Dear Newsgroup ~
Sir Roger Martel [died 1280], of Hinton Martell, Broadmayne, and Mappowder, Dorset, Glen Magna, Leicestershire, and Merston, Sussex, is a lineal descendant of William Martel, who was Steward of the King's Household under King Stephen [see Powicke & Fryde, Handbook of British Chronology (1961): 72]. Sir Roger Martel is of interest to many here on the newsgroup as he is in the ancestry of many 17th Century New World immigrants, including my own ancestor, John Baynard, Gent., of Maryland.
At the time of his death in 1280, Sir Roger Martel was survived by a wife, Joan, and two young daughters, Ela (wife of Peter Fitz Reynold, Knt.) and Joan (wife of Reynold Fitz Reynold). To my knowledge, the subsequent history of Sir Roger's widow, Joan, has never been determined. Recently, however, I located a Common Pleas lawsuit dated 1287 which indicates that Sir Roger Martel's widow, Joan, married (2nd) Sir Richard de Havering, of Shapwick, Dorset. A brief abstract of the 1287 lawsuit is given below:
In Hilary term 1287 Walter Chanfulur sued Eudone Martel and Richard de Haveryng and Joan his wife, executors of the will of Roger Martel, in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £6 4s. 2d. The said Walter likewise sued Richard Haveryng for a debt of 43s. and Joan his wife for a debt of 10 marks [see Court of Common Pleas, CP40/66, image 3471f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no66/aCP40no66fronts/IMG_3471.htm)].
In 1297 Sir Richard de Havering and Joan his wife complained that while he was in North Wales on the king’s service and under the king’s protection, John Glyde and others broke his house at Broadmayne, Dorset and assaulted his wife [see Cal. of Patent Rolls, 1292–1301 (1895):318].
Broadmayne, Dorset mentioned above was one of Sir Roger Martel's manors. His widow, Joan, presumably held it in dower with her 2nd husband, Sir Richard de Havering, which explains why she was living there in 1297. In 1301 Richard de Hardyng [recte Haveryng] presented to the church of Broadmayne, Dorset [see Hutchins, Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 2 (1863): 542]. Broadmayne manor and the advowson of the church subsequently descended to the respective families of Ela and Joan Martel, the daughters and co-heirs of Sir Roger Martel [see Feudal Aids 2 (1900): 31, 51, 67, 116]. Sir Richard de Havering's own manor of Shapwick, Dorset appears to have subsequently descended to the Plecy and Cammell families, of Dorset.
For interest's sake, I've copied below my current file account of Sir Roger Martel. The following is a list of the 17th Century New World immigrants that descend from Sir Roger Martel and his wife, Joan:
Barbara Aubrey, John Baynard, Dorothy Beresford, William Bladen, Elizabeth Bosvile, Charles Calvert, Francis Dade, Humphrey Davie, Mary Gye, Anne Humphrey, Mary Launce, Gabriel, Roger & Sarah Ludlow, John Oxenbridge, Herbert Pelham, George Reade, Mary Johanna Somerset, John Stockman, Rose Stoughton, Olive Welby, John West
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Historian & Genealogist
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1. ROGER MARTEL, Knt., of Hinton Martell, Broadmayne, and Mappowder, Dorset, Glen Magna, Leicestershire, and Merston, Sussex, son and heir of William Martel, Knt., of Merston, Sussex, by his wife, Margaret [see Hutchins, Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 3 (1868):140–141, 721; VCH Sussex 4 (1953): 158–160]. He married JOAN _____. They had two daughters, Ela and Joan. In 1272 the king granted him a weekly market and yearly fair to be held at his manors of Hinton, Dorset and Glen, Leicestershire [see C.Ch.R. 2 (1906): 184]. Sometime in the period, 1272–80, he witnessed a charter of Queen Eleanor of Provence, widow of King Henry III, to the Abbess and nuns of Tarrant [see C.Ch.R. 2 (1906): 227]. In 1274–5 Robert de Moyne Martel and Roger Kamyn arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against him and others touching common of pasture in Hodemein, Dorset [see Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 44 (1883): 138]. In 1274–5 Roger Martel arraigned an assize of darrein presentment against Margaret Martel touching the church of Merston, Sussex [see Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 44 (1883): 184]. At an unknown date, he granted Ivo Martel two carucates of land in Mappowder, Dorset for life, which fell to Roger by the death of William de Ponsent. SIR ROGER MARTEL died testate at Sherborne, Dorset 21 Feb. 1280 [see Cal. IPM 2 (1906): 201]. On 16 May 1280 the king ordered dower to be assigned to his widow, Joan, upon her taking oath not to marry without the king’s license [see C.C.R. 1279–1288 (1902): 12]. In 1280 Joan widow of Roger Martel sued Roger la Zouche in the Court of Common Pleas regarding the third part of various lands and two parts of one mill in Glen, Leicestershire, which she claimed as her dower [see Court of Common Pleas, CP40/36, image 3082f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no36/aCP40no36fronts/IMG_3082.htm)]. The same year Reynold Fitz Peter and Joan his wife sued Joan Martel, in the Court of Common Pleas that she render to them Joan daughter and heiress of Roger Martel whose custody belonged to the said Reynold and Joan [see Court of Common Pleas, CP40/36, image 3087f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no36/aCP40no36fronts/IMG_3087.htm)]. His widow, Joan, married (2nd) before Hilary term 1287 (date of lawsuit) RICHARD DE HAVERING (or HAVERINGS), Knt., of Shapwick, Dorset, Stanbridge (in Romsey), Hampshire, etc., and, in right of his wife, of Broadmayne, Dorset, son and heir of Richard de Havering, Knt., of Shapwick, Dorset, Stanbridge (in Romsey), Hampshire, etc. [see Cal. IPM 1 (1904): 203–208]. In Hilary term 1287 Walter Chanfulur sued Eudone Martel and Richard de Haveryng and Joan his wife, executors of the will of Roger Martel, in the Court of Common Pleas regarding a debt of £6 4s. 2d. The said Walter likewise sued Richard Haveryng for a debt of 43s. and Joan his wife for a debt of 10 marks [see Court of Common Pleas, CP40/66, image 3471f (available at
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E1/CP40no66/aCP40no66fronts/IMG_3471.htm)]. In 1287 Richard was appointed a commissioner for Dorset to enforce the articles of the statutes made at Winchester for the preservation of the peace. In 1297 he and Joan his wife complained that while he was in North Wales on the king’s service and under the king’s protection, John Glyde and others broke his house at Broadmayne, Dorset and assaulted his wife [see C.P.R. 1292–1301 (1895):318]. In 1301 Richard de Hardyng [recte Haveryng] presented to the church of Broadmayne, Dorset [see Hutchins Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 2 (1863): 542]. In 1313 Sir Richard granted the reversion a rent of 11 marks in Stanbridge (in Romsey), Hampshire to Thomas Danvers and Agnes his wife and the heirs of Agnes [see VCH Hampshire 4 (1911): 452–469; National Archives, CP 25/1/205/17, #22]. A pedigree of the Plecy and Cammel families published in Hutchins Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 3 (1868): 166 alleges that a certain John Plecy, senior married Elizabeth “daughter and coheir of Sir Richard Havering.” If correct, this would explain the subsequent passage of the manor of Shapwick Plecy, Dorset from the Havering family to the Plecy and Cammell families. For further particulars of Sir Richard de Havering, see Hutchins Hist. & Antiqs. of Dorset 3 (1868): 165–166; C.P.R. 1281–1292 (1893): 264–265; Feudal Aids 2 (1900): 16, 32; Cal. IPM 2 (1906): 323–332; Cal. IPM 3 (1912): 288–321; St. George’s Roll dated c.1285 (arms of Richard de Haveringes: Argent a lion rampant double queued gules) (available at
perso.numericable.fr/briantimms1/rolls/StGeorgesE8.html).
Children of Roger Martel, Knt., by Joan _____:
i. ELA MARTEL, married PETER FITZ REYNOLD, Knt., of Chewton, Somerset.
ii. JOAN MARTEL, married REYNOLD FITZ REYNOLD, of Hinton Martell, Dorset.