William de Burgh

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef Mar 1206

Notes:

Seneschal of Munster, 1201. "Closely associated with John, lord of Ireland, he probably accompanied him on his expedition to Ireland in 1185, and became John's principal agent in the conquest and organization of northern Munster. While other leading Anglo-Norman invaders are vividly described by Gerald of Wales, knowledge of this turbulent frontier lord has to be gleaned from hostile Gaelic sources or administrative records. Perhaps the best clue to his character lies in the study of the imposing sites of his castles at Kilfeacle, Carrigogunnell, and Shanid, among others, which reveals a powerful personality capable of impressing his authority on fiercely contested borders."

William married (Unknown) before 1193. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Richard de Burgh was born about 1193; died in 1242.

Notes:

Richardson gives this Walter de Burgh as definitely the father of William de Burgh and Hubert de Burgh. Boyer says that William de Burgh and Hubert de Burgh were "probably" brothers and that they "may have been" sons of this Walter; further, that William "was not identical with William Fitz Adelm, Justiciar of Ireland under King Henry II."

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that William and Hubert were definitely brothers ("William's son would later refer to Hubert as uncle") and that their mother is known to have been named Alice because "in his grant (c. 1230) of the advowson of the church of Oulton to the prior of Walsingham, Hubert stated that the gift was 'for the soul of my mother Alice who rests in the church at Walsingham.'" However, the ODNB says only that it is "possible, though doubtful" that their father was Walter de Burgh of Burgh in Norfolk; and they also note that Hubert "has been wrongly said to have been the son of a brother of William fitz Aldhelm, steward of Henry II."

Richardson notes the same evidence indicating that William and Hubert's mother was named Alice. He also gives them two further brothers. Thomas de Burgh, knight of Upper Arley, Staffordshire (now Worcestershire), married Nesta de Cockfield and died in or before March 1227 without issue. Geoffrey de Burgh was Treasurer of the Exchequer and Bishop of Ely, and died without issue 17 Dec 1228. Further according to Richardson, in a charter recorded in Norfolk Portion of the Chartulary of the Priory of St. Pancras of Lewes (Norfolk Records Society 12, 1939), the manor of the late Thomas de Burgh at Upper Arley was granted by the king to his brother, Hubert de Burgh. This charter calls the late Thomas son of Walter de Burgh, and was witnessed by Geoffrey de Burgh. Geoffrey evidently also served as witness for other charters made by Thomas de Burgh in Thomas's lifetime. This seems like enough evidence to establish that William and Hubert's father was named Walter, whether or not he was the Walter de Burgh of Burgh near Aylsham.

Walter married Alice. Alice was buried in Walsingham, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]