Sir Adam de Ireland, Kt., of Hutt

The de Ireland ( or Austin) family is of ancient lineage, the first norman member coming owner with William the Conquerer ( see sources). "A the beginning of Edward I's reign another claimant came forward, more important than any of the foregoing. This was Adam Austin or Adam de Ireland, son of Cecily de Wolfall's sister Edusa, (fn. 33) who had been living in Ireland, where her son Adam was born and brought up. They were in ignorance of the state of the succession in Hale, but Adam on coming into Lancashire claimed his mother's share of the two-thirds not alienated by Cecily, and then sought a writ against Richard de Walton for the other third. (fn. 34)

He first appears as a claimant in 1279, when, in conjunction with his aunt Cecily and her husband, he demanded land, meadow, wood, and the third part of a mill at Hale. For that he substituted a claim against John de Wolfall and Cecily his wife for the moiety of two parts of the manor of Hale as his portion of the inheritance of his uncle Henry de Hale, lately deceased. To this they agreed, and Adam accordingly had seisin. (fn. 35) His next suit was against Robert de Holand, Richard son of William de Walton, and others, to recover the third part of the manor, except one messuage. Robert de Holand said he claimed nothing except as guardian of Richard de Walton, a minor. Richard denied Adam's right, and the latter repeated his story, with the addition that his aunt Cecily in her old age and infirmity had desired it to be known that he was her heir, and had allowed him temporary possession 'for one day and one night,' in token of the same. (fn. 36)

The claim was unsuccessful, and the Waltons retained this part of the manor. In 1292 Richard de Walton was summoned to show his right to a third part of the manor of Hale, part of the ancient demesne of the crown, but stated that he held in fact only about a sixth of it. On adducing the grant to Richard de Meath, he was met by the statement that the hey of Hale with its hunting and other rights had been reserved by King John; (fn. 37) he could only reply that Richard de Meath had occupied the hey as well as the rest of the manor. In 1293 his portion of the manor was taken into the king's hands by default, (fn. 38) but four years later was restored to his son William de Walton. (fn. 39) The disputes between the various lords of the manor continued, (fn. 40) but in 1321 William de Walton sold his rights to Adam de Ireland and Robert his son. (fn. 41)" British History Online: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp140-149 Note: ANCESTRY OF ADAM DE IRELAND [footnotes are omitted] by James H. Maloney, 8 Sept 2008 ©

Adam de Ireland, Lord of Hale, was born before 1258 in Ireland and died 1321-26. He was the first of that name to hold Hale, and there is no evidence of a “de Ireland” possessing Hale before Adam appeared in the last quarter of the 13th century. In contemporary records he was referred to as Adam de Ireland, Adam de Hibernia, Adam Austyn, Adam Austin, and Adam Austin de Ireland,

He was the son of Edusa, a daughter of Richard de Meath (or de Mida) by Cecily de Columbers. Nothing is known of his father beyond the name Austyn. Richard de Meath’s father was Gilbert de Walton, the son of Waltheve (Waldeve) of Walton. Adam married Avina Holand by mid-1285. She was the daughter of Robert de Holand and Elizabeth Salmesbury.

The ancestry of Adam de Ireland was made clear around the beginning of the 20th century by a number of publications which examined charters, Pipe Rolls, and the documents at Hale. Mid-nineteenth century publications set out an erroneous ancestry for Adam of Ireland with antecedents named Ireland at Hutt, and to resolve a perceived problem with possession of Hale his grandmother Cecily de Columbers is mistakenly identified as the mother or grandmother of his wife. These mistakes are often repeated today. Adam de Ireland was neither the son of John Ireland and Matilda Hesketh nor the grandson of Robert Ireland and Beatrix Daresbury, although later generations of the family appear to have thought so.

“The original home of the lord of the manor of Hale was at Hutte, a mansion in Halewood, but between..1617 and 1626 the foundations of Hale Hall were first laid..... It was Gilbert Ireland, Knt, who began the construction of Hale Hall when he first moved from his former home at Hute which was starting to decay.” Accordingly, prior to the reign of Charles I, the lord of Hale might be referred to as “of Hutt,” but before and after hew was “of Hale.” The original grant was for the ‘vil of Hale.”

Adam de Ireland’s obtained possession of Hale as son of Edusa (wife of Austyn), a daughter of Richard de Meath. Adam initially held Hale subject to certain overlord rights of the Waltons and the Hollands, but with his marriage to Avina de Holand about 1285 he began gaining additions rights and was the sole possessor of Hale by 1321.

Who was Richard de Meath?Townships: Hale’ and ‘Townships: Walton” identify Richard de Meath and Henry de Walton as sons of Gilbert de Walton and grandsons of Waldeve de Walton. About 1153, William, Count of Mortain and a son of King Stephen, made a grant covering Walton, Wavertree, and Newsham, to his servant Waldeve, with the office of master-serjeant or bailiff of the wapentake of West Derby.” Waldeve also held land in Egergarth, and he was also granted land in Chesterton by King Henry II, apparently as compensation after Waldeves house burned down when the king was staying there.

‘Townships: Walton’ at footnote 17 indicates

“[Waldeve%E2%80%99s] son and successor, Gilbert, was outlawed after the barons' rebel-lion of 1173-4, but in 1176 made his peace, proffering the enormous sum of £400 to obtain remission of the sentence. Between 1189 and 1194, John, count of Mortain, confirmed this estate [in Walton] and serjeanty to Gilbert, to hold by the yearly service of 2 marks. Gilbert had two sons, Henry and Richard. To the former in 1199 King John confirmed the fourteen oxgangs; to the latter, known as Richard de Meath, he gave in 1200 'the whole town of Walton with all its appurtenances,' which used to render 40s. farm, for the increased rent of 60s. Richard de Meath soon afterwards gave four oxgangs here to Richard son of Robert de Walton to be held by a rent of 5s. 6d., which gift was confirmed in 1204 by the king.”

Richard de Meath was a member of a family with holdings in Walton, Wavertree, and Newsham, and in 1200-1203 he received grants in Hale, Walton and Formby. A substantial note about Richard de Meath appears in Lancashire Pipe Rolls:

“NOVA OBLATA - Richard de Meath (Mida), was the eldest son of Gilbert de Walton, and brother of Henry de Walton. He is sometimes described as clericius, and appears at times to have attended at the court probably in an official capacity. In the Patent Polls he is described as "dilectus clericus noster." In the month of December, 1200, he had letters of protection from the King directed to the Justices then in Ireland. He attested royal charters which passed respectively at Pont de l'Arche on the 5th June, 1203; at Rouen, on the 11th June, 1203; and at Bristol, on the 10th September, 1205. Probably he acquired his name from some accidental occurrence, or some office which he may have held in the province of Meath. Although the Pipe Poll specifically refers to an entry in the Fine Roll respecting the grant of Walton, there is no such entry to be found in the Roll of the third year of John. From the Charter Roll however, it appears that the King grant- ed to "Richard de Mida, son of Gilbert de Waleton" the whole town of Waleton-on-the Hill, which formerly rendered 40s. ancient dues and customary yearly ferm, while it was parcel of the King's demesne and in his hands, to hold in fee farm for 60s. yearly for all services. Given at St. Sever in Gascony, 27th July, 1200. On the 14th May, 1203, by letters patent directed to Geoffrey, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, King John presented Richard de Meath to the church of Wolstanton, co. Staff.”

The grant in Walton is shown above. The other grants in Formby and Hale were:

“[A moiety in Formby] in 1203 was granted to Richard de Meath, one of the king's clerks, son of Gilbert de Walton. Three years later it was taken into the king's hands,...but in 1221 Richard de Meath succeeded in obtaining Henry III's mandate to the sheriff to put him in seisin of this and other manors granted to him by King John. Richard granted it to his brother Henry de Walton for life, with a provision, which took effect, that should Henry survive him, the estate should descend to Henry's heirs; this arrangement was confirmed by the king in 1227.”

“Townships: Hale” says about the grant at Hale:

“[By] charter, dated at Rouen, 9 November, 1203, King John granted to Richard de Meath [footnote says “One of the clerks of the Exchequer, and son of Gilbert de Walton] the vill of Hale in its entirety, rendering every Michaelmas for all service the increased rent of £7 above mentioned. The vill was to be held by Richard and his heirs by hereditary right...[i]n 1215,..Richard de Meath proffered four palfreys for seisin of his land of Walton, Formby, and Hale, and the offer being accepted the sheriff of Lancaster was directed to take security for the payment” and Richard was put in seisin of his estates in Walton, Formby and Hale.”

Richard de Meath was a clerk in the King’s court form at least 1200 through at least 1205 as shown by statements in the grants to him and by the royal charters he attested. The grants to him of Hale, Walton and Formby indicate he had performed some service of note.

Richard was a son of Gilbert de Walton, but he was called “Richard de Meath” Why? Meath is a county in Ireland; no reference has been found to a Meath in England. The note from Lancashire Pipe Rolls quoted above speculated the name “de Meath” was acquired from some accidental occurrence, or some office which he may have held in the province of Meath. Richard safe conduct addressed to the king’s Justices in Ireland was dated December 1200, but he was already of Meath (of Mida) when the grant was made for Walton in July of that year. “The Origins of the Irelands of Hale” contains the following paragraph at page 140:

“In 1185, Henry II attempted to make a complete conquest of Ireland, and sent his son John over to conduct the campaign. Among his followers seems to have gone a young Richard of Walton, probably in a clerical capacity. Of his exploits in Ireland we know nothing, but for some reason he earned the distinctive name of Meath, so Richard of Walton becomes henceforth Richard of Meath.”

Anther possibility is that Gilbert de Walton was in Ireland when Richard was born and that Richard was named for the county of his birth.

The hereditary “segeanty of the Wapentac’ and Waldeve’s land passed from Gilbert de Walton to Henry, but Richard who was the elder son. The note from the Lancashire Pipe Rolls above indicates that Richard was sometimes called “clericus” and that King John in 1203 presented him to the church at Wolstanton, Staffordshire. He was one of the witnesses to a confirmation of John, Bishop of Norwich, of the Church at All Saints, Lynn, in 1211. The fact he was in holy orders explains why Gilbert’s hereditary title passed to his second son, Henry de Walton. As a cleric Richard could not marry or have legitimate issue to inherit his property. Consequently, he transferred to his brother Henry and his family the rights he received under the various grants. The transfer of Form by is shown above. Almost immediately after receiving the grant in Walton, he gave it to Henry. ‘Townships: Walton” indicates that

Walton was given by him [Richard de Meath] to his brother Henry, whom he made his heir. Henry de Walton, who thus became lord of the whole manor, died in 1241, when his widow Juliana received dower in his lands from his son William.” [footnotes omitted]

Hale also went to Henry, but with a reservation. Richard needed to provide for Cecily de Columbers and their children. Appendix: Additional Material to Fines', Final Concords for Lancashire, Part 1: 1189- 1307 (1899), pp. 216-219, says

“Richard de Meath granted Hale to Cecily de Columbers, and to her children by him begotten, and to their heirs, to hold of him for life, and after his decease, of Henry de Waleton, his brother and his heirs, who are his (the grantor's) heirs, with remainders after the death of Cecily to (1) Richard, her eldest son in fee, (2) to Geoffrey, second son, (3) to Adam, third son, (4) to Henry, fourth son, (5) to Edusa, and (6) to Cecily, daughters, to hold in fee of Henry de Waleton and his heirs, rendering yearly at Michaelmas, £7 sterling to the King and his successors, and 12d. or 1 lb. of pepper to the said Henry and his heirs. The date of this grant lies before November, 1233, when Sir William le Boteler, one of the witnesses, was dead.”

‘Townships:Hale’, which dates the grant 1226-27, says

[Richard de Meath] granted to Cecily de Columbers and her children begotten by him and their heirs the vill of Hale and its appurtenances, to be held of Richard himself during his life, and after his death of his brother Henry de Walton and his heirs, 'who,' he declared, 'are my heirs.' The remainders were to Cecily's children in turn-Richard, Geoffrey, Adam, Henry, Emma, and Cecily; 'and so to all other children that the said Cecily may have by me.' The holder was to pay annually to Henry de Walton and his heirs the £7 due to the king and 12d., or a pound of pepper, in addition. About the same time (viz. on 19 July, 1227) Henry III confirmed his father's grants to Richard, as well as the latter's charter granting Hale to Henry de Walton and his heirs.

The three grants were recorded and confirmed July 19, 1227; Calender of Charter Rolls, Henry, III, Membranes 6 and 7. Richard de Meath was apparently dead by that time for in 1226 “Cecilia de Columbers, the lady of Hale, mistress of myself (In legia potentate meá) and with the full consent and assent of both Henry, my son, and my other heirs” made a grant to Roger de Wysewall of fourteen acres in Halewood.

Cecily de Columbers’ identity has never been definitely established, but she may have Cecily de Vernai, the wife of Phiilip Columbers of Somerset who died without issue in 1216 ["18 Joh"]. A review of the published Pipe Rolls and Assizes for Lancashire and Cheshire which contains information about Richard de Meath show no one else in those counties with the name of Vernai or Columbers. “The Origin of the Irelands of Hale,” p. 141 says Cecilia de Columbers (nee Vernai) “was certainly alive in 1257" and notes that the Cecily de Columbers associated with Richard de Meath died in 1260. The dates are consistent, but there is noting in the records to associate the two. However, the author points out in a footnote that the arms of the Somerset family “bear a close resemblance” to the traditional arms of the Cecelia associated with Richard de Meath.

After Richard de Meath’s death around 1235, possession of Hale passed to Cecily de Columbers, then in turn, to her son Richard, her son Henry (until his death shortly after 1260), and her daughter Cecily Wolfall. Footnotes in ‘Townships: Hale’ show transfers by Cecily de Columbers, ‘lady of Hale,’ Richard, son of Richard de Meath, Henry ‘lord of Hale,’ and ‘Cecily de Wolfall, lady of Hale.” In 1260 Henry de Walton’s son and heir, William, endeavored to recover Hale claiming that Cecily de Columbers had no legitimate children and that Hale reverted to him upon her death. Adam de Irleand’s later petition to the king indicates that a compromise was reached and that Cecily de Wolfall granted a third of the manor of Hale to William de Walton.

About this same time a dispute began with the Hollands of Upholland. Thurston de Holland was mense lord of Hale, and there was conflict between him and Cecily de Wolfall. An extensive footnote Lancashire Assize Rolls, at page 138, citing the charter roll at Hale Hall, indicates

These grants [the grants of Richard de Meath] appear to have been complicated by a grant from Henry III. to Nicholas de la Huse, for his good services, of a chief rent of 6os. issuing out of the vill of Walton, and another chief rent of £7 issuing out of Hale, to hold in fee; which chief rents the said Nicholas conveyed to T'hurstan de Holand (Hale Deeds). Another version, however, of the feoffmeut to de Holand, appears in a complaint of the tenants of Hale, probably of a date circa 20 Edward I, to the effect that when Henry de Hale (fourth son of Richard de Meath) was dying, one Thurstan de Holand, who had married his daughter, as the said Henry lay at the point of death, his memory lost, took the seal which he had around his neck, and made use thereof to issue charters granting the Manor of Hale to himself, the said Thurstan, and to Robert his son, who thereupon entered into possession to the injury of those who held by the charters of King John and King Henry. (Ibid.) As Henry de Hale died without issue, the former version appears to record the true conveyance of the manor to the Holaud family. The subsequent disputes which arose respecting the title of the heirs of Richard de Meath to lands in Hale, point to Thurstau de Holaud and his heirs as mesne tenants of Hale, and therefore over-lords of the heirs of Richard de Meath....Thurstan de Holand, however, asserting his right as mesne tenant, John and Cecily took action against him upon a writ of mort d'aneestor before the Justices in Eyre at Lancaster, with the result that the above Concord was concluded between them.

“Townships: Hale” indicates the grant to Nicholas de la Huse was made between 1263-1266 by Robert de Ferrers, earl of Darby, in connection with the wardship of Richard de Walton. Regardless of how the rights came to the Holland family, Cecily de Wolfall took action against Thurston de Holland. That action and concordant are found in Appendix: Additional material to fines', Final Concords for Lancashire, Part 1: 1189-1307 (1899), pp. 216-219:

-At Lancaster, on the Quindene of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, 46 Henry III. [16th February 1262].

Between John de Wolfal and Cecily his wife, plaintiffs, and Thurstan de Holand, tenant of 400 acres of land in Hale. (fn. 23) An assize of mort d'ancestor had been arraigned between them.

John and Cecily acknowledged the tenement to be the right of Thurstan, and quit-claimed it to him. For this release Thurstan granted to John and Cecily five score acres of the said tenement, whereof twenty-one acres lie in the marsh, thirteen acres in the culture called Adam riding, eight acres at the top of the said culture, towards the east, and fifty-eight acres between Adam de Cestre's land and Bokegate, to hold of Thurstan and his heirs, rendering yearly one penny at the feast of the Assumption, for all services. With warranty. If John and Cecily should die without issue between them, the land to revert to Thurstan and his heirs. Moreover Thurstan granted to John and Cecily reasonable estovers in Thurstan's wood of Hale, to wit as much as should suffice for building, burning and making enclosures in that town, without allowance (libratione) of Thurstan's foresters, and to have their pigs in the said wood free from pannage. [Endorsed]. And Richard de Walton puts in his claim.

The transfer from Nicholas de la Huse to Thurston de Holland explains the interest of that family in Hale, but before it was known two theories were advanced to explain it. ‘The Origin of the Irelands of Hale’, at page 143, indicates that one genealogist explained it by a purported marriage between Cecily de Columbers and Sir Robert de Holland, while another “ventures to marry Cecily de Wolfall to him. There is no evidence, however, to support either of these statements.”

Almost two decades later, in 1279, Adam de Ireland appears. All the sons of Richard de Meath died without issue, their title descending to their sisters, Cecily, wife of John de Wolfall, and Edusa, wife of one Austyn living in Ireland, whose son was Adam Austyn de Ireland. ‘Townships: Hale’ says:

“But at the beginning of Edward I's reign another claimant came forward, more important than any of the foregoing. This was Adam Austin or Adam de Ireland, son of Cecily de Wolfall's sister Edusa, [Editha or Ida] who had been living in Ireland, where her son Adam was born and brought up. They were in ignorance of the state of the succession in Hale, but Adam on coming into Lancashire claimed his mother's share of the two-thirds not alienated by Cecily, and then sought a writ against Richard de Walton for the other third.

He first appears as a claimant in 1279, when, in conjunction with his aunt Cecily and her husband, he demanded land, meadow, wood, and the third part of a mill at Hale. For that he substituted a claim against John de Wolfall and Cecily his wife for the moiety of two parts of the manor of Hale as his portion of the inheritance of his uncle Henry de Hale, lately deceased. To this they agreed, and Adam accordingly had seisin....”

Apparently Edusa was the older sister, as Cecily de Wolfall acquiesced to Adam’s claim. “The Origins of the Irelands of Hale” at page 142 describes Adam’s pleading before the Assize:: “Adam Austyn, as he is called, says that the Manor of Hale formerly belonged to a certain Henry Hale, who dies without heirs. Henry had two sisters, a certain Cecilia and a certain Ida (she is called indiffernetly Ida, Edua , and Edith), and that the said Ida was the plaintiff’s own mother, and was in Irish parts (on the death of the said Henry), so that the said Cecilia entered into the whole manner at the same time as into other tenements of which the said Henry died seized. And he further says that in the process of time, the said Ida his mother died, and ‘as soon as it became known to him, the said Adam being in Irish parts, that the said Henry his uncle was dead,’ he came into these parts, and demanded his share. This statement is rather more fully set out in a petition to the King, drawn up at the same time by Adam, in which he calls himself Adam of Ireland...”

Cecily and her husband conveyed two-thirds of Hale manor to Adam. ‘Townships:Hale’ says

“His next suit was against Robert de Holand, Richard son of William de Walton, and others, to recover the third part of the manor, except one messuage. Robert de Holand said he claimed nothing except as guardian of Richard de Walton, a minor. Richard denied Adam's right...”

Adams claim against Richard de Walton made in 1279 was unsuccessful, it appears the case ended without any resolotuion. So Adam held two-thirds of Hale and his cousin, Richard de Walton, a ward of Robert Holland, held the other third. Robert de Holland, either acquired or inherited from his father Thurston, the mense lordship of Hale which Nicholad de la Huse had acquired from Robert de Ferrers.

Appendix: Additional Material to Fines', Final Concords for Lancashire, Part 1: 1189-1307 at page 217 contains an account of the title to Hale in 1293:

Additional note to No. 178, p. 138. -The pleadings in a suit brought by the King's Attorney against Robert de Holar.d and others, to recover ten pounds of annual rent in Walt»n and Hale, formerly members of the Royal Demesne in Lancashire, which are recorded in the Quo Warranto Rolls, p. 386.... As is there stated, King John gave, and Henry III. confirmed, Hale to Richard de Meath. The latter King, early in his reign, bestowed the land between Ribble and Mersey upon Ranulf, Earl of Chester, [which ultimately went to] Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. So much respecting the chief lords of Hale. Richard de Meath, during his possession of Hale, enfeoffed his wife, Cecily de Columbers, of this estate, to hold it after his death of his brother, Henry de Walton, whom he thereby constituted his heir. Accordingly, Cecily, as lady of Hale, was sub-tenant, after her husband's death, under Henry de Walton, which tenure continued when the estate descended to her daughters, and ultimately to Adam de Ireland, in right of Edusa his wife [sic], one of the said daughters, who ultimately became heir to her sister's purparty. Henry de Walton had issue a son William, who had a son Richard. The said Richard being a minor at his father's death, his wardship fell to Robert de Ferrers, as chief lord, who sold the wardship of the heir and of his estates, and also the lordship over his estates - thus creating a mesne tenancy - to one Nicholas de la Huse, a Wiltshire man, who afterwards sold the wardship and the lordship of the land of the heir to Robert de Holand.

Before July 11, 1285, Adam married Alvina, the daughter of the mense lord of Hale, Robert Holland, and the marriage settlement conveyed to Adam half of all the land in Halewood and two mills [see Appendix, item J}. Apparently there were still disputes, for in 1289 Adam de Hibernia and Robert de Holland entered into an agreement over the remaining 200 arcres held by Holland, and in April of 1300 the Sheriff of Lancaster was directed to require Robert to complete that agreement. This continuing dispute may have been the genesis of the Petition from the “King’s loyal tenants at Hale” alleging that the rights of the Hollands was based upon the fraud perpertated when Thurston Holland made Hale over to himself using Henry of Hales seal (see Appendix, items K through M). Finally, In1305 Roberts Holand’s son and heir Robert conveyed to Adam de Ireland and his wife Avina sixty acres in Hale, the £7 rent reserved to the Waltons which had been given by Nicolas de le Hose to the Hollands. Finally, in 1321, William de Walton, the son of Richard, sold his rights to Adam de Ireland and his son Robert Adam had died by April 5, 1339, when the king confirmed “the whole town of Hale, which was granted to Richard de Mida, son of Gilbert de Waleton,” for consideration of £4.10m to “John, son of Adam de Ireland, kinsman and heir of the aforesaid Richard”

This is how Robert de Ireland became lord of Hale. He was the first of that name at Hale. In the 1270's ‘though several “De Hibernias” occur in local documents....there is no evidence to show, and very little probability to lead us to believe, that they had any connection with the family at Hale.”

Father: Austyn Mother: Edusa Meath b: BET 1219 AND 1226 in prob. Hale, Lancashire, England

Marriage 1 Avena de Holand b: ABT 1277 in Upholland, Lancashire, England Married: BEF JUL 1285 Children Has No Children Robert de Ireland of Hutt b: ABT 1292 in Hutt Manor, Halewood, Prescott, Lancashire, England Has Children John de Ireland of Hutt b: ABT 1300 in Hutt Manor, Halewood, Prescott, Lancashire, England

Sources: Title: Townships: Hale, A History of the County of Lancashire, Vol 3 Publication: Name: British History OnLine; Repository: Name: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41311.

Note: Source Medium: Electronic

Text: 1321 William de Walton sold his rights to Adam de Ireland and Robert his son. Author: Blackburne, Charlotte Title: Hale Hall: with Notes on the Family of Ireland Blackburne Publication: Name: Liverpool: printed for private circulation, 1881; Repository: Name: Googl eBook

Note: Source Medium: Electronic

Chapter on the Irelands of Hutts begins by referring to papers drawn up by Richar Norroy and his son, Sir Henry,Blue Malne of the VIsitation of Lancashire, 1613

Page: 87 Text: On 5 April 1339, the king confirmed to John, son of Adam de Ireland, the whole town of Hale.