Walter of Gloucester

Not the father of Agnes FitzWalter

Walter was Sheriff of Gloucester in 1095.

Biography

Wikipedia contributors, "Walter of Gloucester," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Feb. 2024 < link > (accessed April 3, 2024).

Walter of Gloucester (also Walter FitzRoger or Walter de Pitres) (d. c. 1129) was an early Anglo-Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches. He was a sheriff of Gloucester and also a Constable under Henry I.

Walter of Gloucester was the son of Roger de Pitres, and his wife, Adeliza,[a][1] and was the earliest to use the style "of Gloucester" in his family.[2] A landholder himself at the time of Domesday, by 1095 Walter had control of the bulk of the estates formerly held by Roger his father and Durand of Gloucester his uncle. In addition Walter acquired other estates by royal grants.[3] These estates were principally in four shires, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and Wiltshire.[3]

He was hereditary Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1097 and 1105-6.[4]

Sometimes called Constable of England he may only have been constable of Gloucester Castle[5] He is recorded as a constable of the royal household of Henry I from 1114 on.[6] Walter erected or had a part in the erection of the castles of Bristol and Rochester as well as the Tower of London.[7] Walter donated Westwood to Gloucester Abbey for the soul of his brother Herbert and confirmed a grant of Colne by his father Roger.[1] He endowed the canons of Llanthony Priory in Wales with lands from his lordship of Beryntone and retired to the abbey in his old age where he died a monk and was buried in the chapter house,[7] about 1129.[8]

Family

He was married to Bertha.[1] They were the parents of:

1. Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford[1]
2. Matilda, who married Richard Fitz Pons[1]
3. _ _ _ _ _. (Had child Renaud, d 25 Aug 1149))

Notes

a. The name of his mother, Adeliza, is found in Historia et cartularium monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriæ, i, 81, 125, 188-9; ii, 129. See: Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, Vol. I, 451.

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Disputed wife

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ballon-3

Not the daughter of Dru de Ballon

No evidence has been found that she was the daughter of Dru de Ballon and she has been disconnected from that profile.

Did Walter marry Emma instead?

Some modern sources make the spurious claim that Walter married Emma, sister of Hamelin de Balun.

This was put forward by the herald Robert Glover, apparently in an attempt to explain the association with the lordship of Abergavenny. Brian fitz Count granted the honour of Abergavenny to Miles of Gloucester between July 1141 and December 1142, Empress Matilda issuing a charter confirming the deed. Abergavenny bordered Miles’s honour of Brecknock, solidifying his base in the region. [2]

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Family

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH NOBILITY MEDIEVAL.htm

https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#...

BERTHE, daughter of ---. The primary source which confirms her marriage has not yet been identified. The Complete Peerage suggests that Berthe was a relative of Hamelin de Ballon Lord of Abergavenny, citing the passage from the Historia fundationis cum fundatoris genealogia of the priory of Abergavenny quoted above[292]. However, there are two difficulties with this hypothesis. Firstly, it is Walter, not his son, who is described as “consanguineo” of Brien FitzCount, suggesting that the relationship must have been through Walter´s parents not his wife. Secondly, doubt exists about the relationship between Brien FitzCount (generally identified as the illegitimate son of Alain IV Duke of Brittany, although the primary source which confirms that this affiliation is correct has not yet been traced) and Hamelin de Ballon, as discussed more fully in the document WALES (Lords of Abergavenny). The Complete Peerage also cites[293] the undated charter under which “Willielmus de Braosa” confirmed donations to Abergavenny Priory by “Hamelinus de Balon et Brientius comitis filius et Walterus de Herefort et Henricus de Herefort”[294]. This document does suggest a close relationship between the two families. However, a family connection through the mother of Miles of Gloucester is not the only possibility.

m WALTER of Gloucester (-1129 or after[285]). The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified. Hereditary Sheriff of Gloucester. Constable [of Gloucester Castle][286]. The Historia fundationis cum fundatoris genealogia of the priory of Abergavenny records that “Brientio filio comitis de Insula, nepoti suo de sorore sua…Lucia” granted the lordship of Abergavenny to “Waltero constabulatio totius Angliæ, consanguineo suo”[287]. The precise relationship between Walter and his predecessor has not yet been established. Henry I King of England confirmed the grant of "heredibus suis Herefordiam [parvam et] Ullingeswicam" to "Waltero de Gloec" by the bishop of Hereford by charter dated 1121, witnessed by "…Ricardo filio Poncii…"[288]. Henry I King of England granted the lands of "Edrici fil Chetelli" to "Walto de Gloec" by charter date [3/10] Jun 1123[289]. A charter dated to [1123] records that "Walt de Gloec" gave Little Hereford in fee to "Willo de Mara nepoti suo"[290]. "Walter de Gloecestria, Milo fili ei…Willelm de Mara" witnessed the charter dated to [1127] which records that "Ricard Puncii filii" granted Aston, Gloucestershire ("Hestoniam") to "Mathilli uxori mee"[291].

Walter & his wife had [three] children:
i) MILES of Gloucester (-24 Dec 1143, bur Lanthony Priory, Gloucester). The Historia fundationis cum fundatoris genealogia of the priory of Abergavenny names “Milonem” as son of “Waltero constabulatio totius Angliæ”[295]. Henry I King of England appointed him Constable of England[296]. He was created Earl of Hereford in 1141.

ii) [MATILDA (-after [1127]). A charter dated to [1127] records that "Ricard Pontii filii" granted the manor of "Lechia" to "Mathildi uxori mee in matrimoniu" in exchange for her original marriage portion, the manor of Ullingswick in Herefordshire, which he gave to "Helie Giff in mat-monu cum filia mea Berta"[297]. Round indicates that this charter means that Matilda must have been the daughter of Walter of Gloucester, noting that Ullingswick was recorded in Domesday Book as belonging to the church of Hereford, and also that King Henry I confirmed its grant and that of Little Hereford by the bishop of Hereford to Walter of Gloucester by another charter (see above)[298]. The fact that Matilda named two of her children after her supposed parents also indicates that this parentage is probably correct (although the name Walter was already used in the FitzPons family before Richard´s marriage). "Ricardus filius Puncii" donated “ecclesiam de Lecha" to Great Malvern monastery, Worcestershire, for the soul of "uxoris meæ Mathildis et liberorum meorum…", by undated charter, witnessed by "Simon et Osbernus fratres mei…"[299]. m RICHARD FitzPons, son of PONS & his wife --- (-[1127/29]).]

iii) [--- .] m ---. One child: (a) RENAUD (-25 Aug 1149). A manuscript listing abbots of Evesham records that ”Reginaldus, monachus Gloucestriæ, nepos comitis Milonis Herefordiæ” was appointed abbot in 1122 and died “VIII Kal Sep 1149”[300], although another manuscript records his death “VIII Kal Sep 1136”[301].

Origins

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mainegenie/PITRES.htm

1. ROGER de PITRES m. ADELIZA d. before 1096 Roger was a Norman probably from Pitres, Eure which is a few miles above Rouen on the Seine.

The Chronicle of Abingdon records a precept by King William the Conqueror to Archbishop Lanfranc, Robert de Oilleio and Roger de Pitres to the monastery of Abingdon.(1)

The Chronicle of Gloucester St. Peter, dated 1125, states that Adeliza, mother of Walter de Gloucester, donated all the lands and rents in Gloucester to the monastery.(3) She also donated all tenure (burgage) she had in Gloucester to Gloucester St. Peter with the consent of her son Walter.(4) King Henry II confirmed these donations to Gloucester St. Peter by Adelise.(5)

Issue-

• 2I. WALTER- m. BERTA, d. 1129
• II. Herbert- d. before 1101
• III. ______- m. de la Mare

https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#...

C. EARLS of HEREFORD 1141-1155 (family of MILES of GLOUCESTER)

Ellis suggests that this family "must have come from that now rural village of Pitres…on the banks of the Seine, some miles above Rouen, at the foot of the Coté des Deux Amants"[313].

Roger & his wife had [three] children:

a) WALTER of Gloucester (-1129 or after[319]). … (se below)
b) HERBERT (-[before 1101]).
c) [--- . Her parentage and marriage are established by the charter dated to [1123] which records that "Walt de Gloec" gave Little Hereford in fee to "Willo de Mara nepoti suo"[343], although it is always possible that "nepos" should be interpreted in this document as indicating a more remote relationship than nephew of Walter of Gloucester. m --- de la Mare, son of ---.]

Llanthony Priory's tower and nave

Source: < Wikimedia Commons >

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References

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77443510/walter-de_gloucester
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_of_Gloucester cites
   1. K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166, Vol. I (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1999), p. 451
   2. David Walker, 'Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 77 (1958), p. 67
   3. David Walker, 'the Honours of the Earls of Hereford in the Twelfth Century', Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol. 79 (1960), p. 174
   4. W.A. Morris, 'The Office of Sheriff in the Early Norman Period', The English Historical Review, Vol. 33, No. 130 (Apr., 1918), p. 154, note 62
   5. J. Horace Round, The King's Serjeants & Officers of State; With their Coronation Services (London: The Tabard Press Limited, 1970), p. 79
   6. J. O. Prestwich, 'The Military Household of the Norman Kings', The English Historical Review, Vol. 96, No. 378 (Jan., 1981), p. 19
   7. Arthur William Crawley-Boevey, The cartulary and Historical Notes of the Cistercian Abbey of Flaxley; Otherwise called Deane Abbey in the County of Gloucester (Exeter: William Pollard & Co., 1887), p. 5
   8. I.J. Sanders, English Baronies; A study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086–1327 (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1963), p. 7
3. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mainegenie/PITRES.htm cites
   1. (1) Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon- J. Stevenson, Ed., London, 1858- Vol. II, p. 1
   2. (2) Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriae- W. H. Hart, London, 1863- Vol. I, p. lxxvi
   3. (3) Ibid- Vol. I, p. 81
   4. (4) Ibid- Vol. I, LXXV, p. 188
   5. (5) Ibid- Vol. I, CCCXLVII, p. 349
   6. Domesday People- K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Boydell Press, 1999- p. 451 ##Domesday Descendants- K.S.B. Keats- Rohan, Boydell Press, 2002- p. 480
   7. Tim Powys-Lybbe's web page at: http://www.tim.ukpub.net
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanthony_Priory The priory dates back to around the year 1100, when one of Hugh de Lacy's knights called William reputedly came upon a ruined chapel of St. David in this location; he was inspired to devote himself to solitary prayer and study. He was joined by Ersinius, a former Chaplain to Queen Matilda, the wife of King Henry I, and then a band of followers.[5] A church was built on the site, dedicated to St John the Baptist, and consecrated in 1108. By 1118, a group of around 40 canons founded there a priory of Canons Regular, the first in Wales.
5. WikiTree contributors, "Berthe (Ballon) of Gloucester (abt.1070-)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ballon-3 : accessed 03 April 2024). cites
   1. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm
   2. Reed, Paul C. "The Seymour Family of Hatch, Somerset, and de la Mare Family of Little Hereford" (2010) p. 229, footnote 76 < PDF >
   3. Weber, Jim. "The Phillips, Weber, Kirk, & Staggs families of the Pacific Northwest," RootsWeb.
   4. Wikipedia:Walter_of_Gloucester.
6. 'Gloucester: The castle', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester, (London, 1988) pp. 245-247. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp245-247 [accessed 24 March 2024] Before 1112 Walter of Gloucester built a new castle west of Barbican hill on a former garden of Gloucester Abbey, overlooking the Severn. (fn. 5) The hereditary sheriffs held Gloucester castle until 1155. Later it was retained by the Crown, passing with the borough lordship to the widows of Henry III and Edward I.
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucester_Castle Gloucester Castle was a Norman-era royal castle situated in the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. It was demolished in 1787 and replaced by Gloucester Prison. It was probably constructed by the Anglo-Norman Roger de Pitres, the first post-Norman Conquest Sheriff of Gloucestershire, as a simple motte and bailey castle during the reign of William the Conqueror (1066–1087), when sixteen houses were demolished to make way for it.[2] It was enlarged by King William II (1087–1100) who demolished eight more houses. Walter of Gloucester,[3] Sheriff of Gloucestershire, succeeded his father Roger de Pitres as Constable of the castle. Before 1113 Walter built a new castle west of Barbican hill on a former garden of Gloucester Abbey, overlooking the River Severn.