C.P. Correction: Parentage of Sir Roger de Beauchamp, 1st Lord Beauchamp of Bletsoe
Douglas Richardson
The authoritative Complete Peerage, 2 (1912): 44-45 (sub Beauchamp)
has a good account of the life of Sir Roger de Beauchamp (died 1380),
lst Lord Beauchamp, of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, Lord Chamberlain of the
Household to King Edward III. This account states that Sir Roger de
Beauchamp was the son of Sir Giles de Beauchamp (died 1361), of
Alcester, Warwickshire and Powick, Worcestershire. As indicated in one
of my earlier posts on soc.genealogy.medieval, Roger and Giles both
married about the same time and their respective eldest sons and heirs
were the same approximate age. As such, it is chronologically
impossible for Roger to have been Giles' son.
Interestingly, the pedigree of the Saint John family in the visitation
of Bedfordshire identifies Sir Roger de Beauchamp as a son of Sir Giles
de Beauchamp's father, Sir Walter de Beauchamp, who died in 1303
[Reference: Harvey et al., Vis. of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, 1634 & 1669
(H.S.P. 19) (1884): 51-54].
However, in Sir Roger de Beauchamp's own will, he specifically refers
to Sir Walter de Beauchamp as his grandfather:
".... Whereas I am bound to do a service on the Infidels, by devise of
my grandsire, Sir Walter Beauchamp, to the expense of two hundred
marks, I will that Roger, son to Roger, my son, shall perform the same
when he comes of age." [Reference: Nicholas H. Nicolas, Testamenta
Vetusta, 1 (1826): 103-104].
So, who then was Sir Roger de Beauchamp's father? Extensive research
indicates that Sir Roger's known grandfather, Sir Walter de Beauchamp,
Knt. (died 1303), had six identifiable sons, Walter, William, Humphrey
(priest), Ralph, Giles, Knt., and Roger, as well as four daughters,
Pernel, Eleanor, Margaret, and Maud [Abbess of Godstow]. Evidence for
the six sons can be found in various sources, including various
charters published in Ligon, Madresfield Muniments (1929): 11-17. As
best can de determined, the eldest surviving son of Sir Walter de
Beauchamp who left issue was Sir Giles de Beauchamp (died 1361). Giles
was heir to his two older brothers, Walter and William de Beauchamp,
both of whom died without issue. In 1313 Giles was also granted lands
in Bransford, Worcestershire which formerly belonged to another
brother, Ralph de Beauchamp, then deceased.
As stated above, Sir Giles de Beauchamp (died 1361) can not
chronologically have been the father of Sir Roger de Beauchamp (died
1380); thus if Sir Roger was the grandson of Sir Walter de Beauchamp as
stated in Sir Roger's will, Sir Roger would necessarily have to be the
son of yet another brother of Giles de Beauchamp, albeit a younger
brother, presumably the brother named Roger.
Scanty details have survived regarding Sir Walter de Beauchamp's
youngest son, Roger de Beauchamp. Ligon, Madresfield Muniments (1929)
published a charter which shows that a Roger de Beauchamp was granted
land at Powick, Worcestershire in 1316 for life by Richard de Tony. The
author Ligon "presumed" that this Roger de Beauchamp was a younger son
of Sir Walter de Beauchamp. That Sir Walter de Beauchamp did in fact
have a younger son, Roger, is proven by a charter I found recently in
the published early deeds to St. Peter's Abbey, Gloucester:
"Grant by Abbot John (de Gamage) and the Convent of Gloucester to pay
Roger, son of Sir Walter de Beauchamp, 40s. annually till they have
preferred him to a benefice worth forty marks or more yearly. Feast of
St. Lucy [13 Dec.], 1298. Seal of Abbey." [Reference: Transactions of
the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 38 (1915): 30].
I've checked for further details of this Roger de Beauchamp, and do not
find that he held any higher church office as one might expect of a
near kinsman of the Earl of Warwick. Rather, it appears that Roger de
Beauchamp left the church before taking holy orders, was granted
property at Powick, Worcestershire, married, and had a son, Roger the
younger. The senior Roger was evidently dead before 1320, when a
confirmation charter was issued naming Sir Walter de Beauchamp's three
sons then known to be living, Walter, William, and Giles [Reference:
Haines, Cal. of the Reg. of Wolstan de Bransford (Worcestershire Hist.
Soc. n.s. 4) (1966): 173-175]. Of Sir Walter's other sons, Ralph was
already deceased, and no mention is found of Humphrey in this time
period.
In conclusion, surviving records indicate that Sir Walter de Beauchamp,
died 1303, had six sons in all, the youngest of whom, Roger de
Beauchamp, occurs in the time period, 1298-1316. This Roger de
Beauchamp appears to have been the father of Sir Roger de Beauchamp,
1st Lord Beauchamp of Bletsoe, which Sir Roger was a lineal ancestor of
King Henry VII of England.
For further details regarding Sir Roger de Beauchamp, 1st Lord
Beauchamp of Bletsoe, his ancestry and descendants, see Douglas
Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry (2004) and Magna Carta Ancestry
(2005).
For interest's sake, the following is a list of the 17th Century New
World colonists who descend from Sir Roger de Beauchamp, 1st Lord
Beauchamp of Bletsoe, died 1380:
Barbara Aubrey, William Bladen, George & Nehemiah Blakiston, Thomas
Booth, Elizabeth Butler, Hannah, Samuel & Sarah Levis, Joseph & Mary
Need, Elizabeth Saint John, Mary Johanna Somerset.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah