Ancestral Trails 2016 » WILLIAM FITZRANULPH de MESCHINES (1090-1130)

Personal data WILLIAM FITZRANULPH de MESCHINES 

• He was born in the year 1090 in Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.
• Title: Lord of Copeland
• Title: Lord of Skipton-in-Craven
• He died in the year 1130 in Skipton-in-Craven, West Riding, Yorkshire, he was 40 years old.
• A child of RANULPH de MESCHINES and MARGARET d'AVRANCHES

Household of WILLIAM FITZRANULPH de MESCHINES

He is married to CECILY de RUMILLY.

They got married in the year 1111 at Skipton-in-Craven, West Riding, Yorkshire, he was 21 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Ranulph de MESCHINES  ± 1124-????
2. AVICE de MESCHINES  1115-???? 
3. ALICE de RUMILLY  ± 1112-1187 
4. MATILDA de MESCHINES  1122-> 1190 

Notes about WILLIAM FITZRANULPH de MESCHINES

William Meschin (sometimes William le Meschin; died between 1130 and 1135) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and baron.

Meschin was the brother of Ranulf le Meschin, the Earl of Chester. They were the sons of Ranulf de Briquessart, the viscount of the Bessin, and his wife, Matilda, the daughter of Richard le Goz, viscount of Avranches. The boys were also nephews of Hugh d'Avranches, who was Earl of Chester. There was also an older brother, Richard, who died young, and a sister, who married Robert de Grandmesnil.

Meschin went on the First Crusade and was present at the Siege of Nicaea in 1097.

Meschin was given Gilsland by his brother, in order to protect the approaches to Carlisle. Due to attacks by the Scots, Meschin was unable to hold it. In compensation, King Henry I of England gave him lands around Allerdale in Cumberland, which centred on Egremont. These lands comprised the lordship, or Barony of Egremont. Through his wife, he acquired Skipton, and the lordship, or Barony of Skipton. Besides these lands, Meschin also was awarded two escheated properties in Leicestershire, some of which had earlier been lands of Roger de Busli. Other properties in Leicestershire were previously held by Durand Malet and William Blund in the Domesday Book. Meschin also held lands in Lincolnshire and Cheshire from his brother.

Meschin built the original parts of Egremont Castle at Egremont. It was a motte-and-bailey stone castle on the River Ehen. He and his wife also founded the Augustinian priory of Embsay Priory. Katrina Legg argues that Meschin's main motive for the foundation was to show support for a monastic order that enjoyed the patronage of King Henry I. Against this, Legg feels that Meschin's wife's motives were more probably religious, as she was close to Thurstan, the Archbishop of York. Another religious foundation of Meschin's was St Bees Priory, a daughter house of St Mary's Abbey, York. St Bees was founded around the same time as Embsay, Embsay was founded between 1120 and 1121, and St Bees was founded sometime after 1120.

Meschin married Cecily, daughter of Robert de Rumily. They had one son, Ranulf Meschin, and three daughters, Alice, Avice, and Matilda. Another son, Matthew, who was the eldest son, died before his parents.

Meschin died between 1130 and 1135. His widow married Henry de Tracy, and she died around 1151. Skipton went to Alice, who married William fitzDuncan. Alice and her first husband also acquired Egremont, after the death of her brother Ranulf without heirs. After the death of fitzDuncan, Alice married Alexander fitzGerold.
Avice married William de Courcy. Avice married as her second husband William Paynel, son of Ralph Paynel, as his second wife. Before 1153 Avice had married as her third husband Walter, the son of Alan de Percy. Matilda married twice - first to Philip de Belmeis and second to Hugh de Mortimer. All three daughters were the eventual co-heirs of their father, after their brother died without offspring between 1135 and 1140. Meschin's lands were divided between their descendants, with parts ending up with the Counts of Aumale, the family of the Courcys, and the last and smallest part to the Mortimer family.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

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Timeline WILLIAM FITZRANULPH de MESCHINES

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