SP Addition: Margaret (___), wife of Sir Alexander de Aberne

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SP Addition: Margaret (___), wife of Sir Alexander de Aberne

Legg inn av Gjest » 25 aug 2006 00:06:02

Thursday, 24 Aug, 2006


Hello All,

The account in Scots Peerage under Stewart, Earl of Angus says
of John Stewart, lord of Bonkyl (subsequently Earl of Angus, d. 9
Dec 1331) that he married

' ... Margaret, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir
Alexander Abernethy, by which marriage the lordship
of Abernethy in Perthshire and other lands passed into
possession of the Earls of Angus. ' [1]

The wife of Sir Alexander de Abernethy is neither named nor
otherwise identified in this account, or elsewhere as of this date.

In reading through several SGM threads of late, I noted a
reference to one ' Margaret de Abrenythy ' as a lady of the
household of Queen Isabella of England during the winter of
1311 and summer of 1312 [2]. The other four 'ladies' named in
the account, all either well married or widowed, are readily
identifiable, and some (including Eleanor de Clare, wife of
Hugh le Despenser 'the younger') were closely related to the
English royal family. Certainly they, and their husbands,
were (or had been in the case of the deceased husbands) loyal
servants of the Crown (or at least were considered to have been).
While there is no direct evidence noted to date, it appears
that Margaret de Abrenythy was the wife of Sir Alexander de
Abernethy, the one individual of that name whose rank and record
of service matches well with the husbands of the other four.

All the 'ladies' of the household were married or
widowed as of 1311/12, as stated above. Lady Margaret's
(apparent) husband, Sir Alexander de Abernethy, was alive and
well, on His Majesty's service in Scotland in holding the town of
Dundee from 23 June 1311 to 31 July 1312. Immediately after
this, he was sent on an embassy to the Pope for King Edward II,
as accredited by a letter dated 6 August 1312 [3].

Lady Margaret's family has not been identified to date.
However, as stated in prior SGM threads, I have conjectured that
she was likely a daughter of Alexander, Earl of Menteith (d. ca.
1306), likely by his wife Matilda (family unknown) [4]. Sir
Alexander de Abernethy was not an Earl, but he was of high rank,
not only with regard to his paternal family but by virtue of
his mother Mary, dowager Queen of the Isle of Man and Countess of
Strathearn. He had served the Scots crown as Warden of Scotland
between Forth and the Mounth (Michaelmas 1293), and had served
King Edward I as guardian of Scotland "between the mountains and
the sea" in 1304.

There is one other near-contemporaneous Lady Margaret 'de
Abernethy', the widow of William de Abernethy whose seal is
found on the Ragman Roll of 1292. While the possibility exists
that this Margaret was still alive in 1311/12, it appears most
unlikely that she would be found in the company of Queen
Isabella's household some 20 years after her last documented
appearance. Sir Alexander de Abernethy's eldest daughter,
Margaret, was quite young in 1311/12 (she was married ca. 1328),
and was clearly not the 'Lady Margaret' under discussion.

Should anyone have any further information or evidence on
the matter, esp. as regards the parentage of Lady Margaret (____)
de Abernethy, that would be most welcome.

Cheers,

John *



NOTES

[1] SP I:169-170. See also SP III:10, sub _Lindsay, Earl of
Crawford_ .


[2] Robert Battle, <Amy de Gaveston - the 1334 fine>, SGM, 27 Feb
2001. In this message, concerning information found in
F. D. Blackley and Gustav Hermansen, ed., The Household Book
of Queen Isabella of England for the Fifth Regnal Year of
Edward II, 8th July 1311 to 7th July 1312(Edmonton, 1971),
[pp. 157, 177], Robert advised:

' From pages 157 and 177 (the winter and summer robe lists)
of Blackley and Hermansen (1971), the five ladies and eight
damsels in Isabella's court at least from the winter of 1311
to the summer of 1312 were as follows:

lady Eleanor le Despenser
lady Isabella de Vesci
lady Alice, countess of Buchan
lady Ida de Clynton
lady Margaret de Abrenythy (called "lady" in 1312
but not 1311)
Alice de la Legrave
Joan de Villers
Joan Launge
Mary de Sancto Martino
Margaret de Villers
Cecily, daughter of the lady Alice de la Legrave
Joan de Falaise
Juliana/Joan de Nauntel '


[3] Joseph Bain, ed., Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland,
provides the following documentation:

A. Order to reimburse Sir Alexander for expenses in holding
the town of Dundee for King Edward II of England:

' 283. Sir Alexander de Abernethy a prest by the hands of
the collectors of customs at Newcastle-on-Tyne, to account
of his fee for keeping the town of Dundee between the vigil
of St. John Baptist (23rd June) 1311, and the vigil of St.
Peter ad vincula 5th year (31st July) following, 186l. [Bain
III:56[11], cites fol. 51b.,
Exchequer, Q. R. Miscellanea (Wardrobe), No. 20/4]

B. Letter dated 6 August 1312:

' 284. The K. accredits to the Pope his (the Pope's) nephew
Bertrand de Salviaco count of Campania, Sir Alexander de
Abernythy knight, and Master Walter de Maydenstane, on some
arduous matters specially touching himself and his honour,
which they will expound to his Holiness viva voce.
Dover. ' [Bain III:56[11], cites French and
Roman Roll, 4-10 Edw. II. m. 19., in Foedera II:175]


[4] See J. Ravilious, <The Ancestry of Mary Abernethy: a
Menteith Connection ?>, SGM, 5 Dec 2003.



* John P. Ravilious

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