ODDINGESELLES-LONGESPEE-FITZWALTER

[rbodi...@aol.com]

William de Oddingeselles, of Solihull and Maxstonek, Warwickshire served
as
Justiciar of Ireland from 19 Oct 1294 until his death on 19 Apr 1295. His
wife was Ela whose parentage appears to be in question depending on which
source is consulted. The significance of this couple is that their
grandsons
included, among others, John, 2nd Baron Clinton and John, 2nd Baron Grey
of
Rotherfield, both lines producing many descendants.

Sources favoring Ela as daughter of Walter Fitz Robert (d. 1258), son of
the
Magna Charta Baron Robert Fitz Walter (d. 1235) include: Ancestral Roots,
7th Edition (p. 33), Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, 4th Edition (p. 60),
Donald
Lines Jacobus in The Boston Evening Transcript genealogical column of 1
Feb
1928, and the earliest to mention this relationship, the very dubious
Wurtz's
Magna Charta Barons.

Making this relationship questionable is Paget's Baronage (No. 334) which
names only 3 children of Walter Fitz Robert and wife Ida de Longespee:
Robert, Catherine and Lora. The Complete Peerage, 11: 382 says Ida de
Longespee did marry Walter Fitz Robert, but not the son of the Magna
Charta
Baron, rather the son of one Robert Fitz Philip, which seems to confirm
the
earlier volume, 3: 313 wherein it is stated that Ida's daughter, Ida, who
married John, 1st Baron Clinton, was the daughter of Walter Fitz Robert,
of
Woodham Walter, not a manor held by the son of the Magna Charta Baron.

Sources favoring Ela as daughter of William de Longespee (d. 1226), Earl
of
Salisbury are Baker's History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton
(2: 294) and Europaesche Stammtafeln, vol. 3, part 2, table 356a. This
however is not feasible. The elder Earl of Salisbury died 1226. Ela's
five
children were born between 1270 and 1277, making her 51 at the birth of
her
youngest child.

So, it would seem that everyone (Ancestral Roots, Magna Charta Barons,
Europaesche Stammtafeln, Baker, Wurtz (of course), and D.L. Jacobus are
wrong
and The Complete Peerage is right, that the wife of William de
Oddingselles
was Ela, daughter of Walter Fitz Robert, of Woodham Walter, co. Essex (son
of Robert Fitz Philip) and his wife Ida, daughter of William de Longespee
II (d. 1250),
Earl of Salisbury, son of the elder William, and therefore is NOT the
granddaughter of the Magna Charta Baron, Robert Fitz Walter.

Any concurring or dissenting opinions are most welcome.

Ronny
RBodi...@aol.com