R.H. Beaumont's sources of information included
the deeds and documents in his own house, Whitley Hall (many of which are now in West Yorkshire Archives, ref DD/WB)
the documents seen by Roger Dodsworth in the seventeenth century, RHB had had access to Dodsworth's notes, at Oxford.
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| Part of a page from the RHB 1796 Family Tree Box 1/154 ff in this archive. 1280William is at the centre bottom, the down arrow leads to 1310Robert on another sheet. The sheets of paper are much larger than my A4 scanner! |
(A word about this family tree. R.H.Beaumont wrote it out and sent it to his distant cousin Revd Thomas Beaumont. From Thomas this has come down to me. It is on several sheets and contains facts as late as 1796 but no later).
1250William
William may be the second or third of the name since the "first Yorkshire Beaumont" and I doubt if we will ever know much more than we know now. It appears that he had died before about 1294, since a document date in that year his widow Elizabeth released to the chief lord Henry de Lacy her claim in land etc at Huddersfield. Dodsworth saw this document in Mr Hanson's collections (see YAJ 7 274). I don't know what family Elizabeth came from but it is quite likely that she was a Foss, or Fossato, the family that owned [South] Crosland in the mid thirteenth century. Right now I am guessing her father was the Richard de Fossato to whom John de Lacy earl of Lincoln had granted Crosland in the 1230s, that Hugh de Foss was her brother, and that it was Hugh's death that brought Crosland to the Beaumonts, perhaps around 1290.
Apparently William had four sons, the relationship between two of them and their father being set out in a charter dated 1303.
1281Richard
Richard may have been the eldest son. RHB wrote: Richard de Bellomont, Knight, held lands in Hodresfeld by grant of John son of Fulco de Batonia [NB, source for this likely to be WBD/VIII/2].
RHB wrote: Cecilia Haget late wife of Sir William [blank] appointed Hen. Haget her attorney to deliver possession of all her land &c. in SuthKirkby to Ric. de Bellomonte. Dated at York 1288. [NB, source for this not identified] [13/8/21. Dodsworth MS 155 fo.148 seems to be the source]
RHB wrote: And Isabel formerly wife of Ralph de Warkisworth gave to Ric. de Bellomonte & to whom &c [he might assign] all the lands which she had by grant of Cecilia her mother in SuthKirkby cum servitiis liberorum etc cum omnibus bondis et sequelis suis ad dictam terram pertin..[with the service of all free men and with the bonded men and followers appertaining to the said land] .. for a sum of money & paying one pair of white gloves and a penny.... at Easter to Adam Beston. Witnesses Sir John de Heton Knt., Thomas his son, John son of Jordan of the same, &c. &c. [NB, source for this not identified][13/8/21. Dodsworth MS 155 fo.148 seems to be the source]
RHB wrote: Richard married Annabella da. of [blank]. And to her, William, brother & heir of Sir Richard, quit-claimed all right in one mess. & 101 acres in Hudd. held of Sir Fulco de Batonia and Sir John his son, dated 26 Edw.I (1298) on St.Barnabas [NB, source for this is likely to be the deed noted as XX.125 at YAJ 7 p.275, a copy of which Dodsworth saw in a book of Sir John Byron's]. She was living 31st Edw.I (1303) and married secondly [John] de Bosco.
It is evident that Richard had no son, since his brother William was his heir. The c.1873 printed family tree is incorrectly drawn.
1280William
William seems to have been something of a military man, or one who went into the military as an exit route out of some trouble.
20 June 1294. Westminster. Order to Hugh de Cressingham, after taking security from William Beaumund for rendering to the king his goods, taken into the king's hands for his flight, or the price thereof, at the Exchequer of Michaelmas next, according to the valuation made before the said Hugh and his fellows, justices in eyre in the Co. of York, to deliver the said goods to him: Cal. Fine Rolls, 1272-1307, No. 339. …. Then:- Westminster 30 Sept. 1294 to the sheriff of York… order to deliver to William Beaumund his goods and chattels etc [much as before]… Hugh de Cressingham having signified to the king that they are not in his hands but those of the sheriff, and “the king wishes to show favour to William, who is setting out in his service for Gascony” (Cal. Close R. 1288-96 p.370)…….
So he may well be the William de Beaumont who was present at the siege of Caelaverock in 1300, a variant of the coat of arms which was long afterwards used by the family being entered up in the "Galloway Roll." This is a list of about 260 knights headed by the King and William's name is next after William de Rythir or Ryther and William de Beston who were both fellow Yorkshiremen with whom or whose families the Yorkshire Beaumonts had dealings (I think). I believe the manuscript is M14bis, pp. 376-90, College of Arms, London.
This is the image of the shield as described in the 1300 Roll (Galloway). I got this from http://perso.numericable.fr/briantimms1/rolls/gallowayGA2.htm. The odd thing is why are the crescents in the label rather than scattered around the lion. Now is not a place to discuss the meaning of labels in heraldry. Personally I think that whoever drew this got it wrong - the crescents would not all be jammed up in the label in that way, surely? William's younger son in 1319 was using a seal with lion rampant (Yorks Deeds iii p.32).
There are numerous references available to William as a party to deeds concerning Crosland etc. including a charter dated 1303 which may well be the one that survives as WBD/I/1 but the catalogue entry there gives less detail than RHB did in the 1796 Family Tree. RHB wrote:- William de Bellomonte granted to Robert his son all his Lands & Ten[ement]s, with Mess[uages], Edifices, rents, Meadows, Woods, Mills in which he had or in any manner cd. have had by reason of inheritance after ye Decease of Will. de Bellomonte his Father or Sir Ric'd. de Bellomonte his brother in Hodresfeld, Crosland Fosse, North Crosland, Meltham and South Kirkby - Paying to him during life 20 marcs Sterling. Dated Dies Dominica px post Inventionem St.Crucis 31 Edw.I. [Sunday next after feast of Holy Cross - May].
I have not studied the originals of these charters - yet my firm impression is that one such as this fits a pattern that we see right through to the seventeenth century or even later:- eldest son gets married, father settles main family property on son and prospective grandchildren, but reserves right to live there for his lifetime, and indeed does stay there. Therefore when father makes his will, the main property may not be mentioned (as father doesn't own it) and the only sons mentioned are the younger ones (because eldest son has already had what is due to him).
RHB's 1796 family tree says that William was still alive and holding Crosland in 1316 (see him in the previous piece as Willelmus Dobernount). William died in about 1323 succeeded by his son Robert. RHB seems not to have known about Robert's younger brother William, which is odd.
1310Robert
Much more needs to be thought and said about Robert, who lived until about 1330 only. Fantastic fictions have been written about him being murdered in 1348 (The "Eland Feud") and about his father-in-law being Edward of Crossland. The truth may be just as interesting.
1282John
The third brother was perhaps the John who was at Lepton in 1297 (Lay Subsidy Roll). He may perhaps be identified in another record where he, and Agnes his wife, were the subject of a Papal Mandate legitimating their marriage and children after it was found that they were too closely related by blood to have married lawfully. That was in 1288. The record suggests the people concerned were resident somewhere in the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York. (Regesta 44: 1288-1290, in Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 1, 1198-1304, ed. W H Bliss (London, 1893), pp. 491-511).
1284Adam
Of a fourth supposed brother, Adam, very little is known but it is interesting that there was an Adam of Crosland a generation earlier. There is a deed (WBD/II/2) dated 1295 the record of which is that 1310Robert (then a very young man) did not have a seal of his own, so he used one belonging to a certain Adam of Crosland, who must presumably have been a relative, such as an uncle.
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(I have considered the information printed at YAJ vol. 8 pp.502-3 where what was suggested is similar but not identical).
Unfortunately a lot of what is on the internet is wrong. Please don't think I claim to get everything right but it is not my mission to laboriously try to correct errors each time I see them. The fact is that Beaumont is not a rare surname. It is no good relying just on E.T. Beaumont's book or those books or online sources which have copied it directly or indirectly. You have to get into some primary sources (or as near as you can) and think about context such as locations, chronology, feudal relationships, county connections, and so on. And then as I often say - one new fact can change everything!
EMB
16 November 2020
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