Agnes

Notes:

The Wallop Family [citation details below] calls her Agnes de Beyle.

Family/Spouse: Thomas I Gray. Thomas (son of Robert Gray and Juliana de Heton) was born about 1277 in of Heaton, Wark-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England; died before 12 Mar 1344. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William Heron. William (son of Roger Heron and Elizabeth de Swinburne) was born in of Ford, Glendale, Northumberland, England; died on 21 Dec 1379. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1373

Notes:

Several sources, including Gary Boyd Roberts's RD600 and Burke's Commoners identify the wife of Sir Gerard Salvain and mother of John Salvain as "Agnes Mauleverer". Volume one of A. Gooder's 1935-38 Parliamentary Representation of the County of York has a similarly confused account of the marriages of Gerard Salvain, saying that "[b]efore Nov. 1330 he had mar. his first wife Agnes, by whom he had three sons, John, Rich, and Robt. She was still alive in 1347, but in or before 1365 he mar. a second wife Alice, by whom he had a s. Gerard." In 2002, starting with the fact that Gerard's son John was a co-heir to the Grey of Heaton inheritance, Rosie Bevan sorted out these confusions in a post to SGM, cited below.

[Unknown] married Gerard Salvain in 1325. Gerard (son of John Salvain and Margaret de Ros) was born before 5 Oct 1307 in of North Duffield, Yorkshire, England; died on 1 Aug 1369. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 22 Oct 1369, Chillingham, Glendale, Northumberland, England

Notes:

Author of the Scalacronica.

His grandson Sir Thomas Gray was one of the three conspirators in the 1415 "Southampton Plot" against Henry V.

In 2016, John Watson proposed that Thomas Gray's first wife was a sister of Sir Thomas Ughtred, both siblings children of Sirt Thomas Ughtred (d. 1365) and Margaret Burdon. However, both of the children of Thomas Gray shown here were definitely children of his second wife Margaret de Presfen.

Post to soc. genealogy.medieval, 11 Aug 2014:

From: John Watson
Subject: Origin of the Grays of Heton, Northumberland

Dear all,

One of the best examples of upward social mobility in fourteenth century England was that of the family of Gray of Heton (modern day Heaton, about two miles south of the River Tweed in Northumberland). Their origins are however, obscure. Almost all of the published materials concerning the early Gray family rely on one source; the pedigree shown in Joseph Stevenson's translation of the Scalacronica printed in 1836 [1]. Although Stevenson provides the documents upon which he based the pedigree, he apparently errs in the parentage of the first Sir Thomas Gray, who started the family's rise to fortune. Stevenson shows Thomas' father as another Sir Thomas Gray of Heton, son of a Sir John Gray of Berwick who died about 1246.

There is however, another medieval document, now in the National Archives, which shows the actual parentage of the first Sir Thomas Gray and which was apparently not noticed by Stevenson. This is a plea to the king in 1334, by Sir Robert Gray, the brother of Sir Thomas Gray.

"Robert Gray seeks the restoration of property in Berwickshire. 1) His father held a mill at Lauder and other tenements in Hydegate in Berwick in the time of King Alexander [1249-1286], but was ousted during the wars. This property is now in the king's hands. 2) He also held a third part of Simprim, as the heir of William de Fenton, which he lost at the same time. Regarding the mill at Lauder and the tenements in Berwick, they say that Robert de Gray senior had three sons, namely John, Robert and Thomas, and that he granted this property to his son Robert, who held it until he was ousted in the war by Andrew Gray, whose heirs were dispossessed by his forfeiture. The property is in the King's hands and has not been re-granted. 2) Regarding the land at Simprim they say that William de Fenton was seised in the time of King Alexander, and granted it to Geoffrey de Caldecotes and his heirs, who held it until they were dispossessed by the war of Edward I. William de Fenton re-entered it and enfeoffed Robert Gray, who was seised until he was removed by the war of Robert Bruce. William de Fenton re-entered it for the third time, and Robert de Caldecotes, son and heir of Geoffrey, recovered it against the said William by assize of morte d'ancestor, and was seised until he went into Scotland" [2].

Robert, the father of Sir Robert Gray the petitioner, lived in the second half of the thirteenth century, and was holding land on both sides of the border in Berwickshire and Northumberland. In 1296-7, at the outbreak of Edward I's wars with Scotland, such cross-border families had to make a choice between allegiance to the crown of England or Scotland. It appears from the above document that John, his eldest son, chose Scotland whilst his two younger sons, Thomas and Robert, chose to serve Edward I and II.

In late 1311, an entry in French in the register of Richard Kellawe, Bishop of Durham, records that Sir (sire) Robert Gray had held the manor of Heton [Heaton] in Norhamshire of the bishop of Durham, by the law of England [after the death of his wife] of the inheritance of his son John. John had died in Scotland not in the fealty of the king of England and the manor had been seized as a forfeit of war by Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham [died 3 March 1311]. The king, during the vacancy of the see of Durham, had granted the manor of Heton to Walter de Wodeham, who had also died. Bishop Kellawe petitioned the king for the return of the manor [3].

The king's grant of Heton to Walter de Wodeham is recorded in the Patent Rolls: "1 April 1311, Grant, in fee, to Walter de Wodeham, king's yeoman, of the manor of Heton, with a toft and 3 acres of land in Norham, co. Northumberland, late of Juliana Gray, which, on account of the rebellion of John Gray her son and heir, was escheated" [4]. This gives us the name of Sir Robert Gray's wife, Julian. She was most probably the daughter and heiress of Sir William de Heton who was holding Heton at the time of the Testa de Nevill in 1284-5 [5]. This would explain why Sir Robert Gray was holding the land only by the courtesy of England after her death, of the inheritance of his son John.

Bishop Richard Kellawe was evidently successful in regaining the manor of Heton from the king, because on 28 October 1312, he granted and quitclaimed the manor of Heton in Norhamshire to Sir Thomas Gray, knight and Agnes his wife, and their heirs to hold of the bishop and his heirs in perpetuity [6]. This suggests that Thomas was the second son of Robert and was the next heir of his mother and brother John. Robert the third brother, had been granted property in Berwickshire by their father.

Sir Thomas, son of Sir Robert Gray of Heton married, before 1312, Agnes, whose parentage is unknown. He was probably born between 1275 and 1280. His son Sir Thomas Gray II, records in the Scalacronica that he was a soldier serving in Scotland in May 1297 when he survived an ambush on English forces by William Wallace [7]. He was knighted before 1302, when Sir Thomas Gray is recorded as serving in the garrison of Berwick. Gray spent most of his life in military service, either in Scotland or on the borders. He was constable of the strategically important border castle of Norham until 1328. He died shortly before 10 April 1344 when bishop Bury granted a pardon to Thomas son of Sir Thomas Gray, knight, deceased, for his father's transgressions [8].

Thomas Gray seems to have had only one son, Thomas who was born about 1315, the author of the Scalacronica, which he started writing when a prisoner of war in Scotland in 1355. Thomas and Agnes also had several daughters who were married into the northern English gentry. Some of these daughters have previously been discussed in this group. They are (in no particular order):

Margaret wife of Sir John Eure of Stokesley, Yorkshire (d. 21 March 1366). She died before 3 August 1378.

Isabel wife of Sir William Heron of Ford, Northumberland (d. 21 December 1379). She died after 1362.

Agnes wife of Sir Gerard Salvain of Harswell, Yorkshire (d. 1 August 1369). She died before 1362.

An unnamed daughter who married Sir William Felton of Northumberland (d. before 24 February 1360) as his first wife. She died before January 1332.

Possibly Alice wife of John Burradon of Eworth, Northumberland. She died s.p. before 1362.

Sir Robert son of Sir Robert Gray, the petitioner in 1334 for his father's property in Berwickshire, was also a soldier. Before January 1319 when he petitioned the king for payment of his wages, he had been sheriff of Lanark and constable of Rotherglen castle and in the garrison of Berwick-on-Tweed [9]. Raine says that he died in 1338 and was the ancestor of the Grays of Cornhill, but there is no clear evidence for this [10].

So the revised pedigree of Gray of Heton looks like this:



Best regards,

John

[1] Joseph Stevenson, ed., Scalacronica: By Sir Thomas Gray of Heton, Knight. A Chronicle of England and Scotland from A.D. MLXVI to A.D. MCCLXII. Now First Printed from the Unique Manuscript. With an Introduction and Notes, Maitland Club (Edinburgh, 1836), xxxiv.

[2] TNA: SC 8/115/5714A.

[3] Thomas Duffus Hardy, ed., Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense. The Register of Richard de Kellawe, Lord Palatinate and Bishop of Durham, 1311-1316, vol. 1, Rolls Series (London, 1873), 77-8.

[4] Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward II, vol. 1, 1307-1313 (London, 1894), 337.

[5] James Raine, The History and Antiquities of North Durham (London, 1852), 326.

[6] Thomas Duffus Hardy, ed., Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense. The Register of Richard de Kellawe, Lord Palatinate and Bishop of Durham, 1311-1316, vol. 2, Rolls Series (London, 1874), 1170.

[7] Herbert Maxwell, ed., Scalacronica. The Reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III as Recorded by Sir Thomas Gray (Glasgow, 1907), 18.

[8] G. W. Kitchin, ed., Richard D'Aungerville of Bury: Fragments of His Register, and Other Documents, Surtees Society 119, 1910, 58.

[9] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II: vol. 3: 1318-1323 (1895), 53

[10] Raine, The History and Antiquities of North Durham, 184.

Thomas married Margaret de Presfen about 1352. Margaret (daughter of William de Presfen) was born in of Middleton, Northumberland, England; died before 15 Aug 1403. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Margaret Hastings. Margaret (daughter of Ralph de Hastings and Isabel de Saddington) died on 7 Apr 1406 in Noseley, Leicestershire, England; was buried in Noseley, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth about 1352. Elizabeth died after 1385. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1327
• Alternate death: Bef Aug 1369
• Alternate death: Bef 1370

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Philip Darcy. Philip (son of John Darcy and Elizabeth de Meinell) was born on 21 May 1352 in House of the Friars Preachers, York, Yorkshire, England; died on 24 Apr 1399; was buried in Henes Priory, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 30 Nov 1400
• Alternate death: 3 Dec 1400

Notes:

Steward of Water Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, 1389-91. Deputy Warden for the East March for Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal, c. 1389-91. Constable of Norham Castle and Steward, Sheriff, Escheator, and Chief Justice of the episcopal liberty of Norhamshire and Islandshire, 1395-1400. Knighted by Nov 1385.

Knight of the shire for Northumberland, Jan 1397 and 1399.

His son Sir Thomas Gray was one of the three conspirators in the 1415 "Southampton Plot" against Henry V.

Thomas married Joan Mowbray before 1384. Joan (daughter of John Mowbray and Elizabeth de Segrave) died after 1407. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Isabel Scot. Isabel (daughter of Richard Scot) was born about 1375 in of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England; died before 20 Aug 1422. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Katherine. Katherine died after 5 Oct 1408. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 1428

Notes:

"He gave evidence in the Scrope-Grosvenor trial in 1386, stating that he was twenty-eight years old and had been armed for nine years. He had served in the expedition against the Scots under the Duke of Lancaster in 1383, and again under the King in person in 1385." ["The Yorkshire Family of Salvain," citation details below.]

Gerard married Alice about 1375. Alice was born about 1360; died after 1428. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1377

Notes:

He was summoned to Parliament from 19 Aug 1399 to 21 Sep 1411 by writs directed Johanni Darcy.

John married Margaret Grey after 9 Jul 1397. Margaret (daughter of Henry de Grey and Elizabeth Talbot) died on 1 Jun 1454. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1451
• Alternate death: Aft 1454

Maud married Robert Ogle about 21 May 1399. Robert (son of Robert Ogle and Joan Heton) was born about 1379; died on 12 Aug 1436. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

One of the three conspirators in the Southampton Plot against Henry V, as dramatized in Shakespeare's play about that king.