Deyville in the details: New marriage for Denise Fitz William, wife of Sir Robert D'Eyville

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

Recently I was doing research on the immediate family of Sir Robert d'Eyville (living 1242-3), of Egmanton, Nottinghamshire, and his wife, Denise Fitz William, which lady was a granddaughter of Hamelin, Earl of Surrey, the half-brother of King Henry II of England.

Complete Peerage 4 (1916): 131 (sub Deiville) identifies Denise Fitz William as the "daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz William, of Sprotborough, co. York."
Denise was actually Sir Thomas Fitz William's own sister. C.P. further states Denise married Robert D'Eyville in or before 1229. No mention is made of her death date, although a footnote suggests she survived her husband Robert who was living in June 1242.

This past month I located a lawsuit dated 1279 in which Robert and Denise's son, John D'Eyville, acknowledged that he owed John de Lovetot and his wife, Margaret, a debt of £40. Mention is made in the lawsuit of the will of John D'Eyville's mother, Denise.

Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/29, image 455f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no29/aCP40no29fronts/IMG_0455.htm).

From this record, we know that Denise Fitz William was dead by 1279.

This past week I came across new information on Denise Fitz William in the following source:

Chibnall, Sherington (1965): 44, 45 (Cockfield ped.), 55-56.

The author shows that Denise Fitz William had a hitherto unknown first marriage to Adam de Cockfield, of Feltwell, Suffolk, Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, Sherington, Buckinghamshire, and Stoke Lyne, Oxfordshire, etc., son and heir of Adam de Cockfield, Knt., of Feltwell, Suffolk, Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, etc., by Agatha, daughter and co-heiress of Robert d'Aguillon, Knt. Adam was born about 1198 (came of age in 1219). He died without issue in 1221. Following Adam's death, his brother and heir, Robert de Cockfield, granted a messuage and five acres of land in Sherington, Buckinghamshire in 1223 to Simon Fitz Adam, in exchange for another messuage and a virgate quitclaimed to himself and Denise de Cockfield and William de Sherington by the said Simon. The author states further that Denise married (2nd) before 1227 Robert D'Eyville and that she died in 1260-1.

For interest's sake, the following is a list of the mumerous 17th Century New World immigrants that descend from Denise Fitz William and her 2nd husband, Sir Robert D'Eyville:

Elizabeth Alsop, William Asfordby, Frances Baldwin, Dorothy Beresford, William Bladen, George & Nehemiah Blakiston, Mary Bourchier, James & Norton Claypoole, William Crymes, Francis Dade, William Farrer, Anne, Elizabeth & John Mansfield, Richard Palgrave, William Skepper, Diana & Grey Skipwith.

I've copied below my revised file account of Denise Fitz William including this new information. For further details on her ancestry and extended family, please see my book, Royal Ancestry, 5 volume set, published in 2013.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

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6. ROBERT D'EIVILLE, Knt., of Egmanton, Nottinghamshire, Stoke Lyne, Oxfordshire, etc., son and heir. He married after 1223 and before 1227 DENISE FITZ WILLIAM, widow of Adam de Cockfield, of Feltwell, Suffolk, Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, Sherington, Buckinghamshire, and Stoke Lyne, Oxfordshire, etc. (died 1221), and daughter of William Fitz William, of Sprotborough, Yorkshire, Plumtree, Nottinghamshire, etc., by Ela, daughter of Hamelin, 5th Earl of Surrey [see FITZWILLIAM 8 for her ancestry]. His wife, Denise, had lands in Skegby, Nottinghamshire in free marriage. They had two sons, John, Knt., and Adam, Knt., and one daughter, Margaret. In 1223 Robert de Cockfield granted a messuage and five acres of land in Sherington, Buckinghamshire to Simon Fitz Adam, in exchange for another messuage and a virgate quitclaimed to himself and Denise de Cockfield and William de Sherington by the said Simon. In 1229 John de Lungvilers brought an assize of novel disseisin against Robert and his wife, Denise, regarding a tenement in Skegby, Nottinghamshire. In 1242-3 Thomas Fitz William brought an assize of mort d'ancestor against Robert and his wife, Denise (sister of the said Thomas), regarding the manor of Greetwell, Lincolnshire; Thomas granted them the manor to hold to them and the heirs of Denise rendering 13 marks annually. SIR ROBERT D'EIVILLE was living in 1242-3. In or before 1250 she was fined 35 marks by the justice of the forest pleas in Yorkshire. In 1251 Denise d'Eyville leased the manor of Sherington, Yorkshire to John de Cave. In or after 1252 John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey brought a writ of entry against his widow, Denise, concerning the manor of Greetwell, Lincolnshire, and agreement was made so that Thomas Fitz William rendered the manor to the earl. In 1260 Thomas Fitz William granted various lands in Barnburgh, Barnthorpe, Harlington, and elsewhere in Yorkshire to his sister, Denise, widow of Robert d'Eyville, in exchange for the manor of Greetwell, Lincolnshire. At an unknown date, she gave Alan Hille, called the miller, her native with all his family to Monk Bretton Priory, Yorkshire. Denise died testate in 1260-61.

References:

Blomefield, Essay towards a Top. Hist. of Norfolk 2 (1805): 178 (Beaufo-Aguillon-Cockfield ped.). Testa de Nevill (1807): 7. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum 5 (1825): 132-133. Atkinson, Cartularium Abbathiæ de Rievalle (Surtees Soc. 83) (1889): 223-224 (charter dated pre-1284 of John de Eyville; charter granted with consent of his mother, Denise; charter witnessed by his brother, Sir Adam de Eyville). Giffard, Reg. of Walter Giffard Lord Archbishop of York 1266-1279 (1904): 52. Lincolnshire Notes & Queries 9 (1907): 188-189. C.P. 4 (1916): 130-131 (sub Deiville) (author erroneously identifies Denise Fitz William, wife of Robert de Daiville, as the "daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz William, of Sprotborough, co. York;" Sir Thomas Fitz William was actually her brother). Foster, Final Concords of Lincoln from the Feet of Fines A.D. 1244-1272 2 (Lincoln Rec. Soc. 17) (1921): 288. Book of Fees 2 (1923): 1065. VCH Buckingham 4 (1927): 451-458. VCH Oxford 6 (1959): 312-323. Chibnall, Sherington (1965): 44, 45 (Cockfield ped.), 55-56. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/29, image 455f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no29/aCP40no29fronts/IMG_0455.htm).

Children of Robert D'Eiville, Knt., by Denise Fitz William:

i. JOHN D'EIVILLE, Knt. [see next].

ii. MARGARET D'EIVILLE, married JOHN DE LOVETOT, Knt., of Great Stambridge, Essex, Thele (in Stanstead St. Margaret's), Hertfordshire, etc. [see PASHLEY 7].

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

Credit for identifying Denise Fitz William's correct placement as the sister, rather than daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz William, of Sprotborough, Yorkshire belongs to John Ravilious.

I've copied a post below by John Ravilious dated 2012 which provides the evidence which proves Denise Fitz William's parentage.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

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Sent: Thu, Dec 6, 2012 12:35 pm

Dear Will,

The evidence providing the correction was found in the Testa de
Nevill, which provided the following re: Skegby, Notts. (my
rendering):

" Item Robert de Anill [Avill] and John de Nunnulers
[Lungvilers] held one knight's fee in SKEGHEBY of Thomas fitz William,
and Thomas of the Countess [Alice, Countess of Eu], and the Countess
of the King of the new feoffment; which they held in free-marriage
with the two sisters of the same Thomas." [1]

This text places Denise, wife of Robert de Avill (or d'Eyvill, fl
ca 1200- bef 28 Oct 1244) one generation earlier than I previously
showed.

It also provides the correct placement of Elena, the Lungvilers
wife as sister-in-law and not daughter of Robert d'Eyvill and Denise
Fitz William. My earlier placement was due to evidence that John
d'Eyvill was the nephew of Elena, and the chronological conundrum this
created [2]. Now that Elena can be correctly shown as Denise's
sister, identifying her nephew as John d'Eyvill (fl. ca. 1230-bef Oct
1291) is not problematic.

Cheers,

John


Notes

[1] Testa de Nevill (London, 1807), p. 7. The text reads in essence
(with contractions):
" It' Rob's de Anill & Joh'es de Nunnulers tene't feod' uni'
milit' in SKEGHEBY de Thom' fil' Will'i & Thom' de com' & comitissa de
Rege de novo feoffam'to quia cep't iu'd cu' maritagio duar' soro' d'ci
Thom'. "


http://books.google.com/books/about/Testa_de_Nevill_sive_liber_feodorum_in_C.html?id=dSVDAAAAcAAJ


[2] The University of Nottingham Library Manuscripts and Special
Collections
Catalogue of Mellish Collection, Deeds and Title Papers
early C12 to 1837, Me D 4/1-26, 13th Century to 1410
[Bundle of Deeds of Skegby, Nottinghamshire]

' Me D 4/4 13th C
Feoffment of lands and tenements in Skegby:
Elena de Lungvilers to Jn. de Eyvill her nephew.
Location: Skegby, Nottinghamshire.'

new URL http://longford.nottingham.ac.uk/
12/7/12

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

As a followup to John Ravilious' post in 1212, I can add the following information regarding the immediate family of Sir Robert d'Eyville and his wife, Denise Fitz William.

Mr. Ravilious previously posted a record from Testa de Nevill which showed that Robert d'Eyville and John de Lungvilers held one knight's fee in Skegby, Nottinghamshire in 1242-3 of Thomas fitz William ... "which they held in free-marriage with the two sisters of the same Thomas."

See the following weblink for the original Testa de Nevill record:

https://books.google.com/books?id=_Jk0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7

At a later date, Ellen, widow of John de Lungvilers, granted her nephew, John d'Eyville [son of Robert and Denise] lands and tenements in Skegby, Nottinghamshire, as indicated by the following record:

Nottingham University Library, Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections: Papers of the Mellish Family of Hodsock, Nottinghamshire, 1160-1911, Me D 4/4 (available at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk).

"Date: 13th C

Feoffment of lands and tenements in Skegby, Nottinghamshire.

Elena de Lungvilers to Jn. de Eyvill her nephew." END OF QUOTE.

It appears that a rent of £10 in the manor of Skegby, Nottinghamshire was subsequently used as the maritagium for John de Deyville's sister, Margaret, wife of Sir John de Lovetot. This rent was evidently the cause of a £40 debt which John D'Eyville acknowledged that he owed John de Lovetot and his wife, Margaret, in 1279 [Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/29, image 455f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no29/aCP40no29fronts/IMG_0455.htm)].

The following year 1280 John de Lovetot and Margaret his wife released their claim to £10 rent in Skegby, Nottinghamshire to her brother, John D'Eyville, in exchange for the grant of one messuage and 20 acres of lands and the advowson of the church of Adlingfleet, Yorkshire [a Deyville family property].

The record of this exchange is published in Slingsby, Feet of Fines for York[shire] 1272-1300 (Yorkshire Arch. Soc. Rec. Ser. 121) (1956): 32. It reads as follows:

Westminster. Quind. of Mich. 8 Edw. I. Before Thomas Welond, Walter de Helyun, Roger de Leyc[estre] and William de Burnton', justices. Between John de Lovetot, quer., and John de Eyvill', deforc., of a messuage and 20 acres of land in Adelingflet [Adlingfleet] and of the advowson of the church there. Covenant. John de Lovetot's right. John de Lovetot and Margaret his wife and John de Lovetot's heirs to hold of John de Eyvill' and his heirs at a yearly rent of a rose at Mids. John de Eyvill' and his heirs to warrant. John de Lovetot and Margaret have quitclaimed for themselves and John de Lovetot's heirs to John de Eyvill' and his heirs all right and claim in a rent of 10l. which John and Margaret were wont to receive for the manors of John de Eyvill' of the manor of Skekeby." END OF QUOTE.

In 1289 Sir John de Lovetot presented his son, Master Nicholas de Lovetot, a subdeacon, to the church of Adlingfleet, Yorkshire [see Romeyn, Reg. of John le Romeyn Lord Archbishop of York 1 (Surtees Soc. 123) (1913): 92-93, 99].

Further evidence that Sir John de Lovevot's wife, Margaret, was a D'Eyville is provided by the heraldic seal employed by their daughter, Denise de Lovetot (living 1318), wife of Thomas de Normanville and Sir John de Wigton, which seal displays the arms of Normanville, Wigton, Lovetot, and D'Eyville [see Blore, History & Antiquities of Rutland (1811): 223]. Jeff Duvall earlier discussed this seal in a post here on the newsgroup in 2005, which post is entitled "Seal of Denise/Dionisa, widow of Thomas de Normanville (d. 1282) of Empingham."

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

This past week I located a lawsuit dated 1288 which involves the conveyance between Sir John de Eyville and his brother-in-law, Sir John de Lovetot, of the advowson of the church of Adlingfleet, Yorkshire. The lawsuit may be viewed at the following weblink:

Court of Common Pleas, CP40/71, image 7414f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no71/aCP40no71fronts/IMG_7414.htm).