C.P. Correction: Margaret le Gras (not Marshal), wife of Ralph de Somery and Maurice de Gant

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

As I stated previously, the evidence is solid that Roger de Somery
(died 1273), 3rd son of Ralph de Somery (died c.1210) and Margaret le
Gras, married (1st) c.1232 Nichole (or Colette) d'Aubeney and (2nd) c.
1254 Amabil de Chaucombe. Roger de Somery's placement in the Somery
family tree is proven by the following two records copied below taken
from the online Catalogue of the National Archives which concern Roger
de Somery, his parents, Ralph and Margaret, and his nephew, William de
Englefield. These records are available at www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp.

Source: National Archives Catalogue

E 210/2932: Confirmation by Roger de Sumeri of an agreement between
Margaret his mother and William de Englefeld concerning a grant and
exchange of lands at Bradfield, Berkshire.

E 210/7057: Roger de Sumery to William de Englefeld: Quitclaim of the
service of one knight’s fee, viz: of a hide in Humeleye and of 4 hides
in Englefield, which Isabella, the grantor’s sister, held in dower, so
that the grantee and his heirs are not bound to render service except
for one knight in Englefield and another in Craunford, in accordance
with the charter which Ralph de Sumery, the grantor’s father, made to
Alan de Englefeld, father of the grantee. END OF QUOTE.

While the two records above are undated, the first record apparently
dates from about 1232, in which year Margaret (le Gras) de Somery
arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against her grandson, William
de Englefield, regarding a tenement in Bradfield, Berkshire [see Cal.
Patent Rolls, 1225–1232 (1903): 524].

In the same year, the king ordered that Nichole, 1st wife of Roger de
Somery, be assigned 30 librates of land from the manor of Leeds,
Yorkshire, which lands had been granted to Nichole for her marriage by
her uncle, Ranulph, late Earl of Chester and Lincoln [see Cal. Patent
Rolls, 1232–1247 (1906): 2–3; also see Geoffrey Barraclough, Charters
of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, c. 1071-1237 (Rec. Soc. of
Lancashire and Cheshire 126) (1988): 437–438].

The Patent Rolls item cited above may be viewed at the following
weblink:

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v3/body/Henry3vol3page0002.pdf
http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v3/body/Henry3vol3page0003.pdf

While the assignment of these lands in 1232 does not indicate that
Nichole d'Aubeney was then married, the implication is that she had
married in recent time, as she did not have possession of her
maritagium at the time her uncle, Earl Ranulph, died earlier in the
same year.

That Nichole d'Aubeney and Roger de Somery were married in or before
1232, is further indicated by the fact that Nichole's next oldest
sister, Maud d'Aubeney, was married before 1222 to Robert de
Tateshale. Likewise it can be shown that Nichole's oldest daughter,
Margaret de Somery, had a son Ralph Basset, who was an adult in or
before 1275. Also that Nichole's 2nd daughter, Joan de Somery, had a
son, John le Strange, who was born c.1253 (he being aged 23 in
1276). For Nichole d'Aubeney to have two adult grandchildren c.1275
would necessitate that she was married no later than say 1235, and
probably a bit earlier.

Even though Grazebrook [see below] claimed that he could find no
record of Roger de Somery between 18 Henry III [1233-4] and 27 Henry
III [1242-3], Roger most certainly was alive in 1240 as proven by the
following record cited by Complete Peerage:

PRO Assize Roll 1174 Staffordshire pleas, 1240, Dugdale, Warwickshire
p. 608 m.4

"Descendit de Gervasio Paenel cuidam Hawisie ut sorori et heredit. Et
de Hawise cuidam Radulphus ut filio et heredi. Et de Radulpho cuidam
alii Radulpho ut filio et heredi. Et de isto Radulpho cuidam Willelmo
ut fratris et heredi. Et de Willelmo cuidam Nicholao ut filio et
heredi. Et de Nicholao isti Rogero ut avunculo quia non habuit
heredem de corpore suo" END OF QUOTE.

Had there been an additional Roger de Somery living c.1232-1240, it
would surely have been reflected in the pleading above or in the Fine
Rolls. Instead we find no reference to a secondary Roger de Somery in
this time period.

In a previous post, I indicated that Nichole d'Aubeney, 1st wife of
Roger de Somery, had died sometime before 19 October 1253, by which
date her son, Ralph de Somery, had been assigned her share of the
Chester estates.

However, we can narrow down the death date of Nichole d'Aubeney a bit
more. There is a helpful account of the Somery family by Grazebrook
entitled Barons of Dudley published in Collections for a History of
Staffordshire, 9(2)) (1888). On pages 18-19, he shows that Nichole
d'Aubeney died before 20 Jan. 1247 (date of lawsuit), when her son,
Ralph de Somery, was included in a lawsuit among the Chester heirs.
I've copied a brief portion of that record below:

"Robert de Tateshale, junior, John FitzAlan, Ralph son of Roger de
Somery, and Roger de Monhaut and Cecilia his wife, sue Roger de Quincy
Earl of Wynton, to hold to a fine levied in the Court of the King
between Hugh de Albini formerly Earl of Surrey (the uncle of the said
Robert, John, and Ralph, and brother of Cecilia), whose heirs they
are ..." END OF QUOTE.

The above record may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://books.google.com/books?id=Am44AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA18

Grazebrook adds that in this same 1247 lawsuit that Ralph de Somery
(son of Nichole d'Aubeney) allegedly "complained that Roger de Somery
his grandfather [sic] held the manor of Barewe, by the courtesy of
England, after the death of his mother Nichola." However the
identification of Roger de Somery as Ralph de Somery's grandfather in
this pleading is surely in error. Lands held by courtesy of England
were assigned to a woman's husband, not to her father-in-law. Hence
Roger de Somery (husband of Nichole d'Aubeney) can only have been
Ralph de Somery's father, especially since Ralph names Nichole as his
mother.

The 1247 lawsuit further makes it clear that Roger de Somery (husband
of Nichole d'Aubeney) was living in 1247. We know that Roger de
Somery (husband of Nichole d'Aubeney) did not die until 1273, as
proven by Roger's own inquisition post mortem. By that date, Roger
and Nichole's only son, Ralph de Somery, had long been dead and
Nichole's lands were subsequently assigned to her four adult married
daughters.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

[Douglas Richardson]

Dear Newsgroup ~

In a previous post, I indicated that Roger de Somery and his 1st wife,
Nichole d'Aubeney, were almost certainly married on or about 22 Nov.
1232, on which date the king ordered that Nichole be assigned 30

librates of land from the manor of Leeds, Yorkshire, which lands had
been granted to Nichole for her marriage by her uncle, Ranulph, late
Earl of Chester and Lincoln [see Cal. Patent Rolls, 1232–1247 (1906):
2–3; also see Geoffrey Barraclough, Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls
of Chester, c. 1071-1237 (Rec. Soc. of Lancashire and Cheshire 126)
(1988): 437–438].

The Patent Rolls item cited above may be viewed at the following
weblink:

http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v3/body/Henry3vol3page0002.pdf
http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/patentrolls/h3v3/body/Henry3vol3page0003.pdf

The above record implies that Nichole d'Aubeney had married in recent
time (or was about to marry), as she clearly did not have possession

of her maritagium at the time her uncle, Earl Ranulph, died earlier in

the same year (1232).

I've since located a second record which proves that Roger de Somery
was unmarried on 25 June 1229. On that date, Roger and his step-
father, Maurice de Gaunt, reached an agreement, whereby Roger conveyed
the manors of Dudley (in Sedgeley) and Sedgeley, Staffordshire,
together with the advowsons of the churches, to the said Maurice for
seven years, together with the lands which the said Roger held of the
king at fee farm at Mere, Clent, and Swinford, Staffordshire, together
with the advowsons of the churches; the said Roger agreed to not marry
within the said term save with the consent of the said Maurice, his
heirs, or assigns [see Cal. Charters Rolls 1 (1903): 97].

The above record may be viewed at the following weblink:

http://books.google.com/books?id=iJorAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA97

Thus it would appear that Roger de Somery married Nichole d'Aubeney
sometime between 25 June 1229 and about 22 Nov. 1232. Inasmuch as
Roger de Somery appears to have been acting as an adult without a
guardian in 1229, it may be assumed that he was of legal age in 1229,
or born in or before 1208.

In a previous post, I indicated that Nichole d'Aubeney, 1st wife of

Roger de Somery, died sometime before 20 Jan. 1247, on which date her
son and heir, Ralph de Somery, was named in a lawsuit as one of the
heirs to Nichole's brother, Hugh d'Aubeney, Earl of Arundel [see
Grazebrook, Barons of Dudley, published in Collections for a History
of Staffordshire, 9(2)) (1888): 18-19].

We can narrow down the death date of Nichole d'Aubeney even a bit
more. My files notes indicate that Isabel, Countess of Arundel [widow
of Nichole's brother, Hugh], sued Roger de Somery and Nichole his wife
In 1244 for the third part of two carucates of land in Chipping
Campden, Gloucestershire, and one third part of one carucate of land
in Great Tew, Oxfordshire.

Thus, Nichole d'Aubeney, 1st wife of Roger de Somery, was living in
1244, and was dead before 20 Jan. 1247.