The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy, vol. 3, trans. Thomas Forrester:

A.D. 1101. CH. XVIII. In the year of our Lord 1101, great disturbances broke out in England and Normandy. The turbulent barons, dreading the firmness of King Henry, and preferring the inactive government of the imbecile Duke Robert, which gave them licence for their malpractices, began to entertain treasonable designs, and invited him to equip a fleet and cross over to England. Robert de Belèsme and his two brothers, Roger of Poitiers, and Arnulph, together with William de Warrenne, earl of Surry, Walter Giffard, Ivo de Grantmesnil, and Robert Fitz-Ilbert (de Laci),* and several others were parties to the league, and aided the duke’s cause.

1. Ilbert de Laci.
1.1. *Robert, son of Ilbert de Laci, who held the castle of Pontefract in Yorkshire, and sixty-three other manors, most of them in the same county. This Robert de Laci founded at Pontefract a priory of the order of Cluni, in which he placed monks from the celebrated abbey of La Charité-sur-Loire. In the charter of foundation he mentions his father Ilbert and his mother Havise.—Mon. Angl. i. 648. Ilbert de de Laci and his mother Havise were owners of Bois l’Evêque, near Darnetal. Emma de Laci, when she took the veil at St. Amand of Rouen, some time before the year 1069, gave to that abbey twenty-two acres of land in Boos on Mount Mainart, probably Mount Main, which the abbess sold to a monk of La Trinité-du-Mont.

(Robert left two sons, Ilbert and Henry, who successively held their father’s possessions. Henry was succeeded by his son Robert; who d. in 1193, without issue, his estates, consistng of sixty knights’ fees, devised to his uterine sister, Aubrey, dau. of Robert de Lizours; who m. Richard FitzEustace, constable of Chester, bringing her estates to that family; and his grandson, Roger, assumed the name of de Lacy, and had issue: John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln*).

Robert de Lacy granted Ralf le Rous several manors of his Honour of Clitheroe in a charter dated Nov. 23, 1102. (Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 385. The grant included Twiston, 2 oxgangs in Clitheroe, Great Mitton, Aighton, and other lands to be held by the service due for the moiety of a knight’s fee.

1.1. Ilbert de Laci, m. Alice de Mowbray, dau. of Walter de Gand.* Ilbert de Lacy confirmed his father’s grants of Ralph’s lands in 1135, the charter reading: “eidem Radulfo fratri meo”, meaning “Ralph my brother-in-law”; consider John de Stuteville’s gift (ca. 1160) to his br.-in-law, named as “Johanni fratri meo”.
1.2. … de Laci, m. Ralph (le Rous) Paynel, d. ca. 1120. Under the Mortain fee, Ralph de Paynel held Hamelton and Armyn of that place under Ilbert de Lacy; Ralph having married Ilbert’s sister or daughter (Clay,114). Ralph m. (2) Matilda, dau. of Ralph de Sourdeval (Thoresby). They had issue: Jordan Paynel. *”Walter de Gand founded Bridlington priory, with the assent of Henry I King of England, witnessed by Jordan Paynel”. Jordan d. in 1147. He was the br. of Beatrix Paynel, wife of Joscelin de Amundeville. “Walter de Gand” donated land at Besingby to Bridlington priory, witnessed by “…Jordan Painel, Hugh his brother, W. de Mundevill his nepote. William de Amundeville was the brother of Ralph de Amundeville, the father of Elias de Amundeville, who held land in Willoughby, as did Ivo de Heriz (who rendered account of 5 destriers that he might hold in fee farm the land of Willoughby), and his son, John de Heriz , who paid Elias de Amundeville a fee for land held of Amaury de Noers in Willoughby. “In 1212, the prior of Bolton offered himself against Elias de Amundeville in a plea of assize of last presentation to the church of Preston, Lanc., 15 miles from Clitheroe.

Jordan Paynel may have been the Jordan le Rous mentioned on the account of Thomas Dunham Whitaker (An History of the Original Parish of Whalley, 1872), extracts being:

“Robert de Laci was certainly lord of Blackburnshire … as he confirmed the original charter of Merlay, granted by Ilbert, his son, to Jordan le Rous .… Little Mitton was granted by charter of Robert de Lacy, in the 3d of Henry I. to Ralph le Rous, progenitor of the family who were afterwards denominated from the place Ralph le Rous, the grantee under these charters, had Jordan, who granted the manor of Merlay to one Stephen, afterwards called de Merlay, who had a daughter who married Adam de Nowell. The facts are proved by the following abstract of an Inquisition: “Stephanus de Merlay proavus Adæ Nowell seizitus fuit in feodo de et in manerio de Merlay. (NOT BY DESCENT, AS THE LANCASHIRE PEDIGREES HAVE IT, but ex dono et feoffamento). This was the origin of the Nowells in the parish of Whalley, of whom there is no evidence to prove where they were settled before this alliance. Their descent will be more fully traced under Read, and it will suffice for the present to exhibit the following genealogy, which relates to the time of their residence at Little Merlay”.

Merlay/Mearley is 2 miles from Clitheroe.

A PEDIGREE OF NOWELL

1. Stephen de Merlay, his grant is dated ca. 1135–1142, thus, he was probably born ca. 1100.
1.1. … Merlay, b. ca. 1125, m. Adam de Nowell, b. ca. 1115.
1.1.1. Richard de Nowell, b. ca. 1140.
1.1.1. Adam de Nowell, b. ca. 1165. By inquest of 1242 it was found that Stephen de Mearley, great-grandfather of Adam, whose heir he is, was seised of the Manor of Great Mearley, and the said rights of taking old wood and having chase, etc. He witnessed a deed with John de Heriz, ca. 1220, see as follows.
1.1.1.1. Roger de Nowel, b. ca. 1190.
1.1.1.1.1. William de Nowell, b. ca. 1215, was granted Little Mearley, by *John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, who d. in 1240. The hamlet of Little Mearley remained with his descendents. By inquisition post mortem of Henry de Lacy, it was found that William de Heriz held one carucate in Little Merlay, by the service of the eighth part of a knight’s fee.
1.1.1.1.2. Adam de Nowell, b. ca. 1215.
1.1.1.1.2.1. Roger de Nowel, b. ca. 1240, d. bef. 1311. In 1296 he gave part of his land in Great Mearley to his son, Roger.
1.1.1.1.2.1.1. Roger de Nowell, b. ca. 1265, d. bef. 1322. In 1311 he held the manor of Great Mearley at 20d rent and the quarter of a knight’s fee (De Banco R. 110, m. 222 d.), granting a portion of this in 1305, to Richard de Morley and Elizabeth his wife, Roger’s daughter. Their son, Robert de Morley, m. Margaret de Heriz, dau. of William de Heriz.*
1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1. Adam de Nowell, b. ca. 1290, s.l. 1342. He inherited the dower lands of his grandmother, Margaret, widow of William Fiton, in ca. 1325. In 1327, he gave half the manor of Great Mearley to his son Richard and Richard’s wife, Joan.
1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1. Richard de Nowell, b. ca. 1315, m. Elizabeth, dau. of *William de Heriz. (Lansdowne Feodary in Baines’ Lancs., ii, 693).
1.1.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Lawrence de Nowell, b. ca. 1340. In 1364, he granted the manor of great Mearley to Sir Richard de Greenacres, in exchange for a moiety of Read. (Baines’ Lancs., iii, 229).

Victoria County History, pp. 375-379, 1911, a suggestion concerning the lands of Ralph le Rous: “What became of the inheritance as a whole is unknown, but the Mitton and Heriz* families seem to have been concerned in it, perhaps by descent. This proposition is untrue, their involvment was by way of enfeoffment, as the records clearly attest. (This Heriz family held land in Clitheroe, Mearley, Twiston, Downham, and Worston).

In ca. 1220, John de Heriz held land in Worston: “I, *John de Lasey,* Constable of Chester, have given &c. to Guido, son of Thomas de Cherlton, a bovate (or oxgang] of land in the Vill of Wortheston, which William reeve of that Vill by Custom held of me. Rendering therefor yearly to me and my heirs for all service and demand, two collars for greyhounds at the feast of Saint Oswald. Witnesses: Sir Hugh Botiller (Pincerna) and Alan the clerk,* then Seneschals, Henry de Nottingham, Colin de Quartermar’, Ebrard Tyas, Baldwin Tyas, Walter de Ludham,” &c. Then the same Guido, who had assumed the local name of Worston, makes a grant to Adam his son: “I, Ydo de Worston, give to Adam my son all my land with meadow, in the territory of Worston, to be held as I held it of John de Lasey, rendering therefor yearly, two dog-collars at the feast of St. Giles (Sept. 1). For this grant the said Adam has given to me a solid tooth of silver. Witnesses: Adam de Blakeburn, then Steward of Blakeburnshire, Hugh Fitz-Hugh, Constable of the Castle of Clyderhow, Adam Noel, John de Heriz, Walter de Wadington, Walter de Standen, Hugh Querderay”. (Whitaker, addenda to his History of Whalley, p. 534, 1818).

John de Heriz was contemporaneous wih Simon de Heriz, obviously a person of high rank: Inquirers of the wapentake of Blakeburnesire – Simon de Heriz, Adam de Blakeburn, Adam Noel, Henry de Cleyton, Adam de Billinton, William de Caldecotes, John de Wynketley, and Richard de Katlauhe. (Farrar, Lancs. Inquests, i., 150). Simon is recorded here: Feoffment of 20a. in Padiham commencing at Kalderford, and extending, on both sides of the road from Cliderouhe, as far as the moor. (1) *John de Lascy, Earl of Lincoln and Constable of Chester. (2) Gilbert of Whithaker. Warranty clause. Witnesses: *Alan, a cleric, formerly steward, Ughtred of Hwall, Roger of Hwall, Adam of Blakeburn, Simon of Herice, Peter, Receiver of Cliderouh, Elia of Plesington, Thomas of Altham, Henry of Clayton, and John of Thelewell. Given at Colne. Rent: 20s. p.a. payable at the feast of St. Giles. 1237 (Lanc. Arch., DDKS 10/1).

Land in Mearley and Twiston was granted by Robert de Laci, lord of Clitheroe, to Ralph le Rous. It afterwards reverted to the superior lord, the Earl of Lincoln (Edmund de Laci, son of John) , in 1242, as the tenth part of a knight’s fee, being of the dower of the countess. (Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 385). By 1250, the Twiston portion was granted to Roger de Notton, who gave to Edmund de Laci the rent of 20s. and all the services of the free men of Twiston. (Duchy of Lanc. Anct. D. L 1214). This release was witnessed by Simon de Heriz, steward of Clitheroe, Roger, Dean of Whalley (d. 1249), and others’. (William Farrer and J Brownbill, eds., Hist. Co. Lanc., pp. 558-560, 1911). Simon de Heriz had some lordship in both Mearley and Twiston. His son, John de Heriz, held the same in 1281. (De Banco R. 41, m. 35 d.). He was deceased by 1292, when his widow claimed dower in Walter (son of Hugh) de Twisleton’s tenement, ibid.

Simon de Heriz, steward of Clitheroe, held two oxtangs there, which his widow, Isabell gifted to her eldest son, John, in 1255, reserving for her younger son, William, the right to take wood from this estate (Salthill). (Final Conc. Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches., i, 118). These are the 2 oxtangs held by Ralph le Rous in Clitheroe, and would have been granted to Simon de Heriz by Edmund de Laci, between 1242-1250, or by his father, John de Laci, to whom Simon was steward in Clitheroe. The manor house of Salthill became known as ‘The Alleys’, and devolved to the Rishtons of Ponthalgh, and afterwards to the Radcliffes of Winmarleigh, (Towneley MS. DD, no. 1492). John de Heriz, lord of Salthill, had issue: Simon and Henry de Heriz, the former being killed by the latter in 1292, for interfering in a quarrel between Henry and Thomas de Standen. (Lanes, Inq, and Extents, i, 278). Either of the Heriz brothers were the father of William de Heriz, as given, and noted here:

Inquisition taken after the render of Henry de Lacy, late Earl of Lincoln (son of Edmund), in Com’ Lancaster, the 16th Febry, 4 Edwardi 2d. (1311). The Jury found William de Heriz held of the said Earl 18 acres of land in Worston paying yearly.In the same year, William de Heriz held one plough-land in Little Mearley by the eighth part of a knight’s fee and 9½d. rent, (Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii, 13). In 1349, his heirs were stated to hold the twelfth part of a fee. (Lansdowne Feodary in Baines’ Lancs. (ed. 1870), ii, 693); these being: Elizabeth, married to … *Nowell, Margaret to Robert de Morley; Katherine to Robert de Gaskell, and Agnes to Richard de Langley. (Shireburne abstract book).

Thus, this family of Heriz held the lands of Ralph le Rous by an enfeoffment, given nearly 150 years after Robert de Laci’s gift to Ralph, by a uterine descendant of Robert. The family of Mitton were likewise enfeoffed by the Lacis in Mearley, being feudatories of Henry de Laci: “In Mitton sunt iij car. terræ, under hær’ domini Radulphi de Mitton ten’ de Comite, et Comes de rege in capite, et redd. fines wap., unde xiiij car. faciunt feod. milit”. Their undertenants in Mitton were the Nottons of Twiston.

IT WAS NOT BY DECENT, AS THE LANCASHIRE PEDIGREES SUGGEST, but by ‘ex dono et feoffamento’ that such tenancies were obtained.

As to the Heriz, if Ralph le Rous was Ralph Paynel (why ever not?), then his daughter’s marriage to Joscelin de Amundeville, and the link to Elias de Amundeville, fellow feudatory in Willoughby with John de Heriz, son of Ivo, and co-holder of the advowson of the church of Preston, 15 miles from Clitheroe, might suggest that the early John and Simon de Heriz of this account were sons of Ivo de Heriz, and had familial links to the family of FitzSimon.

Whatever the case, the only modern-day descendants of the family of Heriz would probably be through the Harris family of Radford, see previous notes.

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