Lord Baron Halton Richard FitzEustace Clavering

Notes:

Richard Fitz-Eustace, Baron of Halton and constable of Chester, m. Albreda, dau. and heir of Robert de Lisours and half sister of Robert de Lacy, and had issue, John, who becoming heir to his uncle, the said Robert de Lacy, assumed the surname of Lacy, and s. his father as constable of Chester, and was ancestor of the Earls of Lincoln of that family; Robert, the hospitaller, that is of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England; and Roger, surnamed FitzRichard, progenitor of the great families of Clavering. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 121, Clavering, Barons Clavering, and p. 555, Vesci, Barons Vesci]

Family/Spouse: Jane Bigod. Jane (daughter of Earl of East Anglia Roger Bigod and Adeliza de Toeni) was born about 1105 in Belvoir Castle, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Albreda (Aubrye) de Lisoures about 1150. Albreda (daughter of Robert "Eudo" de Lisoures and Albreda "Aubrye" de Lacy) was born about 1128 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England; died after 1193 in Halton Castle, Skipton, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Roger Fitz-Richard who was feudal Baron of Warkworth, Northumberland, a lordship granted to him by King Henry II, m. Alianor, dau. and co-heir of Henry of Essex, Baron of Raleigh, and was s. by his only son, Robert Fitz-Roger. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p.121, Clavering, Barons Clavering]

Roger married Alice de Vere before 1176. Alice (daughter of Lord Great Chamberlain of England Aubrey II de Vere and Alice FitzGilbert de Clare) was born before 1141 in Hedingham, Essex, England; died after 1185 in Warkworth Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Alice de Mandeville. Alice (daughter of Earl of Essex Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and Rohese de Vere) was born about 1140 in Rycott, Oxfordshire, England; died in 1182 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Roger de Lacy, constable of Chester, assisted at the siege of Acon in 1192 under the banner of the lion-hearted Richard, and shared in the subsequent triumphs of the chivalrous monarch. At the accession of John in 1199, he was a person of great eminence, for we find him shortly after the coronation of that prince deputed with the sheriff of Northumberland and other great men to conduct William, King of Scotland, to Lincoln, where the English king had fixed to give him an interview, and the next year he was one of the barons present at Lincoln, when David, of Scotland, did homage and fealty to King John.

In the time of this Roger, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, having entered Wales at the head of some forces, was compelled by superior numbers to shut himself up in the castle of Rothelan, where, being closely besieged by the Welsh, he sent for aid to the constable of Chester. Hugh Lupus, the 1st Earl of Chester, in his charter of foundation of the abbey of St. Werberg, at Chester, had given a privilege to the frequenters of Chester fair, "That they should not be apprehended for theft or any other offence during the time of the fair, unless the crime was committed therein. "This privilege made the fair, of course, the resort of thieves and vagabonds from all parts of the kingdom. Accordingly, the constable, Roger de Laci, forthwith marched to his relief at the head of a concourse of people then collected at the fair of Chester, consisting of minstrels and loose characters of all descriptions, forming altogether so numerous a body that the besiegers, at their approach, mistaking them for soldiers, immediately raised the siege. For this timely service, the Earl of Chester conferred upon de Lacy and his heirs the patronage of all the minstrels in those parts, which patronage the constable transferred to his steward, Dutton, and his heirs; and it is enjoyed to this day by the family of Dutton.

It is doubtful, however, whether the privilege was transferred to the Duttons by this constable or his successor. The privilege was, "That, at the midsummer fair held at Chester, all the minstrels of that country, resorting to Chester, do attend the heir of Dutton, from his lodging to St. John's Church (he being then accompanied by many gentlemen of the country, one of them walking before him in a surcoat of his arms depicted on taffeta, the rest of his fellows proceeding two and two, and playing on their several sorts of musical instruments."] When divine service terminates, the like attendance upon Dutton to his lodging, where a court being kept by his steward, and all the minstrels formally called, certain orders and laws are made for the government of the society of minstrels.

Roger de Lacy was s. by his son, John de Lacy, constable of Chester.[Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 310-311, Lacy, Earls of Lincoln]

Family/Spouse: Maud de Clere. Maud (daughter of 4th Earl of Hertford Richard de Clare and Countess of Gloucester Amicia) was born about 1176 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England; died in 1213. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John de Lacy, Constable of Chester, in the 15th year of King John, undertook the payment of 7,000 marks to the crown in the space of four years for the livery of the lands of his inheritance and to be discharged of all his father's debts due to the exchequer; further obliging himself by oath that, in case he should ever swerve from his allegiance and adhere to the king's enemies, all his possessions should devolve upon the crown; promising also that he would not marry without the king's license. By this agreement it was arranged that the king should retain the castles of Pontefract and Dunnington, still in his own hands; and that he, the said John, should allow 40 pounds per annum for the custody of those fortresses. But the next year he had Dunnington restored to him upon hostages. About this period he joined the baronial standard and was one of the celebrated twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Carta. But the next year he obtained letters of safe conduct to come to the king to make his peace, and he had similar letters upon the accession of Henry III, in the 2nd year of which monarch's reign he went with divers other noblemen into the Holy Land. He m. Margaret, dau. and heir of Robert de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, by Hawyse, 4th sister and co-heir of Ranulph de Meschines, Earl of Chester and Lincoln, which Ranulph, by a formal charter under his seal, granted the Earldom of Lincoln, that is, so much as he could grant thereof, to the said Hawyse, "to the end that she might be countess and that her heirs might also enjoy the earldom;" which grant was confirmed by the king and, at the especial request of the countess, this John de Lacy, constable of Chester, was created by charter, dated at Northampton, 23 November, 1232, Earl of Lincoln, with remainder to the heirs of his body, by his wife, the above-named Margaret. In the contest which occurred during the same year between the king and Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal, Matthew Paris states that the Earl of Lincoln was brought over to the king's party with John le Scot, Earl of Chester, by Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester, for a bribe of 1,000 marks. In 1237, his lordship was one of those appointed to prohibit Oto, the pope's legate, from establishing anything derogatory to the king's crown and dignity in the council of prelates then assembled; and the same year he had a grant of the sheriffalty of Cheshire, being likewise constituted governor of the castle of Chester. The earl d. in 1240, leaving Margaret, his wife, surviving, who re-m. William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. His lordship left issue, Edmund, his successor, and two daus., which ladies in the 27th Henry III, were removed to Windsor, there to be educated with the king's own daus.; of these, Maud m. Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester.[Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, London, 1883]

John married Margaret de Quincy on 20 Jun 1221. Margaret (daughter of Robert de Quincy and Hawise de Kevelioc) was born about 1206 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England; died before 30 Mar 1266 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England; was buried in Hospitallers, Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]