BERKELEY
1. EADNOTH-
b.c.1035
killed 1068
Eadnoth was the "staller" to King Harold Godwinson and Edward the
Confessor. The staller was an important royal official, although his duties
were unspecified. He was also constable of
Eadnoth fell in battle against the sons of Harold in 1067: "...Amidst this came one of Harold's sons from Ireland with a naval force into the mouth of the Avon unawares, and plundered soon over all that quarter; whence they went to Bristol, and would have stormed the town; but the people bravely withstood them. When they could gain nothing from the town, they went to their ships with the booty which they had acquired by plunder; and then they advanced upon Somersetshire, and there went up; and Ednoth, master of the horse, fought with them; but he was there slain, and many good men on either side; and those that were left departed thence."(1)
Issue-
· 2I. HARDING- b.c.1065, m. LIVIDA
of
Ref:
(1) The Anglo Saxon Chronicle- James Ingram,
Everyman Press,
Dictionary of National Biography- Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee, Ed., MacMillan Co., New York & Smith, Elder & Co. London, 1908- vol II, p. 340
The Plantagenet Ancestry-William Henry Turton, 1968, p. 120
Burke's Peerage & Baronetage- 106th Edition, Charles Mosley
Ed., 1999, p. 254
Complete Peerage of
2I. HARDING (EADNOTH 1)
b.c.1065
m. LIVIDA of
d. after 1125
The
Harding held as his principle holding the manor of Merriott (from whence de
Meriet) in 1086 in Crewkerne,
William of Malmesbury, speaking of Harding as then alive, tells us (3) that he was 'better used to whet his tongue in strife than to wield his arms in war.' This Harding may probably be identified with the Harding who, in 1062, subscribed the confessor's Waltham charter as 'reginæ pincerna' (4), and continued after the Conquest in the household of Eadgyth, appearing as a witness to the sale of Combe to Bishop Gisa, transacted in Eadgyth's presence at Wilton in 1072 (5). In 1086 he held lands in Gloucestershire in pledge of a certain Brihtric, who held them in the time of Edward the Confessor (<b>6). It is safe to assume that Robert FitzHarding was his son. It is possible that Harding had an elder son, Nicolas, the ancestor of the family of Meriet. If this was so, the younger son soon outstripped the older in wealth.(7)
The parentage of Harding (living c. 1125) has been long and hotly disputed.
He has been termed "son of the King of Denmark" (as in the petition
of 1661), "Mayor of Bristol", and so forth. The view now generally
accepted is that he was the son of Eadnoth (killed 1068), "Staller"
to King Harold and to Edward the Confessor. E.A. Freeman pronounces this
descent "in the highest degree probable." Eyton (in his "
The following was in Dugdale's Baronage:
...That Harding... is by some said [Vet. MS. in castro de
Don't believe everything you read!
Issue-
· ?3I. ELIAS/JOHN- b.c.1086
· II. Robert- b.c.1095, m. Eva FitzEstmond,
bur. 5 Feb. 1171 St. Augustine's Priory,
· III. Nicholas- b.c.1100, m. niece of Robert, Bishop of Salisbury, d. before 1171
Ref:
(1) Domesday People- Keats-Rohan, p. 244
(2) Burke's Peerage and Baronetage- pp. 43-47,
232-3, The Ligon Family; The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of the
British Empire- The Earl of Berkeley, pp. 70-71, 254 (1882)
(3) Gest. Reg.- Vol. III, p. 254
(4) Codex Dipl.- Vol. IV, p. 159
(5) Liber Albus- Vol. III, p. 254 fo. Chapter Records, Wells
(6) Domesday- Vol. I, 170 B
(7)Dictionary of National Biography- Leslie Stephen
& Sidney Lee, Ed., MacMillan Co., New York & Smith, Elder & Co.
London, 1908, vol II, p. 340
(8) Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great
Britain and the United Kingdom- G. E Cokayne, Sutton Publishing Ltd,
2000- Vol. II, p.124 (d)
(9) Dugdale's Baronage- Vol. I,
The Plantagenet Ancestry-William Henry Turton, 1968- p. 120
?3I. ELIAS/JOHN (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2)
b.c.1086
Issue-
· 4I. WALTER- b.c.1105
· II. Robert-
· III. Humphrey- m. Agatha
4I. WALTER de BARCLAY, High Chamberlain (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3)
b.c.1105 Redcastle, Forfar
Red Castle- Forfar
"There are surely more published histories of the Barclays than of any
other Scottish family. The Barclays histories published in this century are
worse than those published in the eighteenth, and those in turn are
distinguished for the low level of their medieval scholarship. It has been
assumed, on no concrete evidence, that the Scottish family of Barclay (de
Berchelai, etc.), which first appears at the end of Malcolm IV’s reign in the
persons of Robert and Walter de Berkeley(1) must be a branch of
one or other of the two Anglo-Norman families of de Berkeley of Berkeley in
Gloucestershire. Despite this assumption, it has never been possible to point
to a single piece of evidence which would link the Scottish and English
families. Is it extravagant to look for an alternative explanation? As with
Lindsay and Ramsay, we have a Scottish family with an English place-name for
surname and a strongly
Walter de Berkeley was appointed chamberlain of
When Walter died is uncertain. He was alive at the end of the twelfth, and
died at the beginning of the thirteenth centurym as we may learn from the
chartularies. He left an heiress, who married Ingelram de Baliol, who was the
first of this family that settled in
Issue-
· ?5I. RICHARD- b.c.1126 Redcastle
· II. ______- m. Ingelram de Baliol
Ref:
(1) Regesta Regum Scottorum- GWS Barrow, Edinburgh VII, 1971,
I, 283 No. 1. According to G. Crawfurd's History of the Shire of Renfew,
page 88, one Richard de Barclay was a witness to the foundation charter of the
Abbey of Kilwinnig, Ayrshire. The charters are now lost…Richard may be an error
for Robert; alternatively, he was another unrecorded member of the family of de
Berleley
(2) Victoria History of the Counties of England- Somerset-
Vol. I., p. 496; English Baronies- Sanders, p. 72
(3) Victoria History of the Counties of England- Somerset-
Vol. I, p. 495; for the disposition of the Arundel and Douai estates, see the
Domesday Map of Somerset contained in the Proceedings of the
Somersetshire Archaeological Society- vol. xxxv
(4) Regesta Regum Scottorum- GWS Barrow, Edinburgh VII, 1971, I,
Nos. 256, 292, and note
(5)The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society
from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century- G.W.S. Barrow, St. Martin's
Press, New York, 1973
(6) Crawford Officers Of State- p. 253
(7) Chart. Arbroath, No. 84-86; Chart.
(8) Diplom. Scotiae, pl. 77
(9) Chart. Arbroath- No. 83-4, 85-8
(10) Rymer’s Foedera, v. i., p. 40
(11) Dug. Monsat., vol. v., p. 286
(12) Chart. Arbroath, No. 27
(13) Chart. Arbroath, No. 87. Monast. Angl., v., p. 286; Caledonia:
or, a historical and topographical account of
5I. RICHARD (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4)
b.c.1126 Redcastle
"When King David I took the Scottish throne in 1124, he was already well connected in English court circles, since his wife was an English countess. David thought his country would benefit from an English influence, so he welcomed to Scotland 1,000 Anglo-Normans, most of noble birth. These families were given the homes and lands of “malcontents,” Scottish subjects who spoke against David and whom he saw as a threat. In this way, David installed for himself a supportive and grateful populace, but he also sowed the seeds of bitterness for a displaced group of Scots who did not accept the newcomers. Established Scottish names such as Eaglesham and Lauderdale were lost to the new fashionable Norman names, such as de Barclay and de Montgomerie.
In 1140, a Richard de Barclay was the first recorded lord of the
Richard de Barclay was an important man, acting as a signatory on the
charter of Kilwinning Abbey; there are several records of him acting as
overseer in disputes among neighboring lords and judging squabbles between the
local people, mostly over cattle and land ownership. As the century progressed,
resentment against the English grew and a popular uprising developed as
increasingly more noblemen, farmers, craftsmen and serfs began to seek
independence from the English influence and control. It is notable that Richard
called himself de Ardrossan, a title which makes it clear that he owns the
Issue-
· ?6I. DEAN- b.c.1148 Ardrossan,
Ref:
(1)
6I. DEAN (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5)
b.c.1148 Androssan,
The string of Barclay ancestors from Richard to Godfrey is loosely put together based on their being witnesses to various charters during this period of time.
Issue-
· 7I. ARTHUR- b.c.1170 Androssan
7I. ARTHUR (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6)
b.c.1170 Ardrossan
In 1226 Arthur Barclay de Ardrossan witnesses granting of
Issue-
· 8I. FERGUS- b.c.1191 Androssan
8I. FERGUS (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6, ARTHUR 7)
b.c.1191 Androssan
In 1248 Fergus Barclay de Ardrossan witness between Bishop of Moray and Friskin de Morey and in 1260 Fergus Barclay de Ardrossan judged a dispute over common pasture.
Issue-
· 9I. BRYCE- b.c.1213 Androssan
9I. BRYCE (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6, ARTHUR 7, FERGUS 8)
b.c.1213 Androssan
From 1266 to 71 Brice Barclay de Ardrossan was a witness to several charters.
Issue-
· 9I. CHRISTOPHER- b.c.1233 Androssan
10I. CHRISTOPHER (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6, ARTHUR 7, FERGUS 8, BRYCE 9)
b.c.1233 Androssan In 1280 Sir Christopher Barclay de Ardrossan was witness to a charter granted to his daughter Avicia, who married Robert Boyle of Kelburn.
Issue-
· 11I. GODFREY- b.c.1253 Ardrossan
· II. Avicia- m. Robert Boyle of Kelburn
11I. GODFREY (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6, ARTHUR 7, FERGUS 8, BRYCE 9, CHRISTOPHER 10)
b.c.1253 Ardrossan
"In 1296, Godfrey of Ardrossan, a kinsman of Richard (the article doesn't state how they were related), swore allegiance to Edward of England, and an English family was installed in the castle. This move was not welcomed by the popular leader of the growing independence movement, one William Wallace, known as “Braveheart.” Wallace and his men visited Ardrossan in the dead of night and set fire to a row of houses within site of the castle. The unsuspecting English guards ran to help, and “Wallace, with a well-armed company, kills every mother’s son and forthwith forces ye castell and wins it. In a deep vault in ye bottom of ye red tower he threw the carcasses of these englich, which to this day has the name Wallace’s larder.” (1)
Issue-
· 12I. FERGUS- b.c.1278 Ardrossan, d. before Oct. 1305
· II. Robert-
Ref:
(1) Timothy Pont from 1605 quoted in
12I. FERGUS (EADNOTH 1, HARDING 2, JOHN 3, WALTER 4, RICHARD 5, DEAN 6, ARTHUR 7, FERGUS 8, BRYCE 9, CHRISTOPHER 10, GODFREY 11)
b.c.1278 Androssan
d. before Oct. 1305
Sir Fergus Barclay, also known as the De'il of Ardrossan, was a horseman, famous around the lands for his tremendous skill. The secret to his skill, however, was a magical bridle, which was given to Barclay by the devil, in exchange for his soul. However, the devil was tricked by Barclay into giving his soul back. Infuriated by this trickery, the devil attacked the castle in his rage and is said to have left his hoof prints (a petrosomatoglyph) on one of the rocks.
"The Legend of the Devil of Ardrossan
Sir Fergus Barclay of Ardrossan was inordinately addicted to horse-racing,
and carried his exploits into all the neighbouring countries of
'Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cow'd my better part of man:
And be these juggling fiends no more believed'.
How the Baron comported himself, or bore this trying disclosure of his
secret, seems unfortunately, from some cause or other, to be pretermitted in
the story. But the final terminus of his career is thus tragically related:-
Leaving home on a distant journey, he gave strict injunctions to his lady
regarding the care of his only son, a youth of tender years; in particular,
that the young man should not be permitted to mount a spirited horse, of which
he was exceedingly fond. During his father's absence, however, the youth had
found means to obtain the horse, and unhappily riding out, was thrown from the
animal and killed on the spot. This, of course, could not be concealed, and on
Sir Fergus's return home, such was the ungovernable violence of his feelings,
that in a paroxysm of rage he slew the unhappy mother of his child. There is
another version of the story, which says that she was not the mother of the
unfortunate boy, but the second wife of his father, by whom she had an only
child, a daughter; and accordingly it is surmised that, desirous of the
succession to the estate opening to her own offspring, she was not altogether
sakeless of the death of young Barclay. Be this as it may, all future happiness
was now reft from the miserable Sir Fergus. He retired with a favourite servant
to the opposite island or Arran, and there, at the lone
In this brief tale, the termination of the ancient barons of Ardrossan seems pretty distinctly shadowed forth; and the historical fact of the fate of Sir Fergus Barclay, at the battle of Arscoll, may be the foundation of the whole.
The original parish
Some fragments of the
'Ardrossan castell, so named in respect it is situated on a swelling knop of a rock running from a tounge of land advancing from the mainland in the sea, and almost environed with the same; for ross in the ancient Brittich tounge signifies a biland or peninsula. This castell is very strongly and sweill built, having in it many roumes, and a spring of fresch watter, which makes it the more strong. In this castell there is a tower, named the red tower, and in it a vault called Wallace's lardner. For this castell being in the possession of the Englisch, Wallace used thie stratameme:- He set a house hard by a fire, that those who keipt the castell, not suspecting any fraud, came out to the reskeu of the house, which they imagined by accident to have taken fire. But Wallace, with a weil armed company, gives them a very hote welcome, and kills them every mother's son; and furthwith forces the castell and wins it. In this deep vault in the bottom of the red tower, flang he the carcatches of these Englisch, which to this day gave it the name of Wallace lardner.
There is one thing to be admired in the fountain of fresch watter, which is in a vault in this castell; for it, like to the sea, ebbs and flows two severall times each 24 hours.
Its banks to pass, doeth tweiss assay,
And tweise again reteirs each day.
The reasone is, from the ebbing and flowing of the salt sea, which environs the rock whereon the castell stands, and at each surge, with horrible repercussiones, regorges and the fresch watter, not leting it issue from its spring and so makes the fountain swell. This castle was for many ages possessed by the Barclays; for in a charter of Sir Richard Morvell, Lord CUningham, to the monastery of Kilwinning, Richard de Barclay, dominus de Ardrossan, is a witness. Now it belongs to the Earls of Eglintone.'"(1)
"Following Wallace’s victory at
While the brothers were being held captive, Hugh de Ardrossan, possibly the
son of Fergus, took possession of the castle by siding with Edward. Hugh’s
loyalty to Edward may not have been what it seemed because five days after he
took charge of the
Edward by now obviously saw Fergus as an ally. It would appear that the de
Ardrossan family held no true allegiance and supported both sides as the power
shifted from one side to the other. This could be seen as a shrewd way to hold
onto power and their castle, or an act of treachery and self-interest. As
Robert the Bruce became the rallying point for the national spirit, the de
Ardrossan family gave no support to his fight for independence until the Battle
of Bannockburn in 1314. Again, the family made sure they were on the winning
side. After Bruce’s victory, the Ardrossan family kept their land when Bruce
disinherited many of the nobility he saw as his enemy. Fergus became Baron of
Ardrossan and fought alongside Robert the Bruce in the quest for a free
By the 1650s, castles such as Ardrossan were no longer the strongholds they
once were since they could not withstand gunfire and artillery. The castle was
destroyed, reputedly by Oliver Cromwell, and many of the stones and structures
were removed by ship to
Issue-
· ______- m. RADULPHUS EGLINTON (b.c.1297)
Ref:
(1) "The Scottish Journal of Topography, Antiquities,
Traditions, &c- Vol. I, No. 7, 16 Oct. 1847, Thomas George Stevenson,
(2)
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