Dominicains de Dinan; Guillaume, se croisa en 1248’ [de Courcy’s Nobiliaire de Bretagne, ou Tableau de l’aristocratie Bretonne]. 1.1. William de Lanvallai I, a Breton whom Henry II appointed as his first seneschal, or administrator, of Rennes after his takeover of the duchy of Brittany in 1166. William served in the office for five years, crossing to England in 1171 or 1172 to become the king’s castellan of Winchester and serving thereafter in a variety of capacities in the king’s English administration. Probably as a result of his royal connections, William was awarded the hand in marriage of Gunnora, daughter and heiress of Hubert de St Clair, through whom he gained possession of the barony of Walkern, created for Hubert’s father, Hamo, in 1120, from the escheated lands of Eudo Dapifer. William I died after August 1181, leaving a son William II, who died in 1204, and was in turn succeeded by William III, a minor at the time of his father’s death. 1.1.1. William II. de Lanvallei, Governor de Colchester, m. Havise de Boclande, great-granddaughter of Hugh de Bocland (Buckland, Oxfordshire). 1.1.1.1. William III. de Lanvallei, m. Maud, daughter of Gilbert Peche. Maud was niece of Robert FitzWalter, a leader of the Magna Carta barons

‘William accompanied John on his expedition to Poitou, in 1214, and was present at the truce concluded with the French king in September. It is impossible to trace the path by which he made the switch to the baronial camp, but for him, as for others, the ties of kinship must have played a part. He was related to none other than Robert FitzWalter, the baronial leader, through his wife’s mother, who was FitzWalter’s niece. His own mother, moreover, was sister-in-law of Geoffrey FitzPeter, which made her the aunt of another future rebel, Geoffrey de Mandeville. William can thus be seen as belonging to the wide east of England network which was increasingly dominant in the baronial movement as it spread from its northern heartland. In July 1216, probably at a meeting of the council at Oxford, William secured a grant of custody of Colchester castle, for which he had striven for so long. He died shortly afterwards, leaving as his heir a daughter, Hawise, who became the ward of Hubert de Burgh, the future justiciar, and was married by Hubert to his John, to whose family the barony of Walkern passed [Professor Nigel Saul, University of London].

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