Several centuries of printed supposition as to the origins of the Hamilton family can be summarised in terms of their proposed social, military, and concomitant kinship associations. The Hamiltons were: (1) Of a knightly class who were equipped by military training and a network of kin who could be called upon to defend the possessions of each other. They would have served in the ‘Scottish Wars’, and would have chosen to ally themselves with the Brus family. (2) Of a kinship group including: a. The Brus. b. The Comyns. c. The Lindsays. d. The Quinceys. The Colvilles had familial and feudal associations with these families, as hereinafter given. e. The Umfravilles. Of the Hamiltons: A “sensible proposition is that they were kin, or vassals of the Umfraville lords of Redesdale and the earls of Angus”. “The Umravilles bore a single cinquefoil on their shield. A vassal adopting this would add a number of charges, and here is possibly the origin of the three cinquefoils in the Hamilton escutcheon”. The Colvilles were kin and vassals of the Umfravilles of Normanton and Hameldun, one of them is recorded as “Walter de Hameldun” in 1328, he almost certainly the son of Gilbert de Colville, summoned to military service in Scotland. Genealogical enquiry into the medieval origins of the Hamilton, or any other such family, can only be grounded in a understanding of the social/economic/military imperatives of their time, essentially, their tight binds of kinship by which they defended their mutual interests. Enquiry outside these bounds is not academic in nature.

THE COLVILLES

1. William Crispin II., an Anglo-Norman lord, was a tenant of William de Percy I., in Yorkshire, who had succeeded to a Malet fee. His son, Adam de Percy, m. Emma de Gand. The association of the Colvilles and the Percys was a feature in Scotland.

2. ‘Lord Thomas de Colvyle gave to God and the appertenances of the vill of Coxwold’. (Excerpt from Foundations of Bylands Abbey, Gentleman’s Magazine, 1843). He was a tenant of Roger de Mowbray, having m. his niece, who was also lord of Epingham, situated on the road from Oakham to Stanford, juxta Normanton and Hameldun. Temp. Domesday, Empingham was held as two manors by Gilbert de Gand. (V.C.H. Rutl. i, 142). Roger Mowbray probably acquired Epingham by marriage to Alice de Gand, who was related to Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln, grandson of Gilbert de Gand, the Domesday holder. (Cal. Pat. R. 1494–1509, p. 268. Dict. Nat. Biog. Roger Mowbray; G.E.C. Complete Peerage, v, 672). Sir Roger de Mowbray, great-grandson of the said Roger, held the manor in 1259, and the overlordship descended with one fee in the manor of Hameldon. (Cal. Inq. Hen. III, no. 421. Ibid. 24 Hen. VI, no. 41).

1. Gilbert de Gand, m. Alice, dau. of Hugh de Montfort, and Alice de Beauffou.
1.1. Walter de Gand.
1.1.1. Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln.
1.1.2. Robert de Gand, m. istly, Alice Paynel (half-sister of William de Courcy iii).
1.1.2.1. Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln, m. Alice d’Albini, second-cousin of Gunnor d’Albini, as follows.
1.1.2.1.1. Juliana de Gand, m. Geoffrey d’Armentiers.
1.1.2. Robert de Gand, m. 2ndly Gunnor d’Albini (Brito), and became br.-in-law of William de Colville.
1.2. Emma de Gand, m. Alan de Percy. Witnessesh to the Charterof King Henry I., whereby he confirmed the Foundation of Bardney Abbey in Com. Linc. by Walter de Gand.
1.2.1. Henry de Percy.
1.2.2. Geoffrey de Percy. “Alanus de Perci” donated property in Hetoun to Whitby Abbey, for the souls of “Alani de Perci patris mei et matris meæ”, witnessed by
Henrico de Perci fratribus meus, who confirmed the donation made by Dominus Alanus de Perci frater meus … Gaufridus frater meus”. Philip de Coleville donated land in Heton, Roxburgh, to Dryburgh monastery, formally gifted by Henry and Geoffrey de Percy

(1. Thomas de Colville.
1.1. Philip de Colville.
1.1.1. Philip de Colville, accepted an invitation of King Malcolm IV. to settle in Scotland.
1.1.1.1. Philip de Coleville, donated land in Heton, Roxburgh, to Dryburgh monastery, formally gifted by the Percys; he seems to have m. into the Percy family.
1.1.1.1.1. Thomas de Colville (cognomento ‘the Scot’), obit. 1219.
1.1.1.1.1.1. John de Colville, of Oxnam.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1. William de Colville, of Spindlestone, Northumberland, held under the Brus fee.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Thomas de Colville, ob. ante 1280.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1275.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1300.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1325, obit ca. 1363. He may have been the 1st husband of Janet Keith, with some sons being adopted by David Hamilton, Janet Keith’s 2nd husband).

1.1.1.2. William de Colville,* m. Maud d’Albini (Brito). He was the br.-in-law of Robert de Gand.
1.1.1.2.1 Thomas de Colville, m. Asceline, half-sister of Robert de Quincy, son of Saher de Quincy. Robert de Quincy’s son, Saher de Quincy, bore or, a fesse gules, the exact arms that the Colvilles assumed. Asceline’s sister, Hawise, m. Baldwin Wake, grandf. of Margaret Wake, wife of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, the forfeited lands of his family devolving to Walter FitzGilbert de Colville, as follows.
1.1.1.2.2. William de Colville.
1.1.1.2.2.1. Hawise de Colville, m. Hugh de Berc., tenant of the Colvilles. His great-great grandson, William de Berc, witnessed a grant with Walter de Hameldon (both of Stanford, Rutland) of a garden situated between the town wall and the garden of the prior of St Leonard, near Stanford, in 1328. (N. A., C 146/3891).
1.1.1.2.2.2. Roger de Colville, of Bytham Castle, Lincolnshire.
1.1.1.2.2.2.1. Walter de Colville (b. ca. 1225, d. 1276), m. Isabel, dau. of Odenel d’Albini, son of William d’Albini I. and Matilda, dau of Odonel de Umfraville.
1.1.1.2.2.2.1.1. Roger de Colville of Bytham Castle (b. 1251. d. 1287), m. Margaret, dau of Richard de Braose, of Stinton, Norfolk, and Alice de Ros, dau. of William de Ros, 2nd Baron Ros of Helmsley, and Margaret de Badlesmere, dau. of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, and Margaret, relict of Gilbert de Umfraville. Bartholomew de Badlesmere became holder of the Umfraville fiefs Normanton and Hameldun; thus becoming overlord of the Colvilles in those places.
1.1.1.2.2.2.1.1.1. Gilbert de Colville, b. ca. 1255. The Writs of Military Service show (1292) Gilbertus Coleville performing military service in Scotland due from Gilbertus de Neville, his kinsman, through the Merlays. Gilbert de Neville (elected a Knight of the co. of Lincoln in 1290) performing such service in 1277 due to Gilbert de Gand (br. of Juliana d’Armenters), son of Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln and Alice d’Albini.
1.1.1.2.2.2.1.1.1.1. Walter FitzGilbert. (i.e. Walter de Hameldon, see (1.1.1.2.2.1., previous).

1.1.3. Alice de Gand, m. Roger de Mowbray, uncle of Thomas de Colville’s wife. She had m. istly Ilbert de Lacy, sans issue.
1.1.4. Walter de Lindsay
1.1.4.1. William de Lindsay
1.1.4.1.1. Walter de Lindsay, feudal Lord of Crawford. Justiciar of Scotland, after 1174.
1..1.4.1.1.1. William de Lindsay, nephew to King David I.
1.1.4.1.1.1.1. Walter de Lindsay, of Lamberton.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2. David de Lindsay, of Luffness. Charter by *William de Colville, witnessed by “Domino David de Lynddessay, Domino de Luffenauch, Willielmo de Lynddessay, Domino de Lamberton”. (Chart. Newbattle MS)
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1. David de Lindsay, of Crawford, d. 1246/7.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1. David de Lindsay, of Crawford, d. 1241.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1.1. David de Lindsay.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1. David de Lindsay, m. Mary Abernethy.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. James Lindsay, of Crawford, m. Egidia Stewart, April 11, 1326. She m. (3) in 1378, Sir James Douglas, of Dalkeith.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. James de Lindsay, m. Margaret Keith; her sister, Janet Keith, m. David, son of David, son of Walter de Colville de Hameldun.
1.1.4.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Margaret de Lindsay, m. Thomas Colville. He was a distant (in blood) relative of David, husband of Janet Keith.

COLVILLES AS CRISPINS

The Colvilles as Crispins became tenants of the “Comes Albemarlae”, and their mesne lord, Alan de Muncells, in both Coxwold and Keleby, Humberside. “Ex Rotulo Hundr., 3 Edw. I. Comes Albemarlae (William de Forz) tenet in Kelebi dimidium feudi unius militis de domino rege in capite de conquesta. Ingeramus de Munceus tenuit illud de dicto comité; et domus de Cotun fuit fundata in eodem ex dono dicti Ingerami (Alan’s son) in elemosina. Universis sanctae matris ecclesiae filiis tam praesentibus quam futuris notum sit, me Alanum de Muncells dédisse, et concessisse … Et ecclesiam de Cuchewald, cum duabus bovatis terrae de dominio meo, et pasturam ducentarum ovium in eadem villa de Cuchewald … Hiis testibus, Rogero Crispin de Keleby, father of Thomas Crispin, and Walter Crispin (clericus de Keleby). Alan de Muncells held the advowson of the church of Cuxwold, and two bovates of land in the same village. (English Episcopal Acta, vol. 20, p. 127). Roger Crispin exchange land in Cnocculeran and Kinemund (Cumbria) with Robert de Brus, 13th century. (DL 41/104).

The abbey of Melsa in Humberside was founded in 1150 by the Earl of Albemarle, William d’Aumale, lord of Holderness (Chron. Mon. de Melsa (Rolls Ser.), i, p. xiii.), son of Stephen d’Aumale and Hawise, dau. of Ranulph de Mortimer, from whom by heirs female the earldom descended to William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle (d. 1260, lord of Skipsea Castle, in Holderness), who m. Christina, dau. of Alan of Galloway.

(What immediately follows demonstrates that overlord and mesne tenants invariably shared familial links. It was not the case, as in modern-day landlordism, of accepting strangers with funds to rent. The safety of your family depended on a deep and intricate network of feudally-oblidged kinsfolk that formed a protective wall around you. From within them could be mustered a military force that was summoned by the King to serve in such as the ‘Scottish Wars’. The Gilbert de Colville of this account performed military service in Scotland in the retinue of Gilbert de Neville, his kinsman, who was a man of Gilbert de Gand, son of Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln and Alice d’Albini, the sister of Maud d’Albini Brito, wife of William de Colville, the br.-in-law of Robert de Gand, and ancestor of Gilbert de Colville, as hereinafter detailed. Alice and Maud were ist cousins of William Albini I. (Brito), who m. Matilda, the dau. of Odonel de Umfraville (grandfather of Gilbert de Umfraville I), whose family armorial was gules, 3 cinquefoils or, as the Hamiltons: to repeat, “A sensible proposition is that they were kin, or vassals of the Umfraville lords of Redesdale and the earls of Angus” (Bruce A. McAndrew, Scotland’s Historic Heraldry, p. 235, 200). The Colvilles were tenants of the Umfravilles in Hameldon, Rutland, and Gilbert’s son, it can be assumed with a degree of certainty, Walter de Hameldun (so named in 1328, as follows), named after his grandfather, was he granted lands in Machan by Robert de Brus, whose uncle was the guardian of Gilbert’s nephews, sons of his brother, Roger. These lands were dispossessed from the Comyns, to which the Colvilles were closely associated; the medieval norm being to grant lands to those familial to those dispossessed).

OVERLORDS

1. Alan, Lord of Galloway, Constable of Scotland 1215-34, m. 1. … de Lacy. 2. Helen FitzAlan, m. Roger de Quincey, son of Saher de Quincy, one of the 25 sureties of the Magna Carta. The arms of Saher de Quincy are described as or, a fesse gules, as adopted by the Colville family. He was the son of Robert de Quincey, whose half-sister, Asceline, m. Thomas de Colville, br. of William de Colville, who m. Maud d’Albini Brito. Asceline’s sister, Hawise de Quincy, m. Baldwin Wake, parents of John Wake, whose dau., Margaret Wake, m. John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (d. Bannockburn 1314). The Colvilles of Rutland held of the Wake barony, one of whom, “Walter de Hameldun”, was given land forfeited in Scotland by John Comyn. 3. Elizabeth de Quincey, m. Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl Buchan. 4. Margaret Comyn, m. (2) William de Lindsay, d. aft. 1310, in Symontoun, Ayshire.
This is but one interpretation: Margaret, could have been an unrecorded second wife of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, the father of John Comyn, who died in 1290; thus being “countess of Buchan” in her own right. She could also have been an elder sister of John Comyn, she making making claims to the earldom of Buchan after the death of her brother as his oldest surviving heir. 4. … Comyn, m. Gilbert de Umfraville, 8th Earl of Angus, who d. 1307/8, son of his namesake, who m. Mathilda, relict of John Comyn, Earl of Angus. He was the son of Richard de Umfraville, br. of Matilda de Umframville, wife of William Albini I. (Brito), whose cousin, Maud d’Albini (Brito), m. William de Colville The Colvilles held of their Umfraville kinsmen in Normanton, juxta Hameldun, in Rutland.

1. Alan FitzRoland m. (2) Margaret of Huntingdon. 2. Devorguilla of Galloway, m. (1233) John Balliol, Regent of Scotland. 3. Ada Baliol, m. (1266) William de Lindsay, son of Walter de Lindsay, and half-br. of Margaret de Lindsay*. 3. … de Baliol, m. John Comyn “the Black”, Lord of Badenoch. 4. John Comyn (“the Red), stabbed to death by Robert Brus before the altar at the church of the Greyfriars at Dumfries. He m. Joan de Valence. 5. Joan Comyn, m. David de Strathbogie II, who claimed half of the Comyn estates in right of his mother. 6. Aymer de Strathbogie, m. Mary, probable dau. of Walter Steward, thus, sister of Egidia Steward*. 6. Isabel de Strathbogie, mistress of Edward Brus, Earl of Carrick, br. of Robert Brus (grantor of Walter FitzGilbert); great- nephews of William Brus, who was granted wardship (May 8, 1288) of the lands late of Roger de Coleville (son of Walter, tenant in chief of Bytham), and br. of Gilbert de Colville, father of Walter de Colville.* 5. Margaret Comyn, possibly m. Walter de Colville/Hameldun; styled “de Hameldun” in 1328, see anon. 6. David de Colville. 7. David de Hamilton, was the first of the family recorded as formally using the surname Hamilton, appearing in a writ of 1375 as ‘David de Hamylton, son and heir of David FitzWalter’. His title presumably stemmed from his grandfather’s estate, see anon. 5. John Comyn, Lord Badenoch, d. June 24, 1314, m. Margaret Wake, dau. of John Wake, son of Balwin Wake and Hawise de Quincy, who was the sister of Asceline de Quincy, who m. Thomas de Colville.

LINDSAY A

1. The 1187/88 Pipe Roll records “William de Lindeseia owes 40 marks for having the right in the K’s court against the Countess of Albemarle, and Nicholas de Stuteville, in Uckemanebi etc. in Cumberland. (Nicholas de Stuteville, half-brother of Beatrice de Stuteville, wife of William de Colville). The Lindsay family of Lincolnshire followed the same path into Scotland as their neighbours, the Colvilles. it was not happenchance that that they intermarried in Scotland, such was the result of more ancient associations, as most such alliances. It is an understanding of such ‘continuations of association’ that forms the first principle of unravelling medieval ancestries. The propertied class of this time married within their kinship circle, repeatedly, over succeeding generations.

1.1. Walter de Lindsay, d. bef. 1221, Lord of Lamberton. “Sir Walter bestowed the churches of Fordington and Ulseby, in Lincolnshire, on Croyland Abbey before 1202”. (Alexander Crawford Lindsay, Lives of the Lindsays, v. i.). “The Ulceby estate was perhaps brought by Agatha Trusbut to the de Albinis. William de Albini, Agatha’s husband, dying in 1236, was succeeded by his eldest son, by Margery Umframville his first wife, William de Albini, who at his death in 1247 left (by his wife Albreda, daughter of Henry lord Biseth) an only daughter and heiress Isabel. She perhaps carried the Ulceby property into the Ros family, by her marriage with Robert lord Ros of Hamlake, who was a great grandson of Everard lord Ros and Rose Trusbut … (His descendant), William, 3d baron Ros, succeeded to the Ulceby estate: he married Margery, eldest sister and co-heir of Giles de Badlesmere, a great feudal baron; and at his death, Feb. 14, 14, 1343, it was found that he held Ulceby as one of the fees of Trusbott. (Inq. p.m. 17 Edw. III., No. 60.) (G.H. Burton, ‘Old Lincolnshire’, p. 74. 1885). Giles de Badlesmere succeeded to the Umfraville fief of Hameldon.

1. Odonel de Umframville.
1.1. Matilda de Umframville, m. William Albini I. (Brito), whose cousin, Maud d’Albini (Brito), m. William de Colville.*
1.2. Richard de Umframville, Lord of Redesdale, Baron of Prudhoe, did homage for his father’s lands in 1226.
1.2.1. Gilbert de Umframville, succeeded to his father’s titles and lands. John Comyn m. Matilda, Countess of Angus, and became in her right Earl of Angus. Matilda m., 2nd, Gilbert de Umfraville, Lord of Redesdale, &c., who also became in her right Earl of Angus.
1.2.1.1. Gilbert de Umframville, m. Elizabeth Comyn, dau. of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan – Wyntoun, vol. ii. p. 55.

1.1.1. William de Lindsay, Lord of Lamberton. Charter by *William de Colville, witnessed by “Domino David de Lynddessay, Domino de Luffenauch, Willielmo de Lynddessay, Domino de Lamberton”. (Chart. Newbattle MS). 1.1.1.1. Walter de Lindsay (1232-Nov.2, 1271). His Inquisition p.m. named “William his son, aged 21 as his heir, who married “5 years ago Ada daughter of John de Balliol”. (Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. I, Henry III, 820, p. 283).

She m. 2nd (bef. Sept. 23, 1274) Walter Percy, brother of Henry de Percy, sons of “Willielmus”, son of “Henricum” (Dugdale Monasticon v., Sawley Abbey, Yorkshire XXII, Genealogia Perciorum, p. 516), and his wife, Isabel de Brus). 1.1.1.1.1. William de Lindsay, m. Ada, dau. of John de Balliol and Devorguilla of Galloway. 1.1.1.1.2. Alice de Lindsay m. (as his second wife), John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, son of Richard Comyn, d. bef. 1277. The said “Henricum” being the overlord of Phillip de Colville.

LINDSAY B

1.2. William de Lindsay, d. bef. 1247. 1.2.1. David de Lindsay. His father donated “terre mee de Cruford” to Newbattle priory, witnessed by “David herede meo”, whose confirmation charter was witnessed by David de Quincey, presumably a kinsman of the Colvilles. 1.2.1. Walter de Lindsay, m. Christiana. 1.2.1.1. *Margaret de Lindsay. 1.2.2. David de Lyndesey confirmed the donation of “terre mee in territorio de Crauford” to Newbattle priory, for the soul of “Willi fratris mei”. (Newbattle, 139, p. 105). 1.2.2.1. William de Lindsay. 1.2.2.1.1. “David de Lindes patr fil Willi”. 1.2.1.1.1. David de Lindsay. Regent of Scotland in 1255. “Davide de Lindesai juniore”, m. *Margaret Lindsay, dau. of Walter de Lindsay and Christiana. 1.2.1.1.1.1. Sir Alexander Lindsay, d. 1308, a supporter of Robert de Brus; captured at the fall of Kildrummy Castle on Sept. 13, 1306. He m. istly, a dau. of Alexander Stewart, High Steward of Scotland. 1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Sir David Lindsay, of Crawford, m. Maria Abernethy. 1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1. Sir James Lindsay, of Crawford, m. *Egidia Stewart, April 11, 1326. She m. (3) in 1378, Sir James Douglas, of Dalkeith.

1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. James de Lindsay, m. Margaret Keith; her sister, Janet Keith, m. David, son of David, son of Walter de Colville de Hameldun. 1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Margaret de Lindsay, m. Thomas Colville. He was a distant relative of David, husband of Janet Keith, but through their marriages to the Keiths became ‘more closely’ associated; ‘more closely’ in the context of ‘already close’, as G. Barrow (The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History, 1980), pointed out: ‘Thomas de Colville, the constable of Dumfries Castle, gave land in Galloway to Vaudey Abbey, to pray for the souls of dead Scottish Kings. The fact that a Lincolnshire Abbey received land in Galloway for the souls of Scottish Kings is only explicable because of the existence of an aristocratic family with (very closely associated) members in both kingdoms’. 1.2.1.1.1.2. William de Lindsay, donated revenue in 1293 to Newbattle priory, for the souls of “dni David de Lydesay patris mei et Margarete de Lyndesay matris mee”. (Newbattle, 172, p. 137). He m. 2ndly, as her 2nd husband, Margaret, dau. of Alexander Comyn, bef. 1310; who, as given heretofore, may have been an unrecorded wife of Alexander Comyn.

THE COLVILLES cont.

COLVILLE A

3. Thomas de Homeldun, was perhaps the father of Roger de Homeldun; a Melrose charter being witnessed by ‘Roberto de Hameldun’ (probable son of Roger) and his son ‘Rogero de Hameldun’, who witnessed the gift of Alan de Percy II. to Whitby of lands in Oxenham, given to him by Henry and Geoffrey de Percy, his brothers, their tenant in Hetoun being ‘Philippus de Colvill’. As a correction of previous notes, Thomas de Hameldun took his name from the fief of Hameldon, situated near the Mowbray manor of Epingham, as given heretofore. In 1209, Roger and Robert de Hameldon are named in a charter of Roger and Saher de Quincey (nephews of Saher de Quincey*) in Northumberland (Cal. Doc. relating to Scotland, vol. 1, introd. xxv, no. 452). “The Umravilles bore a single cinquefoil on their shield. A vassal adopting this would add a number of charges, and here is possibly the origin of the three cinquefoils in the Hamilton escutcheon” (ibid.). *Roger de Hameldun stood security for the Abbot of Kelso in the plea betw. him and the Prior of Kirkam (ibid., xxxi.).

1. Saher de Quincey, from Cuinchy in the arrondissement of Béthune. 1.1. Saher de Quincey, m. Matilda de Senlis (relict of Robert FitzRichard de Clare, d. 1140); stepdau. of King David I of Scotland and Maud, dau. of Simon de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon. 1.1.1. Robert de Quincey. He was granted the castle of Forfar and land in Haddington by King William of Scotland, his cousin. Thomas de Colville, m. Asceline, half-sister of Robert de Quincy, son of Saher de Quincy. Robert de Quincy’s son, Saher de Quincy, bore or, a fesse gules, the exact arms that the Colvilles assumed. 1.1.1.1. Saher de Quincey. 1.1.1.2. Robert de Quincey. 1.1.1.2.1. Roger de Quincey. 1.1.1.2.2. Saher de Quincey.
Thomas de Colville was witness to a gift of Roger de Mowbray I. (whose wife was the cousin of Alan de Percy II.), of land in Stainton which was confirmed by Henry II. (1155-1157). His testibus were Nigelo de Mowbrai (son), Rogeri de Mowbrai (son), Thoma de Colevilla, Thomas de Hamelduna. It is very probable that Thomas de Hameldun was a Colville, a son of Thomas. Whether he was an ancestor of any latter-day Hamiltons is not to be known.

COLVILLE B, in more depth

3. Philip de Colville, held land in Thimbleby and Sigston, Yorkshire. He m. Engelisa, dau. and heir of Robert Ingram, a tenant of the Brus fee in Heslerton. ‘Philip de Colleville, from whom descended the Lords Colville of Scotland’. (E. A. Freeman, The Norman People, pp. 405-406, 1874).
4. Philip de Colville, accepted an invitation of King Malcolm IV. to settle in Scotland, and founded the baronies of Culross and Ochiltree.
5. Philip de Coleville, of Heton and Oxenhame, in the county of Roxburgh. ‘Philippus de Colvill’ donated ‘terre in Hetoun ex dono Galfridi (Geoffrey) de Percy et Henrici patris sui’ to Dryburgh monastery. (Cart. de Dryburgh). ‘Henry de Percy has granted to Whitby Abbey in perpetual alms those donations by which Alan de Percy II., his brother, gave two ploughgates of land, one in Oxnam and the other in Heiton , and that donation of one ploughgate of land in Oxnam which Geoffrey, his brother, gave to the same church in perpetual alms ‘ (Whitby Cart., no. 60, May 24, 1153). These were grandsons of William de Percy I., by his son, Adam de Percy I. and Emma de Gand, dau. of Gilbert de Gand.
5. Thomas de Colville (cognomento ‘the Scot’), obit. 1219. ‘Thomas de Colville, the constable of Dumfries Castle, gave land in Galloway to Vaudey Abbey, to pray for the souls of dead Scottish Kings. The fact that a Lincolnshire Abbey received land in Galloway for the souls of Scottish Kings is only explicable because of the existence of an aristocratic family with members in both kingdoms’. (G. Barrow, The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History, 1980).
6. John de Colville, of Oxnam. His parentage is confirmed by the attestation (1316) of his granddaughter, ‘domine Eustachie Lachene’, relating to ‘ecclesie de Oucheltrye’ (Melrose Liber, t. ii., 400, p. 363).
7. William de Colville, of Spindlestone, Northumberland. The aforementioned attestation of ‘domine Eustachie Lachene’, states that ‘avus suus dominus Johannes de Colville’ was succeeded by ‘filius suus legitimus Willelmus’, who married ‘filiam domini Johanis de Normanville’.
8. Thomas de Colville, ob. ante 1280 (Melrose Liber, t. ii., 400, p. 363).

The demarcation between various Robert de Colvilles is somewhat blurred, with fathers being confounded with sons, but a reasonable construction may be as follows.

9. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1275, “commanded, and establishing his quarters in the neighbourhood of Rokesburgh, began to make preparations for beasieging Berwick. Just after the return of Balliol, Archibald Douglas, with 3000 men, invaded England on the side of the western marches, wasted the whole diftrict of Gillesland, and brought off much booty, and many prisoners. It is probable that the person here meant is Robert Colville of Ochiltree, and the castle, Oxnam in Teviotdale, which belonged to him. Knyghton, p. 256, says, ‘Ceperunt unam forsulam, in qua invenerunt Dominum Robertum de Colvyll cum X. armatis, cum multis dominabus et feminis de patria, et plures alios homines ;’ which passage Barnes, Edward III. p. 73. thus paraphrases: ‘They took a certain fortress, wherein they found the Lord Robert Colvile prisoner, whom they released, with many other English gentlemen, and several great ladies of the country, all whom they released’. (Sir David Dalrymple, Annals of Scotland, p. 160, 1779).

10. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1300. Privy Seals, 15 Edw. III., File 7, 1341: The K. signifies to the Chancellor that he has given leave to April 2. Katerina widow of Robert de Colville, to marry with a liegeman only, and also the ward of his lands in Scotland till the majority of the heir, and the marriage of the latter without disparagement, paying as much as any one else would give; she finding good and sufficient security by Englishmen; and to issue letters to her under the seal of Scotland.

11. Robert de Colville, b. ca. 1325, obit ca. 1363. He may have been the 1st husband of Janet Keith. In 1357, he received an annuity of 20 marks till the recovery of his father’s Scottish lands, ibid. “In 1361, Edward III. commanded the sheriff of Roxburgh to assist Robert de Colvill in destroying the fortalice of Dolfyneston which, after its destruction by William de Bohun, earl of Northampton, Edward’s lieutenant in Scotland, had been partially rebuilt by the Scots to the grievous injury of the whole country.” (Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, vol 11, p. 96, 1887).

12. Thomas de Colville, heir, m. Margaret de Lindsay. He witnessed a charter by Margaret, Countess of Douglas, in 1384.
12. Robert de Colville, witnessed a charter of John Turnbull of Minton to Sir William Stewart, May 8, 1390, witnessed by his brother, Thomas.
12. Andrew de Colville/Hamilton.
12. William de Colville/Hamilton, adoptees of David Hamilton and Janet Keith.

Mr. Andrew Stewart gives extracts of two charters, by which Dame Janet Keith grants the lands of Brentwood to her son, Andrew Hamilton, and the lands of Bathgate to her son, William Hamilton, but he denies her having been the widow of Sir David Hamilton, of Cadzow, and supposes her to have “been first married to an unknown person of the name of Hamilton”. (Sir William Stewart, An abstract of the evidence, pp. 31-32, 1801). This is less likely than Andrew and William being adopted by David Hamilton. The same author continues: “It appears evident from the confirmation of a charter, by Janet Keith, after the death of her last husband, dated December 11th, 1406, that the names of two of her sons, the fruit of her former matrimonial connection, were Andrew and William. For, in a deed of that date, she grants the lands of Galliston to her son Andrew de Hamilton, and the grant is witnessed among others by her son William de Hamilton. William Hamilton was witness, along with Andrew Hamilton of Brentwood, his br. and Sir John Hamilton of Cadyow* (br. of their stepfather, it is supposed), to a charter of Andrew de Moravia to Janet de Kirchalche, of her liferent of the lands of Touchadam in Stirlingshire, dated May 14, 1392. *”Johes de Hamylton de Cadyou de Scotia miles cum viginti & duobus & equitibus in comitiva suas. 1396” (Rotuli Scotiae, v. 2).

Andrew and William Hamilton shared a most recent common ancestor with their proposed step-father who was born in ca. 1150. Andrew and William Hamilton (and their descendants) may be classed as Hamilton Group B, as distinct from Hamilton Group A, descendants of Walter FitzGilbert. The problem with any such classification is that very few living Hamiltons can authentically trace their ancestry to the 14th/15th centuries, so it becomes classification by claim. As Mr. Barrow, supra, explained, the Colvilles were an aristocratic family with closely associated members in both England and Scotland. The coming together of these members in marriages to the Keith family were not random events, rather, they were designed to further bind the Colville clan, and enhance its influence. The adoption of children of one Colville branch by members of the other Colville branch would have been a normal event, and would have been viewed as a further strengthening and “re-unification” of the Colvilles.

(1. Sir William Keith, m. Margaret Fraser.
1.1. Margaret Keith, m. James de Lindsay.
1.1.1. Margaret Lindsay, m. Thomas de Colville, her (maternal) cousin. “Salvi conductus pro Thoma de Hamylton et aliis ejusdem cognominis … Thomas de Hamylton de Scotia armigum”, ibid. Ejusdem cognominis, bearing the same name, not synonomous with bearing the same blood, n.b.
1.2. Janet Keith, b. ca. 1335, m. (2) David Hamilton, ca. 1360.
1.2.1. John Hamilton, uterine half-brother of Thomas, Andrew, and William.
1.2.1.1. James Hamilton. “Salvus conductus pro Jacobus de Hamylton et aliis … et David de Hamylton fratrem ejus … de Scotia … in defensionem … castrum de Cathorp in com Lincoln. 1414”, ibid. Caythorpe was a fort situate 20 mls N. of Castle Bytham, being part of its defenses.
1.2.1.2. David Hamilton).

COLVILLE C, in more depth

4. William de Colville , m. Maud d’Albini (Brito). He was the br.-in-law of Robert de Gand. She was the cousin of William Albini I. (Brito), who m. Matilda, the dau. of Odonel de Umfraville (grandfather of Gilbert de Umfraville I), whose family armorial was gules, 3 cinquefoils or, as the Hamiltons: “A sensible proposition is that they were kin, or vassals of the Umfraville lords of Redesdale and the earls of Angus” (Bruce A. McAndrew, Scotland’s Historic Heraldry, p. 235, 200).
5. Thomas de Colville, m. Asceline, half-sister of Robert de Quincy, son of Saher de Quincy. Robert de Quincy’s son, Saher de Quincy, bore or, a fesse gules, the exact arms that the Colvilles assumed.
5. William de Colville, m. Beatrice de Stuteville, sister of Alice de Stuteville, who m. Roger de Merlay, son of Ralph de Merlay, Lord of Morpeth. The Close Rolls of 1230 contain a writ addressed to the Sheriff of Lincoln stating that Will. de Coleville de Bytham was dead and ordering that his heir Roger de Coleville be put in seisin of his estates. (Cambridge Antiquarian Soc., 1901, pp. 381-383).
6. Hawise de Colville, m. Hugh de Berc. Hugh de Berc, recorded in Rutland in 1176 and 1180 (Pipe R. Soc. xxv, 185; xxix, 88). In 1197, he acknowledged that gave to Roger de Colville all his lands in Berc which he held of William Colville, which lands were to be held of Hugh by the service of a sixth part of a knight’s fee. The grant was confirmed by Thomas, eldest son of Hugh de Berc. The family made various grants in Wenton to St. Michael’s Priory, Stanford (Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B. 1202, 1214; D. 172, 194, 165). In 1206, Hawise, the widow of Hugh de Berc, conveyed her dower in Stanford (4 virgates) to Roger de Colville Sr. (Cur. Reg. R. iv, 232, 283; cf. ibid. 306; Feet of F. Rutl. Trin. 9 John).
7. William de Berc. Barrow (Berc) (Rutland).
8. Richard de Berc. Grant by Richard son of William de Berc’, to the nuns of St Michael’s, Stanford, for eighteen years, of land in Wenton. Sept. 29, 1238, which he held of the Colvilles.
9. Robert de Berc.
10. William de Berc. Walter de Hameldon; who with William Berc (both of Stanford) granted a garden (to Raymond le Spicer), situated between the town wall and the garden of the prior of St Leonard, near Stanford, in 1328. (N. A., C 146/3891).

6. Roger de Colville of Bytham Castle, Lincolnshire.
7. Walter de Colville (b. ca. 1225, d. 1276), m. Isabel, dau. of Odenel d’Albini, son of William d’Albini I. and Matilda, dau of Odonel de Umfraville. Walter de Coleville as an undertenant of Roger de Coleville at Auburn (p. 326).
8. Roger de Colville of Bytham Castle (b. 1251. d. 1287), m. Margaret, dau of Richard de Braose, of Stinton, Norfolk, and Alice de Ros, dau. of William de Ros, 2nd Baron Ros of Helmsley, and Margaret de Badlesmere, dau. of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, and Margaret, relict of Gilbert de Umfraville. Bartholomew de Badlesmere held Normanton and Hameldun; his tenants being the Colvilles in the former place, and very likely in the latter.
William de Brus (br. of Sir Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale; father of Robert de Brus, King of Scotland, b. 1274, d. 1329, grantor to Walter FitzGilbert), was granted wardship on May 8, 1288 of the lands late of Roger de Coleville, son of Walter, tenant in chief of Bytham and other places in co. Lincoln, reserving to the King the marriage of the heirs during their minority (Calendar of the Patent Rolls, 1272-1281, p. 247).

William Page, Victoria History of the Co. of Rutland, vol. 2, p. 22, 1908: ‘Normanton is not mentioned in Domesday Survey (1086), but it probably formed one of the berewicks of the king’s manor of ‘Hameldune Cherchesoch.’ It was acquired by the Umfravilles at an early date, and in 1183 the sheriff rendered account of 25s. 8d. from Normanton, the land of Odinell de Umfraville. (See Pipe R. 29 Hen. II, m. 4 d.). Hamelyton near Normanton, on the road to Okeham, is in the maps and some descriptions spelt Hambleton, or Hamelden. In the R. of Edw. II. this manor bel. to Bartholomew Ld. Badlesmere, who obtained a Mt. here on M. and a Fair Aug. 23, 24, and 25′. (Stephen Whatley, England’s Gazetteer, 1751).

The tithes of Hamilton included revenue from Normanton: ‘Cujus quidem verus tenor sequitur et est talis. Ecclesia de Hamildon que est de Communa Ecclesie Lincolniensis omnia inferius contenta a prima sua fundatione percepit et percipit de villatis subscriptis, videlicet de Normanton’ (Journal of the Rutland Record Society, vols. 15-23). The feudal lord of one was often that of the other: Bartholomeo de Badlesmere et Margareta, uxore ejus, pro j. f. in Hameldon et Normanton’ (Inquisitions and Assessments Relating to Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, vol. 4).

Mr. Page continued: ‘From this date the overlordship of Normanton followed the descent of Hambleton (q.v.) until the death of Sir Giles de Badlesmere in 1338 … Early in the 13th century Normanton was subinfeudated (to) Robert d’Albini, son of William d’Albini. Maud, dau. of Odinell de Umfraville (d. 1182), m. William d’Albini, and the d’Albinis may have obtained Normanton through her’. (As given, William d’Albini was the cousin of William de Colville’s wife). ‘Robert d’Albini presented to the church in 1227, and he or his son Robert presented in 1234. (Rot. Hug. de Welles, Cant. and York Soc., ii, 180). ‘Eustachia, probably the second wife of Robert, however, seems to have held Normanton in her own right. It may have been she who, as Eustachia, widow of Robert de Sancto Albano, claimed a third of 20 virgates and 5 acres of land in Normanton against Gilbert de Umfraville in 1237 ( seeCal. Close R. 1234–7, p. 517). The Colvilles held other property in Rutland and elsewhere. In the 12th century the family of Barrow or Berc is found in Rutland. In 1197, Hugh de Berc acknowledged that he had given to Roger de Colville all his lands in Barrow (Berc) which he held of William Colville of the Wake barony’.
8. Gilbert de Colville, b. ca. 1255. The Writs of Military Service show (1292) Gilbertus Coleville performing military service in Scotland due from Gilbertus de Neville, his kinsman, through the Merlays. Gilbert de Neville (elected a Knight of the co. of Lincoln in 1290) performing such service in 1277 due to Gilbert de Gand (br. of Juliana d’Armenters), son of Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln, and Alice d’Albini (Brito).
9. Walter FitzGilbert. (i.e. Walter de Hameldon, see (10), previous).

Robert de Brus (nephew of the guardian of Roger de Colville’s children), granted to Walter FitzGilbert the whole tenement of Machan which belonged to John Comyn in 1320. Walter’s descendants bore gules, 3 cinque foils or. The earliest representation of the Hamilton arms appears on the Bute Mazer were Gules, three cinquefoils ermine, presumably for Walter FitzGilbert. To repeat: ‘(A) sensible proposition is that they were kin, or vassals of the Umfraville lords of Redesdale and the earls of Angus’ (Bruce A. McAndrew, Scotland’s Historic Heraldry, p. 235, 2006).

10. David de Hameldun, m. Mary, dau. of Sir Adam Gordon, who received from Robert de Brus a grant of the forfeited estate of David de Strathbogie, Earl of Athole.
11. David de Hamilton, m. Janet Keith. In 1378, a charter of King Robert IId. of that date, preserved in the public archives, of the resignation of David Hamilton, and his wife Janet, of the lands of Drumcore, in the barony of Bathkeit, in the con. stablery of Linlithgow, in favour of Sir James Douglas, of Dalkeith.

GAND/WAKE/QUINCEY

Temp. Henry I., Hugh le Wake, m. Emma, dau. of Baldwin Fitz-Gilbert, uncle of Gilbert de Gand, 1st Earl of Lincoln. 1. Gilbert de Gand I, overlord of the Armentieres family of Whatton (thence of Wormley). 1.1. Hugh de Gand, m. Adeline de Beaumont, dau. of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester. 1.1.1. Gilbert de Gand, 1st earl of Lincoln, obit. c. 1156, m. Rohese de Clare, dau. of Richard de Clare. 1.1.2. Robert de Gand, m. Gunnora de Albini Brito, dau. of Ralph de Albini Brito (English Baronies’, I. J. Sanders, OUP, 2nd ed, 1963); she m. (2), Nicholas de Stuteville. A sister of Gunnora de Albini Brito, Maud, m. William de Colville. William held one night’s fee of Robert de Gand in Lincs, his br.-in-law. William de Colville agreed to pay the king a fine of 20 mares and one palfrey, to have seisin of Normanton, Rutland, held in chief by the de Umframvilles. 1.1.2.1. Gilbert de Gand, Earl of Lincoln, obit. 1241, father of Juliana de Gand, who m. Geoffrey d’Armentières, son of Henry d’Armentières, descendant of Robert de d’Armentières. Hugh le Wake’s descendant, Hugh Wake, m. Joane, dau. of Nicholas de Stuteville, Lord of Liddell (the half-brother of Beatrice de Stuteville, wife of *William de Colville, as given).
This Hugh Wake was the father of Baldwin Wake, who m. Hawise de Quincy, dau. of Robert de Quincy, dvp. (son of Saher de Quincey). Thomas de Colville (br. of the said *William de Colville), m. Asceline, half-sister of Robert de Quincy, son of Saher de Quincy. Robert de Quincy’s son, Saher de Quincy, bore or, a fesse gules, the exact arms that the Colvilles assumed.

Baldwin Wake was the father of John Wake, 1st Baron Wake of Liddel; the father of Margaret Wake, the wife of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (d. Bannockburn 1314), br. of Joan Comyn (d. bef. 1326), who m. David de Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl (d. 1326), whose dau., Isabel, was the mistress of Edward Brus, Earl of Carrick, br. of Robert Brus (grantor of Walter FitzGilbert); great- nephews of William Brus, who was granted wardship on May 8, 1288 of the lands late of Roger de Coleville, son of Walter, tenant in chief of Bytham, as given.

COLVILLE/COMYN/QUINCY

1. Saher de Quincey.
1.1. Robert de Quincy.
1.2. Asceline de Quincy, m. Thomas de Colville.
1.3. Hawise de Quincy, m. Baldwin Wake.
1.3.1. John Wake.
1.3.1.1. Margaret Wake, m. John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (d. Bannockburn 1314).

COLVILLE/COMYN/UMFRAVILLE

1. Odonel de Umframville.
1.1. Matilda de Umframville, m. William Albini I. (Brito), whose cousin, Maud d’Albini (Brito), m. William de Colville.
1.2. Richard de Umframville, Lord of Redesdale, Baron of Prudhoe, did homage for his father’s lands in 1226.
1.2.1. Gilbert de Umframville, succeeded to his father’s titles and lands. John Comyn m. Matilda, Countess of Angus, and became in her right Earl of Angus. Matilda m., 2nd, Gilbert de Umfraville, Lord of Redesdale, &c., who also became in her right Earl of Angus.
1.2.1.1. Gilbert de Umframville, m. Elizabeth Comyn, dau. of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan – Wyntoun, vol. ii. p. 55.

QUINCEY/COMYN

1. Saher de Quincy, m. (after 1136) Matilda de Saint Liz, relict of Roger FitzGilbert de Clare, and mother of Matilda FitzRobert de Clare, wife of William d’Albini Brito II., their son marrying Maud de Umframville, their granddau. being the wife of Walter de Colville.
1.1. Saher de Quincy II., m. (1162) Asceline, relict of Geoffrey de Waterville.
1.1.1. Robert de Quincy, granted the ancient castle of Forfar by his cousin, William I of Scotland, m. Orabella. His half-sister, Asceline, m. Thomas de Colville, br. of William de Colville, who m. Maud d’Albini Brito, niece of William d’Albini Brito II.
1.1.1.1. Saher de Quincy, one of the 25 sureties of the Magna Carta. The arms of Saher de Quincy are described as or, a fesse gules, as adopted by the Colville family. Saher de Quincy m. Margaret de Beaumont, dau. and heir of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester.
1.1.1.1.1. Roger de Quincy.
1.1.1.1.1. Elizabeth de Quincey, m. Alexander de Comyn, 6th Earl of Buchan, Constable of Scotland (obit. 1290), son of William Comyn and Margaret, Countess of Buchan. Alexander Comyn was uncle of John Comyn.
1.1.1.1.1.1. Elizabeth Comyn, m. Gilbert de Umframville II., Earl of Angus.

This is the Hamilton “haystack” and the “needle” within, and if seeking another “needle”, search the same “haystack”. There are no certainties. There are no new documents to discover. DNA testing will never fully penetrate the mists of time. Janet keith’s first husband could have been a Lindsay, with a most recent common ancestor, if any, with the Colvilles dating to the 9th century. There are no certainties, so do not trouble your mind to seek them.

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