Cecily de Welles (md Thomas Strickland)
M. Miles
Strickland married Cecily de Welles, dau. of Sir Robert de Welle(s).
Complete Peerage, vol XII/2 pp 436-440, sub Welle/Welles shows one
Robert de Welles, Lord Welles, who would be of the correct chronology
to be father of Cecily, but is shown as dying s.p.; AR Line 64-32
mentions his wife as Maud de Clare (her second marriage), and also
that he died s.p. Checking CP on Clifford, Maud is stated to have
married secondly, bef 16 Dec 1315, Robert de Welle, who died s.p. This
all appears to rule out Robert de Welle as having fathered any
children, at least by his wife Maud.
After looking at Moriarty's article The Stricklands of Sizergh, I also
note a footnote which states that Cecily de Welles was half-sister of
Roger de Clifford, whom, per CP, sub Clifford, appears to be the
designated heir of Robert de Clifford (first Lord Clifford) and Maud
de Clare, but who died s.p. and was succeeded by his brother Robert,
the next (3rd) Lord Clifford. This matches Moriarty's claim that
Cecily de Welles was a half-sister to Roger de Clifford, but is at
odds with CP.
I note that there appears precedence for the name of Cecily; under
CP's article on Adam de Welle, father of the above Robert, is stated
that he had two sisters, Cecily and Aline, who did not marry. I have
seen Cecily in unreliable sources online identified as this Cecily,
which would make her a daughter of the previous Robert de Welle,
father of Adam, but this is chronologically impossible. There is also
another Cecilia mentioned in CP, sub Welle(s), a daughter of Adam, who
was a nun.
Has anything new come to light on this issue, or does anyone have any
additional clues or ideas as to how Cecily de Welles, wife of Thomas
Strickland, fits into this family, or the discrepancy between CP and
Moriarty, both of which appear to be two pretty reliable sources.
Couldn't find anything regarding this posted within this newsgroup.
Many thanks,
M. Tew Miles