William de Lancaster I (d. circa 1170), or William Fitz Gilbert, was a nobleman of the 12th century in Northwest England during the Anarchy, and the period during which his region was ruled by King David I of Scotland. His position survived the return of English rule under King Henry II, and his most important lordship, which had previously come together under Ivo de Taillebois, would evolve into what was eventually known as the barony of Kendal. According to a document some generations later, he was also referred to as William de Tailboys (de Taillebois) when younger, and then became "William de Lancaster, baron of Kendal". He died in about 1170.
Despite his by-name "de Lancaster", which was used by his descendants as a family name, William and his relatives appear in contemporary documents relating mainly to what is now the modern county of Cumbria, not Lancashire, the county of Lancaster. He and his family were especially associated with Copeland in western Cumberland, Furness in the Lake District, the barony of Kendal, which became part of Westmorland, and various areas such as Barton between Kendal and Ullswater. Much of this area was not yet permanently part of England, or divided into counties. Only part of this area was within the later English county of Lancaster or Lancashire. The by-name "de Lancaster", by which William was remembered, therefore referred to the city of Lancaster, to the south of his lordships, and probably more importantly to some area under its jurisdiction which did not necessarily become part of the later county. In 1900, William Farrer claimed that "all of the southern half of Westmorland, not only the Kirkby Lonsdale Ward of Westmorland, but also the Kendal Ward, were linked with Northern Lancashire from a very early time" and formed a single district for fiscal administrative purposes. [1]
Two apparently lost records which are said to have mentioned William's father Gilbert apparently connected him to Cumbria, specifically to the area of Furness. [2]
The following are some of the areas associated with him:
King Stephen's reign in England lasted from 1135 to 1154, but only during a small part of this did he control this region. For the majority of his reign all or most of this area was under the rule of David I of Scotland.
During the period when Stephen was in control "we possess distinct and clear evidence that Stephen, as king, enfeoffed a knight of the lands of Warton in Kentdale and the wide territory of Garstang, in Lancashire, to hold for the service of one knight. This was William de Lancaster, son of Gilbert by Godith his wife, described in the Inquest of service made in 1212 as "Willelmus filius Gilberti primus", that is, the first to be enfeoffed of that fee." [7]
At a similar time, during the period 1145-1154, a major enfeoffment by Roger de Mowbray put William in control, or perhaps just confirmed his control, of what would become the barony of Kendal, plus Warton, Garstang, and Wyresdale in Lancashire, as well as Horton in Ribblesdale and "Londsdale". The latter two are sometimes apparently being interpreted as indicating possession for some time of at least part of what would become the Wapentake of Ewcross in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
During the Scottish occupation, Hugh de Morville became the overlord of much of this area, a position he kept when the area later returned to English control. Farrer and Curwen remark:
William de Lancaster no longer held anything in Kentdale of Roger de Mowbray; but he appears to have held his lands in Westmarieland and Kentdale of Morevill by rendering Noutgeld of £14 6s. 3d. per annum, and some 16 carucates of land in nine vills in Kentdale as farmer under Morevill. In 1166 William de Lancaster I held only two knight's fees, of the new feoffment of Roger de Mowbray in Sedbergh, Thornton, Burton in Lonsdale, and the other places in Yorkshire previously named, which his descendants held long after of the fee of Mowbray by the same service. The Mowbray connexion with Kentdale had come to an end upon the accession of Henry II, who placed Hugh de Morevill in possession of Westmarieland in return, possibly, for past services and in pursuance of the policy of planting his favourites in regions of great strategic importance. Probably the change of paramount lord had little, if any, effect on the position of William de Lancaster in Kentdale. [7]
In Cumberland further west, William was probably castellan in the castle of Egremont under William fitz Duncan. Such proposals are based on his transaction with his cousin Gospatrick son of Orme, whereby castle service at Egremont was due to William for Workington. [8]
William de Lancaster is often described as having been a baron of Kendal. In fact it is not so clear what kind of lordship existed over Kendal, given the lack of clarity of records in this period. The word baron developed specific meanings during the Middle Ages, namely feudal baron and baron by writ. William Farrer wrote, in the introduction to his Records of Kendal:
After a careful review of the evidence which has been sketched above, the author is of opinion that no barony or reputed barony of Kentdale existed prior to the grants of 1189–90; and that neither William de Lancaster, son of Gilbert, nor William de Lancaster II, his son and successor, can be rightly described as "baron" of Kentdale. [7]
What became the barony of Kendal is nevertheless generally accepted to have started to come together already under Ivo de Taillebois (d. 1094) in the time of William Rufus, some generations before William. In later generations William was depicted by his family as having been a Taillebois. A continuity is therefore often asserted between what Ivo held, and what William later held, despite the fact that William had no known hereditary claim on Kendal, and Ivo had no male heirs. (This is also the reason for the frequent assertion that William held the entire wapentake of Ewcross, even though it seems that the family of Roger de Mowbray kept hold of at least Burton in Kendal. William held two parts of it, mentioned above, while Ivo had held another, Clapham. The rest is speculation.)
According to Farrer, the barony of Kendal became a real barony only in the time of William's grand daughter Hawise, who married Gilbert son of Roger fitz Reinfrid. Both he and his son William de Lancaster III were certainly barons of Kendal.
William's father was named Gilbert, and his mother was Godith. They are both mentioned clearly in a benefaction of William to St Mary de Pré and William was often referred to as William the son of Gilbert (fitz Gilbert). William was also said to have descended from both Ivo de Taillebois and Eldred of Workington, who were contemporaries of William Rufus, but the exact nature of the relationship is unclear and indeed controversial.
Two late cartularies, those of Cockersand Abbey and St Mary's Abbey in Yorkshire, give a father-to-son descent from Ivo through Eldred, Ketel, and Gilbert to William. [10] However, monastic genealogies concerning their benefactors are generally considered unreliable. [11] There are chronological concerns with this pedigree: Ivo and Eldred appear to have been contemporaries, as were Ketel and Gilbert. Likewise, it implies that William de Lancaster was heir to Ketel fitz Eldred, but Ketel is commonly thought to have had another heir. And there is also no record of Eldred being an heir to Ivo, while it would be unusual for the descendants of a Norman noble (Ivo) to have so many Anglo-Saxon names (Eldred, Ketel, etc.).
The 12th-century annalist Peter of Blois related that Ivo's "only daughter, who had been nobly espoused, died before her father; for that evil shoots should not fix deep roots in the world, the accursed lineage of that wicked man perished by the axe of the Almighty, which cut off all his issue." The only known heiress of Ivo was a daughter named Beatrix. Her sons by her one documented husband, Ribald of Middleham, did occasionally use the Taillebois surname. A connection between William and Ivo de Taillebois is still supported based upon a similarity of land holdings between the two. Likewise, a record in the Coucher Book of Furness Abbey involving Helewise de Lancaster, William's granddaughter, claims he had been known as William de Tailboys before receiving the right to be called "Willelmum de Lancastre, Baronem de Kendale". [12] However, Farrer and Curwen have questioned the accuracy of this account, pointing out that William was probably not baron of Kendal, but an under-lord there. [7] There was a Tailboys family present in Westmorland during the 12th century, for example in Cliburn, and these were presumably relatives of William de Lancaster. This family used the personal name Ivo at least once, and may have been related to Ivo and Beatrix. [13]
In a 1212 Curia Regis Roll entry, William's granddaughter Helewise de Lancaster and her husband refer to "Ketel filius Eutret" as her "antecessor", a term that could mean literal ancestor, or simply a predecessor more generally. A grant to St Leonard's York by William refers to Ketel, the son of "Elred", as his avunculus (maternal uncle). Likewise, a second charter, from 1357, repeats the claim that Ketel son of "Aldred" was avunculus of William. [14] Gilbert was thus not son of Ketel. Noting that avunculus was sometimes used imprecisely for a paternal uncle, Frederick Ragg proposed that Gilbert was the brother of Ketel, and hence son rather than grandson of Eldred [15] However, George Washington and George Andrews Moriarty instead viewed Ketel as maternal uncle to William, brother to Gilbert's wife Godith. Washington noted that the names Godith, Ketel and Eldred are all Anglo-Saxon names, rarely used by Normans, possibly indicative of a single family. This contrasts with the French names of Gilbert, and his son and grandsons named William. Moriarty suggested that Christina, Ketel's wife, may have been a relative of Ivo de Taillebois such as the unnamed daughter mentioned by Peter of Blois. [16] The daughter mentioned by Peter of Blois is often considered to be the same as the one known daughter, Beatrix, the wife of Ribald of Middleham. For example, Katherine Keats-Rohan accepted Godith as Ketel's sister, but proposed their mother to be Beatrix, through a marriage to Eldred of which no contemporary record has been found. [17]
William was married to a Countess Gundred, perhaps his second wife. Because she was called a countess in centemporary records, she is sometimes identified with the widow of Roger, Earl of Warwick, who was daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth of Vermandois, but William Farrer instead believed she must be a daughter of Roger, with the same name as her mother. [18]
William had issue:
William's granddaughter Helewise had a son and heir who took her surname, William de Lancaster III. He died without male heirs, heavily indebted, apparently due to payments demanded after he was captured at Rochester during the First Barons' War.
Westmorland is a historic county in North West England. People of the area are known as Westmerians. The area includes part of the Lake District and the southern Vale of Eden.
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park.
Lancashire is a county of England, in the northwest of the country. The county did not exist in 1086, for the Domesday Book, and was apparently first created in 1182, making it one of the youngest of the traditional counties.
The Barony of Kendal is a subdivision of the English historic county of Westmorland. It evolved from one of two ancient baronies that make up the county, the other being the Barony of Westmorland. In 1974, the entire county became part of the modern county of Cumbria and ceased to have an administrative function. At the same time, Kendal borough along with some other rural and urban districts in Westmorland was merged with the neighbouring parts of Lancashire, Furness and Cartmel, and also the Sedbergh Rural District of the West Riding of Yorkshire into the new South Lakeland district of the new county.
The Barony of Westmorland also known as North Westmorland, the Barony of Appleby, Appleshire or the Bottom of Westmorland, was one of two baronies making up the English historical county of Westmorland, the other being the Barony of Kendal. Both of them evolved from medieval feudal baronies. Geographically, the barony covered the northern part of the larger county of the same name, and was divided into two wards – East Ward and West Ward. It covered an area similar to that of the former Eden District of the new county of Cumbria, although it did not include Penrith, which was the administrative capital of the district.
Ivo Taillebois was a powerful Norman nobleman, sheriff and tenant-in-chief in 11th-century England.
Kendal Castle is a medieval fortification to the east of the town of Kendal, Cumbria, in northern England. The castle, which is atop a glacial drumlin, was built in the 13th century as the Caput baroniae for the Barony of Kendal. By the 15th century, the Parr family owned the castle.
Westmorland in North West England was abolished in 1974 following Ted Heath's Local Government Act 1972. Westmorland became a part of Cumbria along with Cumberland, parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, including the Furness peninsular. In 2022 Westmorland was reconstituted as Westmorland and Furness following the abolition of Cumbria County Council. Westmorland and Furness have no High Sheriff as Cumbria has remained the ceremonial county.
Kendal Parish Church, also known as the Holy Trinity Church due to its dedication to the Holy Trinity, is the Anglican parish church of Kendal, Cumbria, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070–1129) was a Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the Earl of Chester, the patronage of kings William II Rufus and Henry I Beauclerc, and his marriage to Lucy, heiress of the Bolingbroke-Spalding estates in Lincolnshire.
Lucy of Bolingbroke or Lucia Thoroldsdottir of Lincoln was an Anglo-Norman heiress in central England and, later in life, countess of Chester. Probably related to the old English earls of Mercia, she came to possess extensive lands in Lincolnshire which she passed on to her husbands and sons. She was a notable religious patron, founding or co-founding two small religious houses and endowing several with lands and churches.
Robert III de Stuteville was an English baron and justiciar.
Castle Howe is a motte and bailey castle in the town of Kendal, England.
Gilbert fitz Roger fitz Reinfried, or Gilbert the son of Roger fitzReinfrid, was an Anglo-Norman feudal baron whose administrative career in England began in the time of Henry II (1154-1189), for whom his father Roger fitzReinfrid had been steward. Gilbert's career continued during the reigns of Richard I, King John, and Henry III.
The history of medieval Cumbria has several points of interest. The region's status as a borderland coping with 400 years of warfare is one. The attitude of the English central government, at once uninterested and deeply interested, is another. As a border region, of geopolitical importance, Cumbria changed hands between the Angles, Norse, Strathclyde Brythons, Picts, Normans, Scots and English; and the emergence of the modern county is also worthy of study.
Sir James Leyburn, also Laybourne, Labourn, etc., was a senior representative of one of the powerful families within the Barony of Kendal. He was at different times a Justice of the Peace for Westmorland, Escheator for Cumberland and Westmorland, and Commissioner for the survey of the monasteries of Lancashire. He was caught up in the troubles at Kendal during the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537). As an assistant to Sir Thomas Wharton, Deputy Warden of the West March, he took an important part in the Battle of Solway Moss (1542). He was one of the two MPs for Westmorland in 1542 and 1545.
The Constable of Chester was a mediaeval hereditary office held by the Barons of Halton. The functions of the Constable are unclear, possibly they related to the custody of Chester Castle, as was the main function of most mediaeval constables, but Sanders (1960) says the office-holder was constable for the entire County Palatine.
John de Lancaster of Grisedale and Stanstead was an English knight, and a parliamentary baron in the Peerage of England. He was the first and last in his line to be called to parliament, as he had no heir. He was therefore the only "Lord Lancaster" or "Baron Lancaster" apart from the separate titles which belonged to a branch of the royal family descended from Edmund Crouchback. His father's family had many lordships in northwestern England, including Grisedale ; while his mother's family made him an heir to important lordships in other parts of England, including Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex.
Hugh de Morville Baron of Burgh, Lord of Kirkoswald, was an English noble.
William Ecroyd Farrer was an English historian and genealogist.