Margaret (or Margery) de Scales, wife of Walter de Bermingham, Knt. (died 1361) and Robert Howard, Knt. (died 1388).

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

Margaret (or Margery) de Scales (died c.1416), daughter of Robert de Scales, 3rd Lord Scales, is known to have had two marriages. I originally proposed that Margaret married (1st) before 10 March 1363 Sir Robert Howard, Knt., of East Winch, Norfolk, who died in 1388; and (2nd) Sir Walter Bermingham, Knt., of Ireland. By Margaret's marriage to Robert Howard, she is ancestral to the later Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, and Queen Katherine Howard, wife of King Henry VIII of England.

Evidence of Margaret Scales' marriage to Sir Walter Bermingham consists of two records in the Patent Rolls, both dated 1401, which I've copied below:

Feb. 10. [1401]. Grant for life to Margaret late the wife of Robert Howard, knight, that she may received all issues from the lands, rents and services which she holds in Ireland in dower of the endowment of Walter Bermyngham, knight, sometime her husband, with arrears, notwithstanding any ordinances or statutes against absence from Ireland. Reference: Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1399-1401 (1903): 427, available at the following weblink:

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h4v1/body/Henry4vol1page0427.pdf

May 1. [1401]. Margaret Howard, late the wife of Walter Bermyngham, knight, staying in England, has letters nominating John Stanlee, knight, and Hugh Bavent her attorneys in Ireland for two years. Reference: Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1399-1401 (1903): 427, available at the following weblink:

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h4v1/body/Henry4vol1page0474.pdf

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The above two records inform us that Margaret Howard was "sometime" the wife of Walter Bermyngham, knight, of Ireland. But we are not told when she was married to this husband. However, a likely assumption would be that she married Sir Walter Bermingham after the death of her husband, Sir Robert Howard, in 1388, and before 1401.

In the course of my research on the Howard family, however, I've located three different records which pertain to Margaret Scales during her Howard widowhood. In all three records, she is called Margaret Howard, not Margaret Bermingham.

1. In 1394-5 William Bolt and others were outlawed on an action by Margaret, widow of Robert Howard, Knt., for one third of a whale stranded at Terrington, Norfolk. Reference: Chancery Miscellanea 8 (List & Index Soc. 105) (1974): 286.

2. In 1399 Margaret widow of Robert Howard knight sued Walter son of Henry Baldyng and three others in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Terrington, Norfolk. Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/555, image 292d (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/bCP40no555dorses/IMG_0292.htm).

3. In 1399 Margaret widow of Robert Howard knight sued John Ferour, of Tilney, Norfolk, in the Court of Commons Pleas regarding the detention of a horse.
Reference: Court of Common Pleas, CP40/555, image 165f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0165.htm).

So if Margaret Scales was Margaret Howard in 1394-5, 1399, and 1401, the question arises when did she marry Sir Walter Bermingham, of Ireland?

The answer to that question is found in a record in the Calendar of Patent Rolls for 1363, which provides the following information:

10 March [1363]. Robert Howard and Margaret, his wife, staying in England, have letters nominating John de Bothevill and William de Methele as their attorneys in Ireland for two years. Reference: Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1361-1364 (1912): 320.

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/e3v12/body/Edward3vol12page0320.pdf

The above record indicates that Robert Howard and his wife, Margaret Scales, had landed interests in Ireland in 1363, which explains why they needed powers of attorney in Ireland in that year. Since the Howard family had no lands in Ireland, these Irish interests would surely have belonged to Robert Howard's wife, Margaret. And, since we know that Margaret Scales had dower rights to lands in Ireland in 1401 from her Bermingham marriage, it would appear that Margaret Scales must have married Sir Walter de Bermingham, of Ireland, before 1363, and that the earlier power of attorney dated 1363 relates to her Bermingham dower lands.

So who was Margaret Scales' first husband, Sir Walter de Bermingham, knight? The following record in the Parent Rolls pertain to a certain Sir Walter de Bermingham, a knight, who was then still a minor, who was going to Ireland in 1358 by the king's order, and who appointed attorneys to represent him in England during his time in Ireland:

July 28. [1358]. Admission of Laurence de Flete, knight, and Roger de Meers to be guardians of Walter de Bermyngham, knight, a minor, who by the king's order is going to Ireland, to sue and defend all pleas and quarrels for him in England for one year. Reference: Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1358-1361 (1895): 89, which may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/e3v11/body/Edward3vol11page0089.pdf

This Sir Walter de Bermingham may be readily identified as Sir Walter de Bermingham, son and heir of Sir Walter de Bermingham, Knt., of Castle-Carbury, co. Kildare, Ireland, Schanbo, co. Kilkenny, etc., Justiciar of Ireland, 1346-9, by Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas de Multon, Knt., 1st Lord Multon of Egremont. He was baptized at Fleet, Lincolnshire 24 June 1337 [Reference: Proof of age for Walter de Bermingham, Cal. of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 10, page 434]. He died without issue 10 August 1361 {References: Annales Hiberniae, pg. 176; Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts, pg. 433].

I might note that Complete Peerage 11 (1949): 507 (sub Scales) mentions Margaret Scales, wife of Sir Robert Howard, but makes no mention of her marriage to Sir Walter de Bermingham.

For interest's sake, I've copied below my file account of Margaret (or Margery) de Scales and her two husbands, Sir Walter der Bermingham and Sir Robert Howard. For further particles on the Scales, Bermingham, and Howard families, please see my book, Royal Ancestry [5 volume set], published in 2013.

The following includes a list of the numerous 17th Century New World immigrants that descend from Margaret (or Margery) de Scales and her 1st husband, Sir Robert Howard:

Marmaduke Beckwith, Dorothy Beresford, William Bladen, Thomas Booth, Mary Bourchier, Edward Bromfield, Nathaniel Burrough, Elizabeth, John, and Thomas Butler, Charles Calvert, Kenelm Cheseldine, Grace Chetwode, William Clopton, William Crymes, Francis Dade, Anne Derehaugh, Henry Fleete, Muriel Gurdon, Anne Humphrey, Edmund Jennings, Edmund, Edward, Richard, & Matthew Kempe, Anne & Katherine Marbury, Thomas Owsley, Herbert Pelham, Henry & William Randolph, Mary Johanna Somerset, Margaret Touteville, Jemima Waldegrave, John West, Hawte Wyatt.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

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MARGARET (or MARGERY) DE SCALES, married (1st) WALTER DE BERMINGHAM (or BERMYNGHAM), Knt., of Ireland, son and heir of Sir Walter de Bermingham, Knt., of Castle-Carbury, co. Kildare, Ireland, Schanbo, co. Kilkenny, etc., Justiciar of Ireland, 1346-9, by Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas de Multon, Knt., 1st Lord Multon of Egremont. He was baptized at Fleet, Lincolnshire 24 June 1337. They had no issue. In 1358, he then being a knight and still a minor, he appointed attorneys to represent him in England, he then going to Ireland on the king's order. SIR WALTER DE BERMINGHAM died 10 August 1361. His widow, Margaret, married (2nd) before 10 March 1363 ROBERT HOWARD, Knt., of East Winch, East Walton, Fersfield, Garboldisham, South Clenchwarton, South Wootton, Terrington, and Wiggenhall, Norfolk, Brokes (in Ipswich), Suffolk, etc., son and heir of John Howard, Knt., of East Wnch and Wiggenhall, Norfolk, Admiral of the Fleet north of the Thames, by Alice, daughter of Robert de Bois, Knt. He was born about 1342 (age 30 in 1372). They had three sons, John, Knt., Edmund, and Robert, and three daughters, Alice (nun at Thetford), Margaret, and Katherine. In 1362, going beyond seas with Thomas de Ufford, he had letters nominating Robert de Causton, Knt. and John Bertilmeu as his attorneys in England for two years. In Feb. 1363, staying in England, he had letters nominating John de Shardelowe, Knt., and John Bothevyll as his attorneys in Ireland for two years. In March 1363, he and his wife, Margaret, staying in England, they had letters nominating John de Bothevill and William de Methele as their attorneys in Ireland for two years. In March 1366, staying in England, he had letters nominating Robert Mayn and Richard de Walton as his attorneys in England in Ireland for one year. In 1368 he sued Edward de Saint Omer and others regarding a tenurial and prescriptive duty for tenements in Tilney, Norfolk to repair and sustain a wall against sea storms and freshwater flooding. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in June 1378, for detaining Margery de Nerford from her grandmother, Lady Alice Neville, with the intention of resisting an appeal pending in the papal court in Margery's suit to annul her contract of marriage with John de Brewes. In August 1378 Robert was released by decision of the Council, provided he make every effort to bring Margery before the Council at the quinzaine of Michaelmas next. On his failure to produce Margery, he was again arrested and released on mainprise 11 December 1378, on Margery being brought before the Council 10 December. In May 1379 he was granted an exemption for life from being put on assizes, juries or recognizances, and from being made a mayor, sheriff, escheator, coroner, etc. In 1386 he petitioned the king, requesting that the king order Thomas de Morley, Knt., and his colleagues to stay all proceedings in an assize of oyer and terminer into an alleged trespass by Howard and others at Bressingham, Norfolk; he further stated the assize was brought maliciously by Edmund Noon in retaliation for an assize brought against him by Robert and his wife, Margaret, over free tenements in Bressingham, Fersfield, and Tilney, Norfolk. SIR ROBERT HOWARD died at East Winch, Norfolk 18 July 1388. He left a will proved July 1389. In 1394-5 William Bolt and others were outlawed on an action by Margaret, widow of Robert Howard, Knt., for one third of a whale stranded at Terrington, Norfolk. In 1399 she sued Walter son of Henry Baldyng and three others in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a trespass [vi et armis] at Terrington, Norfolk. The same year she sued John Ferour, of Tilney, Norfolk, in the Court of Commons Pleas regarding the detention of a horse. Margaret left a will dated 8 May 1416. Robert and his wife, Margaret, were buried in the south side of the chancel at East Winch, Norfolk.

References:

Blomefield, Essay towards a Top. Hist. of Norfolk 1 (1739): 70-71; 1 (1805): 74-114; 3 (1769): 155-171; 5 (1806): 235-259. Brydges, Collins' Peerage of England 1 (1812): 50-143. Burke, Dict. of the Peerages... Extinct, Dormant & in Abeyance 2 (1832): 231-235 (sub Howard). Ellis, Original Letters of Eminent Lit. Men (Camden Soc. 23) (1843): 114-123, esp. 115 (Howard ped.: "Robertus Howard miles. = Margareta filia Rob'ti d'ni Scales supervixit maritum."). Top. & Gen. 2 (1853): 90-96. Harvey, Vis. of Norfolk 1563 1 (1878): 15-16 (Howard ped.: "Sir Robt. Howard knight = Margaret dr. of Robert Lord Scalles"). Waters, Chester of Chicheley 1 (1878): 253-255 (Scales ped.). Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited & Extinct Peerages (1883): 284 (sub Howard). Genealogist n.s. 3 (1886): 90-91. Harvey et al. Vis. of Norfolk 1563 & 1613 (H.S.P. 32) (1891): 162-164 (Howard ped.: "Sir Robert Howard, knight = Margaret da. to Robert, lord Scales"). C.P.R. 1358-1361 (1895): 89. C.P.R. 1377-1381 (1895): 38, 41, 47, 96, 299, 307, 347, 360, 417, 420, 472, 513, 515, 571, 579, 581. C.P.R. 1399-1401 (1903): 427, 474. Wrottesley, Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 414-415. Brenan & Statham, House of Howard 1 (1907). C.P.R. 1396-1399 (1909): 129. Copinger, Manors of Suffolk 4 (1909): 121-122. C.P.R. 1361-1364 (1912): 251, 311, 320. C.P.R. 1364-1367 (1912): 227. C.C.R. 1377-1381 (1914): 149, 204, 220, 222, 227-228. C.P.R. 1370-1374 (1914): 289. C.P.R. 1374-1377 (1916): 133, 138, 328, 332, 485, 497. C.C.R. 1381-1385 (1920): 545-546, 613. C.P. 11 (1949): 507 (sub Scales). Cal. IPM 13 (1954): 267. Paget, Baronage of England (1957) 294: 1; 488: 1-8 (sub Scales). Chancery Misc. 5 (List & Index. Soc. 49) (1970): 200. VCH Cambridge 5 (1973): 230. Chancery Miscellanea 8 (List & Index Soc. 105) (1974): 286. Roskell, House of Commons 1386-1421 3 (1992): 431-433 (biog. of Sir John Howard). Palmer, English Law in the Age of the Black Death 1348-1381 (1993): 401. Court of Common Pleas, CP40/555, image 165f (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0165.htm). Court of Common Pleas, CP40/555, image 292d (available at http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/bCP40no555dorses/IMG_0292.htm). National Archives, SC 8/18/889; SC 8/183/9113 (available at www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp).

[Douglas Richardson]

In my post just now, I said "For further particles ..."

I meant to say "For further particulars ...."

DR

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

Since my post yesterday, I've located a record in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem which proves conclusively that Sir Walter de Bermingham (died 1361) left a widow, Margaret, who was living in 1363.

This information is found in the inquisition post mortem of John de Haveryngton (or Harington), the half-brother of Sir Walter de Bermingham, which inquisition was taken 1 July 1363. It states that John de Haveryngton held the third part of the manor of Moulton, Lincoln at his death "except a third part of the said third part which is held in dower by Margaret late the wife of Walter de Bermyngham the younger, and 100a. land which Robert de Haveryngton holds in fee tail by gift of Elizabeth his mother, formerly the wife of Walter de Bermyngham the elder." Reference: Calendar of IPM 11 (1935): 384-387, which may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.l0060644150;view=1up;seq=418

[Jan Wolfe]

Douglas,

Thank you for sharing information about the marriages of Margery Scales which corrects and adds to the information in the Howard article in Magna Carta Ancestry (2011).

In case you haven't already revised it, I have a suggestion for the footnote about Margaret Chedworth a few pages later in the Howard article (p. 412 in MCA). The footnote states, "Margaret Chedworth's 1st husband, Nicholas Wyfold, is known to have stayed at the English Hospice in Rome as did Margaret's parents, John and Joan Chedworth, and Margaret's uncle, Thomas Chedworth and his wife, Agnes [see Allen English Hospice in Rome (2005): 72-73]."

Nicholas Wyfold and the two Chedworths and their wives are indeed listed on the cited pages of the book, The English Hospice in Rome, but the cited list is not a list of people who stayed at the English Hospice in Rome. Rather it is list of contributors and confraternity members.

John Allen, ed., The English Hospice in Rome (Exeter: Catholic Records Press, 1962), is available in a Google preview at
http://books.google.com/books?id=fLEt5EbrwyAC
(The publication year of the book was 1962, not 2005. Was there a reprint published in 2005?)

Pages 72-73 in the cited book are in an article by John Allen, "Englishmen in Rome and the Hospice 1362-1474." In this article Allen provides, in Appendix 7, a chronological list of English residents in Rome 1333-1469. The cited pages, however, are from Appendix 8, "Confraternity members, 1446. Liber 16, Passim." In the introduction to Appendix 8, Allen explains, "It is a receipt book, drawn up in 1446 according to English dioceses. Names are those of contributors and of those who were enrolled members of the confraternity of St Thomas's, not the names of actual pilgrims to Rome." Allen's explanation of the names listed in Appendix 8 is on p. 68 of the book.

Thus is appears that neither Nicholas Wyfold nor the two Chedworth couples are known to have visited or stayed at the English Hospice in Rome. Rather they are known to have been benefactors or confraternity members in 1446. Wyfold's name appears on folio 11 v as "Nicholas Wyfold, alderman." Folio 11 is headed "Parish of St Edmund in Lumbardstrete" (in London). The Chedworth couples are listed on folio 14 as "Thomas Chedworth and Agnes his wife, John Chedworth and Joanna his wife." Folio 13 is headed "Worcester diocese."

Jan