The authoritative Complete Peerage, 7 (1929): 681-687 (sub Lincoln) has
a good account of the life of Sir Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (died
1311). Regarding his first marriage, the following information is
provided:
"On or before 23 Dec. 1256 he was contracted to marry Margaret, 1st
daughter and coheiress of Sir William Lungespee, and on 1 June 1268,
when still under age, he did homage with Margaret his wife and had
livery of her inheritance .... She was living 11 Kal. September 1306."
Complete Peerage states that Earl Henry de Lacy and his wife, Margaret
Longespee, had three children in all, namely two sons, Edmund and John,
both of whom died accidental deaths before 1293 [see Complete Peerage,
7 (1929): 683, 686 footnote e (sub Lincoln)], and one daughter and
eventual sole heiress, Alice, who married Thomas of Lancaster, Earl of
Lancaster.
Earl Henry de Lacy's two legitimate sons, Edmund and John, are both
mentioned in the following sources: William Dugdale, Monasticon
Anglicanum, 6(1) (1830): 315-317 (Norton Priory) (Pedigree and history
of the Founders); Ormerod, History of the County Palatine & City of
Chester 1 (1819): 515; Throsby, Thoroton's Hist. of Nottinghamshire,
3 (1790): 132-135; and Whitaker, History of Original Parish of
Whalley, 1 (1872): 236-254. The same two sons are also mentioned in
the interesting biographical sketch of Earl Henry de Lacy written by
Joseph McNulty entitled "Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (1251-1311),"
which appeared in Transactions of the Lancashire and Chesire
Antiquarian Soc. 51 (1936): 19-43. The elder son, Edmund, is also
named in a family pedigree dated c. 1480-1500 found in Harvey et al.,
Vis. of the North, 3 (Surtees Soc. 144) (1930): 63-64 (Lacy pedigree:
"Edmundus [de Lacy] obijt ante patrem.")
Whittaker states that the eldest son, Edmund, was contracted to marry
in 1282 Maud daughter and heiress of Patrick de Chaworth, the bride
being aged five. Whittaker cites the following as his source for
Edmund and Maud's contracted marriage:
"Cui rex Edwardus isto anno [1282] dedit maritagium Matilde puelle
quinqennys filie et heredis Patricii de Chauworth, quam genuit de filia
Will'mi de Bellocampo, Comitis de Warwyke, quam postea duxit uxorem
Hugo Despenser. Iste itaque Edmundus dominus et filius Henrici de Lacy
statim juvenis est defunctus, nullo post se relicto herede de corpore
suo procreato. (Cotton MS. Cleop. C. III f. 335b.") END OF QUOTE
If the bride, Maud de Chaworth, was aged 5 at the time of the
contracted marriage, then the date would be circa 1287, not 1282, as
Maud de Chaworth is known to have been born 2 February 1282 (aged 1 in
1283, aged 24 in 1306). I presume Edmund de Lacy died shortly before
30 Dec. 1291, when my file notes show that Maud de Chaworth's marriage
was granted by the king. If so, then the marriage was contracted but
never consumated, as Maud was only aged 9 in 1291. Maud de Chaworth
subsequently married before 2 March 1296/7 Henry de Lancaster, Knt.,
afterwards Earl of Lancaster and Leicester [Reference: Complete
Peerage, 7 (1929): 400, citing Cal. Patent Rolls, 1292-1301, pg. 239].
Curiously, Complete Peerage makes no mention of Maud de Chaworth's
contracted marriage to Edmund de Lacy in either its Lancaster or
Lincoln accounts.
In addition to these children, both Ormerod and Whittaker assign Henry
de Lacy a second daughter, Margaret [References: Ormerod, History of
the County Palatine & City of Chester 1 (1819): 515; Whitaker Hist. of
Original Parish of Whalley 1 (1872): 248-249]. Ormerod appears to
have relied on two earlier authors, Brooks and Fern(e), for his list of
Earl Henry de Lacy's children. Ormerod says the following regarding
Margaret:
"Ferne, in Lacy's Nobility, calls Margaret by the name of Joan, pag.
125, but falsly."
Since Ormerod did not reveal what source he used to verify Margaret's
name and existence, we are left in the dark as to what documentation he
found for her. I presume Ormerod found her mentioned in "Brooks,"
which source he does not identify. "Brooks" is possibly the work,
"Vincent on Brook," who Ormerod quotes elsewhere in his account of the
Lacy family.
Whittaker, pg. 249, states that Earl Henry de Lacy had a daughter,
Margaret, "who died before her father," but the source he cites as
evidence for her existence only mentions Earl Henry's younger son,
John, and his daughter, Alice, not Margaret:
"Dictus igitur Henricus Com. Lincoln. & prefata Margareta uxore sua
genuit aliam filium nomine Johannem et filiam unam nomine Alesyam. Sed
Johannes iste priusquam annos nubiles attigisset super turrem quoddam
in Castro de Pontefracto incaute discurrens lapsus est ultra muros et
in terram collisus et constructus protinus expiravit, nullum post se
sui corporis relinquens heredem. (Ibid.)." END OF QUOTE
The source Whittaker used for this information appears to be Cotton MS.
Cleop. C. III m. f. 328b, and Vesp. D.XVII. f. 17b. Quite possibly
Margaret is named as a child of Earl Henry de Lacy elsewhere in one of
these two sources.
Lastly, Complete Peerage and all of the above cited sources (Ormerod,
Whittaker, McNulty, Throsby, etc.) overlooked yet another child of Earl
Henry de Lacy, namely, an illegitimate son, John de Lacy, Knt., of
Lacyes (in Grantchester), Cambridgeshire, which individual was a member
of the household of his half-sister, Alice de Lacy, Countess of
Lincoln, in 1336. The evidence for Sir John de Lacy's existence and
parentage is found in a petition dated c. 1335 of Alice de Lacy,
Countess of Lancaster, in which she specifically calls him her brother.
This petition is found in the helpful online National Archives
catalogue (http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp).
It concerns Alice de Lacy's abduction and rape by Sir Hugh de Frene,
afterwards her third husband.
"SC 8/64/3163: Petitioners: [Alice de Lacy], Countess of Lincoln.
Addressees: King and council Places mentioned: Bolingbroke,
[Lincolnshire]; Somerton, [Lincolnshire]; London. Other people
mentioned: Hugh de Frene; John de Lacy, brother of the petitioner.
Nature of request: Lacy requests that a speedy remedy be ordained for
her so that she may be at her own will and amongst her friends, as she
has been ravished by Frene, who has taken her from her castle of
Bolingbroke and is detained by him in the Tower of London. [c. 1335]."
END OF QUOTE.
VCH Cambridge, 5 (1973): 203-204 shows that Sir John de Lacy, of Lacyes
(in Grantchester), Cambridgeshire, granted land at Grantchester in 1343
to his son, Edmund de Lacy. Sir John de Lacy was still living in 1348,
citing Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1345-1348, pg. 472. He was eventually succeeded
by a younger John de Lacy who occurs from 1349 until 1387. Successive
generations of this family held Lacyes manor in Grantchester until
1547, when Henry Lacy and his brother, Edward, sold the manor to Thomas
Neville. Presumably modern descendants exist for this family. Leland,
Itinerary, ii. 1, which I haven't seen, indicates that about 1540 the
Lacy family of Grantchester "claimed descent from an illegitimate son
of Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln (died 1311)." It appears that the
family's claim was valid.
Sir John de Lacy, of Lacyes (in Grantchester), Cambridgeshire, is
possibly the individual who occurs in the following National Archives
document:
PRO Document, E 41/389 - John Lacy; John Bassett of Drayton,
Staffordshire: Roll of evidence relating to the manor of Long Buckby;
Northamptonshire, also manors of Hardwick, Northamptonshire,
Granchester, Cambridgeshire, and [East] Bradenham, Norfolk; lands in
Southoe (Sudhoo) (Hunt), Winterslow (Wilts.); Kingston, Wimborne
[Minster], and Blandford (Dorset) (temp. Edw III). END OF QUOTE.
From the description provided, the nature of this document is not at
all certain. The lands involved appear to be the Quincy inheritance of
Margaret de Quincy, 2nd wife of Sir John de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (died
1240). If so, perhaps this document has been misdated. VCH Cambridge
5 shows that the overlordship of Grantchester, Cambridgeshire remained
with the Earls of Lincoln. The manor of Long Buckby, Northamptonshire,
however, appears to have gone to the Basset family of Drayton,
Staffordshire.
Comments are invited.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
Website: http://www.royalancestry.net