Dots on the map. Three places where, in the twelfth century
A. the Constables of Chester had lands or influence, and
B. people called Beaumont appear.
1. Brief Genealogy of the Constables of Chester
William (his father supposedly called Nigel) died by the early 1130s and was followed by his son William, who died in the late 1140s, leaving no legitimate son. He had two sisters. The elder, Agnes, had married Eustace fitz John and the younger, Matilda, had married Albert de Grelley.
Consequently there was some kind of division of the lands. A charter of Ranulf earl of Chester (Madox Baronia Anglica (1741) pp.133-134) appears to confirm everything to Eustace but is, I suspect, not the whole story.
Eustace fitz John died in 1157 leaving his son by Agnes - Richard. Agnes remarried and lived some more years as did her second husband. Richard fitzEustace may well never have been "Constable of Chester" as such, as what evidence I can see makes me think that he died before his father and certainly before his mother's second husband. Richard's son John is described as Constable of Chester from the mid 1160s. John lived till 1190. His brother was a senior member of the order of Hospitallers. Thereafter came John's son Roger until 1211 (called de Lacy from 1194) and then Roger's son John de Lacy, who was made Earl of Lincoln in 1232 and died in 1240.
Albert Grelley died in 1162 or 1163 after which Geoffrey de Valognes was involved in wardship of his lands because Albert and Matilda's son Albert jr was a minor. Albert may have come of age about 1170 but he died in the early 1180s leaving a son Robert who must have been born about 1174. Thus until 1195 there was another minority when the Grelley lands were at least part of that time in the hands of a certain Nigel son of Alexander and/or Robert de Burun. Robert Grelley died in 1230 succeeded by his son Thomas.
2. Staining (near Blackpool, Lancashire)
Staining belonged before 1066 to Tostig Godwinson as part of his lordship of Preston (Victoria County History Lancaster vol. 1 p.288). Tostig died at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
An interest at Staining came to the early Constables of Chester. William "fitz Nigel" gave an interest there to Runcorn priory in about 1115 (Chetham Society, vol. 100, last section, pp.19-21) along with the churches mentioned below. The information in Victoria County History Lancaster vol. 7 pp.238-9 seems incomplete.
When in the 1130s William's son moved Runcorn priory to Norton he took an interest at Staining back and gave something else in exchange (Monasticon Anglicanum 6 p.1657). That charter had one Roger de Ansgervilla as one of its witnesses.
Staining or some interest there came to William "the Monk," who was a son of Richard de Ansgervilla (Keats-Rohan, Domesday Descendants, p. 283) and thus perhaps brother of the witness, Roger.
William "the Monk" sold or transferred Staining to John Constable of Chester. The charter speaks of the entirety ("totam villam" - thus at least, the whole of what William "the Monk" held). The then priest of Pyrton was a witness to that charter, and also people called Croxton and Burdon. William the Monk did this with the consent of his nephew Thomas de Bellomonte (Whalley Coucher Book vol. 2 p.420).
After this, it would seem that Staining belonged to John Constable of Chester and his successors until his grandson John de Lacy gave it to Stanlow abbey, that charter being witnessed by William de Beaumont (Whalley 2 pp. 419-20). Later still, the possessions of Stanlow abbey were transferred to Whalley.
The Valognes family (Geoffrey, his brother Philip and others), had interests at Staining. Geoffrey and Philip de Valognes seem to have been first cousins of the above- and below- mentioned Richard son of Eustace. This enquiry will continue.
3. Kneesall (north Nottinghamshire)
Gilbert de Gant had land in Maplebeck, which included Kneesall and Kersall. It was held by the Burdons. (Thoroton, as below). Lordship evidently passed from the Gants to William "fitz Nigel" constable of Chester who gave the church there to Runcorn in about 1115, one Richard of Kneesall being a witness (Chetham Soc, as above). Kneesall church was transferred 20-odd years later to Norton priory (MA 6 1657).
Kneesall descended via Eustace fitz John (d.1157), through his son Richard, grandson John, and great-grandson Roger (Thoroton, 3, 129-131, 132-136).
"Richard son of Eustace son of John" gave a charter to Hugh and Richard of Croxton which also mentioned Richard of "Am" [Ompton, perhaps] and the men of "Neuhaga." A Philip de Beaumont witnessed this charter (Rufford Charters (Ed. Holdsworth) Vol 2 428 (page 234)). This will be about the mid 1150s. Richard's mother Agnes gave land at Ompton to Rufford abbey (Rufford Charters no 421). Ompton is next to Kneesall.
Kersall was a "member" of Kneesal, and at times people called Croxton, and people called Walensis, had interests there (Thoroton, 3, 136-138). The Hospitallers had an interest at Kneesall before the Third Crusade. Ompton or "Almeton" (var. sp.) was associated with or part of Kneesall and was part of the dower of the wife of John Constable of Chester, i.e. Roger's mother (Thoroton, 3, 132-6).
References to Thoroton are to the c.1796 edition available on "British History online."
4. Pyrton (in the Chilterns, between Oxford and High Wycombe)
Domesday Book shows a large estate at Pyrton (sometimes Pirton) held by "William" from Hugh Earl of Chester. William "fitzNigel" gave the church at Pyrton to Runcorn priory in about 1115, one witness being Edmund priest of Pyrton (Chetham Society, as above). Pyrton church was transferred 20-odd years later to Norton priory (MA 6 1657).
When the estates were divided, Pyrton was placed into the Grelley half, which was the junior share and thus was a kind of sub-tenancy (see Farrer, Honors and Knights Fees, ii, 250ff). [Amended 12 Nov. 2021: I now believe that Pyrton was not allocated to the Grelleys until the 1160s, perhaps in a deal involving Geoffrey de Valognes. John Constable of Chester needed money as he had made a large fine with the king for his mother's lands. John's estates, his area of interest, were all nowhere near Pyrton].
Agnes ([elder] sister of William Constable of Chester (and now widow of Eustace fitzJohn) is mentioned above as having given land at Ompton to Rufford Abbey. She also gave property at Pyrton, including a hide at a place there called Clare [Claiora] to Hurley Priory in the Thames valley in about 1158 (Madox, Formulare Anglicanum (1702), no. 415 (CCCCXV) p.237). The witnesses to the two charters have some names in common.
In the early 1160s the Grelley interest in Pyrton seems to have been controlled, during the minority of Albert Grelley jr, by Geoffrey de Valognes, who was also "farmer" of the honor of Lancaster (HKF ii 251).
A William de Bellomonte succeded to land held from the Grelleys in 1185 or 1186 during the minority of Robert Grelley (Pipe Roll 32 Henry 2 (1185/6), p.81). This will be Pyrton - unless the Grelleys had two lots of tenants called Beaumont.
Later litigation shows that a Thomas de Beaumont gave land in Pyrton at Clare and also a place called Goldor to Hugh Druval in marriage with a kinswoman called Mabel (Curia Regis Rolls Vol. 6 (1210-12), p.139).
The Beaumont successor at Pyrton was called Philip [12 Nov.2021: this is revised. Philip at Pyrton was the successor of Thomas but only one source says his father was Thomas. I think Philip was son of a Richard, but the successor of his childless uncle, Thomas] Philip came of age in the early 1220s and seems to have been embroiled in litigation about what Thomas did. In the early stages a claim was brought by one Robert de Chaucombe. The defendants then were William de Sutton and his wife Mabel, and Philip was "called to warrant" (i.e. to guarantee Mabel's right). That case was adjourned because Philip was under age. When he came of age the case came back, and Philip "warranted" to the Suttons. Robert de Chaucombe withdrew his claim, but only on being paid 30 marks (Berkeley Castle Muniments BCM/D/6/5/1). Later still, in 1231 after Mabel had died, the case came to court again, brought by William de Sutton as widower, against a young man called Hugh Druval. It transpired that Mabel had been married three times. The court was told that a certain Thomas de Beaumont had given her in marriage to her first husband Hugh Druval and that they had had issue Hugh, the father of the Hugh Druval the 1231 defendant. I don't think Philip de Beaumont was actually a party to the case in 1231 (Bracton's Note Bk., n. 566, in vol. 2 pp.438-439). (CRR Vol. 14 (1230-32) para.1473), but I think he was living in 1236 (Close Rolls, 1234-37, p.358).
Since Hugh (grandson) must have been of age in 1231, he was born by about 1210. If his father was (say) 25 in 1210 then the marriage of Hugh (grandfather) to Mabel dates back to the 1180s.
There has been a muddle about Philip de Beaumont of Pyrton having other interests, in Devon.
[Amended 12 November 2021:- I used to believe he was related to a Devon Philip but that they were not the same individual. Now I believe they are one and the same.] [Note made 13 November 2023:- Surely in fact Philip (Pyrton) and Philip (Devon) must in fact be different people. One thing which I feel just about proves that is that the name of Beaumont did not continue at Pyrton after that Philip, whereas it did continue in Devon for over two hundred years.]
5. The Cotentin connection?
I suggest at least the possibility that the Thomas Beaumont (of the Staining charter) and the Philip (of the Rufford charter) are the two who witnessed the charter of Oliver de Tracy to Saint Sauveur abbey (see my piece of Jan. 30, 2021). Thomas and Philip consented to gifts by William "the Monk" to both Saint Sauveur (a gift of a house in Barfleur and money from unspecified lands in England) (BNFr Lat.17137 fols. 246r&v, no.356) and Montebourg Abbeys (BNFr Lat. 10087 no.422 in particular).
And William the Monk is seen as a senior witness, next after William the Constable of Chester, to a charter of Ranulf earl of Chester concerning land in the Wirral (Manchester Univ., Rylands Collection ref. RYCH/1807; Barraclough, Cheshire Charters, no.35). (There was at least one other contemporary William "the monk," and they are apt to be mixed up one with another, but this one was mainly a personage of the Cotentin, who had some connexion with Chester and Lancashire as we have seen).
A later piece will I hope look in more detail at the Cotentin aspect of this, considering some aspects of the life of Tostig Godwinson, and then the Ansgervilles, William the Monk, and the Beaumonts. It will be clear that the area of interest is the NE part of the Cotentin, broadly between Barfleur and Cherbourg.
The dots are not joined up - but the above hints that people called Beaumont "went back a long way" with the Constables of Chester before our first Yorkshire Beaumont entered the service of Roger the Constable, Roger de Lacy, in the 1190s.
EMB 27 February 2021 / 12 November 2021 / 13 November 2023
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