General Notes

"The Descent of the family of Whitfield of Whitfield Hall in Northumberland from the Saxon earls of Mercia; and the Norman families of Meschines, D'Estrivers, Egaine, Buslie and Espee", drawn from various authorities. The manuscript is housed at Chetham Library in Manchester, UK. The abbreviated descent:
Leofric, Earl of Leicester living in 750 m. unknown;
Algar, the first, living in 790, buried at Croyland in Lincolnshire m. unknown;
Algar, the second, living in 820, slain by the Danes c. 867 and buried at Croyland, m. unknown;
Leofric, the second, living in 880 m. unknown;
Leofwine, Earl of Mercia, living in 940 m. unknown;
Leofric, the third, Earl of Mercia, who jointly with his lady were founders of the abbey dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Peter and St. Osburgh at Coventry in which he was buried, m. Godiva, sister and heiress of . . . Thorold, Sheriff of Lincolnshire;

Algar, the third, Earl of Mercia m. sister of Sir William Mallett;

Lucia, sole heiress of her brothers, Edwin and Morchar?(spelling on name?) m. Ranulph de Meschines, Lord of Cumberland and after the death of his cousin Richard, was Earl of Chester ob. 1129. Ranulph was g grandson of Leofwine, Earl of Mercia, living 940;

dau. of Ranulph de Meschines m. Robert d'Strivers in the right of his wife hereditary forester of Cumberland;
Ibena d'Strivers, dau. and sole heiress of Robert m. Ranulph de Engaine, Lord of Isell in Cumberland and hereditary forester of that county in the right of his wife;

Ada de Engaine, sister and sole heir of William, her brother, who succeeded his father, but died without issue before 1157, m. Simon de Morvill, who had livery of all Engaine's lands in 1157;

Roger de Morvill m. unknown;

Maud Morvill m. William de Vipont, of Westmorland. Her brother, Sir Hugh Morvill was one of the assassins who slew Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1171;

Robert de Vipont, hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland by grant of King John 1203 m. Idonia de Buslie, only dau. and heiress of John de Buslie, Lord of Maltby, whose ggg grandfather, Roger de Buslie, Lord of Tickhill, came to England with William, The Conqueror;

John de Vipont, hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland m. Sibill, dau. and coheir of William Ferrars, Earl of Derby;

Robert de Vipont, hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland, slain at the Battle of Evesham, 1265 m. Isabel Fitz-Piers, whose father was John Fitz-Piers or Fitz-Geoffrey, who m. Isabel Bigod. Isabel Bigod's father was Ralph Bigod who married Bertha. Ralph's father was Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk who m. Maud Marshall. Maud Marshall was the eldest dau. of William Marshall and his wife Isabel de Clare.

Isabel Vipont, eldest dau. and coheiress m. 1st Roger de Clifford and 2nd Richard Whitfield, Lord of Whitfield Hall in Northumberland. He died c. 1331;

Richard Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall 1332 m. unknown;

Robert de Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall, living 1370 m. unknown;

Matthew de Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall lng pm 22R2 1398, m. unknown;

John Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall, m. Alice, dau. of Sir John Milford, of Milford Castle in Northumberland;

Sir Matthew Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall, living 1433, m. Margaret, 3rd dau. and coheiress of Sir John de Lancaster, of Howgill and Rydall, co. Kent? died temp Henry VI and his wife Joan, dau. and heiress of John Rookeby of Knock and with her he had the Manor of Knock;

William Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall m. a dau. who was sole heiress of Randle Holme of Alston Moor in Cumberland (note in margin of manuscript--Randleholme is an ancient house in Alston Moor);

William Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall m. Matilda, dau. and coheiress of John Wheatly;

John Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall, living 1480 m. Ann, only dau. of Sir William Hilton, of Hilton Castle, co. Palatine? of Durham;

Richard Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall m. unknown;

Ralph Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall lng pin Eliz? m. unknwn;

Miles Whitfield, of Newton-bury in Alston Moor, co. Cumberland m. Matilda, dau. of unknown (Miles's brother,

John Whitfield, of Whitfield Hall from whom descended Matthew Whitfield who sold Whitfield Hall and estate to William Ord, Esq. sometime after 1730 and still remains in the -Ord family);
Information forward from John Brooks Threlfall, in his book and pedigree chart about Rev. Henry Whitfield:

Robert Whitfield, son of Miles, ancestor of the Whitfields of Wadhurst, co. Sussex, b. abt. 1453 at Alston Moor, co. Cumberland. Moved south to Wadhurst, co. Sussex where he was an iron maker. He m. 1st Katherine Wenbourne, a widow, had three daughters and 2nd Anges Giles and had three sons. He was buried 02 June 1541 age 88. Agnes married 2nd unknown Gibbons and she died 1567;
Robert Whitfield was born bet. 1517-1518, probably at Wadhurst, co. Sussex. He m. 1st Ann, dau. of George and Rose Roberts. He m. 2nd Agnes Atwood. They moved to Worth, where he had an iron smelter and built Rowfant, which still stands and is on the Internet. He died 09 Dec. 1597 and is buried in the chancell of the church at Emmington, co. Oxford, where his son, William, was Rector at the time. 7 children; With Agnes, they had:
Thomas Whitfield, who was born in Wadhurst, co. Sussex, about mid 1545, studied law at the Inner Temple; B.A. from Oxford 25 Jan. 1568-69. On 10 Jan. 1584-85, he married Mildred Fortune Manning in the Church of Saint Magnus the Martyr at the foot of London Bridge. 7 ch. Lived at Mortlake, co. Surrey and retired to Rowfant in Worth, co. Sussex, where she died 01 Sept. 1627 and he died 01 May 1629 (The Shield of Arms of Thomas and Mildred [Manning] Whitfield is located in the church of Saint Nicholas, Worth, co. Sussex, England)
Henry Whitfield was born 1590, prob. at Mortlake, co. Surrey and in 1610, he entered Oxford. M. 1617 to Dorothy Sheafe, dau. of Dr. of Divinity, Thomas Sheafe and Marie Wilson. Henry was minister at Ockley, co. Surrey; founded Guilford, Connecticut and went back to England and died there in 1657, buried at Winchester Cathedral. Dorothy went back to England, too, and died there in 1669;
Abigail Whitfield was born 1622 and died 1659. She married Rev. James Fitch, who was born 1622 and died 1702. He married as 2nd wife Priscilla Mason. Rev. James Fitch was minister at Saybrook and Norwich in New England.

John Palmer's references are:

Monastico Anglicanum Vol 1 p.305 Account of the Saxon earls of Mercia under the title Coventry Abbey

Ordericus Vitalis

Register Abbey de Evesham D.V. Cap Eccl. Cath College Oxon

Lands mentioned in Domesday Book
Vol 1 p.284 Warwickshire
Terra in Coleshill and Hd
Terra Comitissae Godeva
Also used Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire

Richard, Earl of Chester was drowned with King Henry's children in the melancholy shipwreck Nov 25 1119 on returning from Normandy to England Ordericus Vitalis details the event

Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire (de Buslie family)

Ware's Antiquities of Ireland

An account of the early Marshals of England extracted from Berry's Encyclopaedia Heraldrica Vol 1

Ingulph's History of Croyland Anno 1091

Nicholson and Burn's History of Westmorland and Cumberland Vol 1

Calenarium Inquis Post Mortem

Wallis's History of Northumberland
Dugdale's Baronage

Fodera Litt and Acto Publicas Vol 1
Stow's Survey of London
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WHITFIELD PAGE

The surname Whitfield is one of antiquity beginning as early as 1165 A.D. with ROBERT de WHITFIELD, Chaplain to Countess Ada, who received the lands of "Whitfield" of Hexham, Northumberland, from her by grant that year. MATTHEW de WHITFIELD, Lord of Whitfield, held "Whitfield of the Prior and Convent of Hexham" from 1174 to 1214 A.D. His son

RALPH de WHITFIELD had:

MATTHEW de WHITFIELD to whom the lands of Whitfield were confirmed by the Great Charter of Inspectimus of King Edward I about 1280 A.D. Had sons Robert and John:

ROBERT de WHITFIELD, Lord of Whitfield, married BEATRIX de QUITFELD,

daughter of ISABEL FITZ-PIERS (lineage descends from ROBERT GRENTESMAISNIL of GRENTESMAISNIL in the Dukedom of Normandy) and ROBERT de VIPONT whose maternal line descends from ROGER de BUSLIE, Lord of Tickhill, who came to England with William the Conqueror, and whose paternal line descends from the famed LADY GODIVA, sister and heir of William Thorold. Lady Godiva married the Earl of Mercia, LEOFRIC III, greatgreat-great grandson of LEOFRIC I, Earl of Leicester in 750 A.D. Robert and Beatrix had Gilbert and:

RICHARD WHITFIELD, Lord of Whitfield, born 1279 A.D., died 1332 A.D. Had sons Gilbert and:

ROBERT de WHITFIELD, Lord of Whitfield, whose second son was: J

JOHN WHITFIELD, became Lord of Whitfield after the death of his older brother. John married ALICE MILFORD, daughter of SIR JOHN MILFORD, of Milford Castle, Northumberland. John and Alice had

MATTHEW WHITFIELD, born about 1389 A.D. His sons John, Robert, Thomas, Nicholas, Richard, Christopher and SIR MATTHEW WHITFIELD, born about 1410 A.D., High Sheriff of Northumberland. Married about 1434 to MARGARET de LANCASTER, daughter of SIR JOHN de LANCASTER, obit. 1475. Matthew had John, William and Henry.

JOHN WHITFIELD born 1435, died 1492. Son Robert: ROBERT WHITFIELD born 1454, married the daughter of RICHARD THIRLWELL, of Thirlwell. His son:

JOHN WHITFIELD, obit. 1507, had Mathew.

MATTHEW WHITFIELD, married the daughter of CHRISTOPHER RIDLEY of Wallstown. Matthew died in 1546. His son:

RALPH WHITFIELD, born 1529, died 1607. He married DOROTHY RIDLEY, daughter of HUGH RIDLEY of Willimeteswick. Had brothers Cuthbert and Peter, sisters Margaret and Agnes. GEORGE WHITFIELD, died before his father Ralph. He married ALICE ? Had brothers Nicholas and Francis. SIR MATTHEW WHITFIELD, Of Whitfield Hall, was 3 months old when his father George Whitfield died. He married ANNE ? On 29 June 1629 he made his entry into the lands which belonged to his grandfather Ralph, and which had been unlawfully held by his uncle Francis Whitfield.
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