General Notes

Source: Douglas Richardson
In 1984, Patrick Montague-Smith published an excellent article on the Freville family of Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire in the Genealogists' Magazine, 21 (1984): 185-190. Mr. Montague-Smith correctly delineated the successive generations of men named Baldwin Freville (five in a row) whose dates and marriages have always been a bit of a tangled mess. When he came to Baldwin de Freville IV (died 1401), he had the following to say of his marriages: "He married in 1389, Joan, daughter of Sir Thomas Greene. She died without issue, and he married secondly, Maud, whose surname has not been discovered. When he died in 1401, his son, Baldwin V, was found to have been aged four years." In addition to the son, Baldwin V, Mr. Montague-Smith shows that Baldwin Freville IV and his wife, Maud, also had three daughters, Elizabeth, Joyce, and Margaret. Curiously, the clue to Maud Freville's identity has been in print for a good many years. In a well prepared chart on the Scrope family in Sir N. Harris Nicolas' interesting book, The Controversy between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor, 2 (1832): 136, he states that Sir Stephen le Scrope, 2nd Lord Scrope of Masham, and his wife, Margery Welles, had two daughters as follows: "Maud Scrope, a nun in the Minories in London. Living Aug. 1415." "A daughter, married [Sir Baldwin] Frevyll." Actually, Mr. Nicolas' information on Sir Stephen Scrope's daughters comes from the 1415 will of his son and heir, Henry le Scrope, K.G., 3rd Lord Scrope of Masham, which includes the following bequests: "Item, lego sorori meae Matildi, minorissae Londoniae, unam parvam tabulam eburneam, sculptam cum imaginibus, etc." "Item, lego nepoti meo Frevyl i. bonum nouche, & cuilibet suarem sororum nepotem mearum, aut i. noche, etc." We see here that Sir Henry le Scrope had a sister, Maud, who was a Minoress nun, and a Freville nephew with sisters (plural). Mr. Nicolas was obviously of the impression that Lord Scrope's sister Maud was a different sister than the mother of the Freville nephew and nieces. Elsewhere, in note 5 on pg. 133, however, he clearly indicates he did not know the name of Baldwin Freville IV's second wife (see note 5 on pg. 133), only his first wife, Joan Greene. However, as Mr. Montague-Smith has shown, Baldwin Freville's second wife was in fact named Maud. Inasmuch as it was customary for widows of high station to become Minoress nuns in this period, there is no reason to suppose that Lord Scrope's sister Maud is not the same person as Baldwin Freville's widow, Maud. For another example of a widow becoming a Minoress nun, see my former post on the newsgroup regarding the mother of Elizabeth, wife of John de Beauchamp of Powick. As for Lord Scrope's Freville nephew and nieces, the bequests in his will exactly fits the family structure of Maud Freville's children. As indicated above, Montague-Smith tells us that Baldwin Freville IV and his wife, Maud, had one son, Baldwin V, and three daughters, Elizabeth, Joyce, and Margaret. Hence, if Baldwin Freville V was Lord Scrope's nephew, he would have three sisters and no brothers. Lord Scrope's will indicates his Freville nephew had at least two sisters and mentions no brother. Elsewhere, in his note on pg. 133, Mr. Nicolas claims that Lord Scrope's will also mentions a niece named Elizabeth Freville. But, no such niece appears in the careful transcript of the will which appears on pages 142 to 147 in Mr. Nicolas' book. Quite possibly the niece Elizabeth Freville is instead mentioned in the 1418 will of Lord Scrope's brother, Stephen le Scrope, clerk, Archdeacon of Richmond, which will Mr. Nicolas also transcribed and published. Unfortunately, I failed to copy Stephen's will when I was making copies of Mr. Nicolas' comments on this family. If Elizabeth Freville is mentioned in another family will, it would simply be further evidence for the identification of her mother Maud being a Scrope.

Source: John Ravilious,
The ancestry of Maud le Scrope, wife of Sir Baldwin Freville of Tamworth Castle, Staffs. 1. Maud le Scrope, m. (as 2nd wife) Sir Baldwin Freville of Tamworth Castle, co. Staffs.; d. 1397 [1], [2] 2. Stephen le Scrope, 2nd Lord Scrope (of Masham), b. ca. 1345; m. [as 2nd husband] Margery de Welles, widow of John de Huntingfield; summ to Parliament from 23 Nov 1392 [3]; d. 25 Jan 1405/6 3. Margery [Margaret] de Welles [3] 4. Henry le Scrope, of Masham, co. Yorks.; fought at Sluys (1340), siege of Calais (1347); summ to Parliament from 25 Nov 1350, whereby held to be lst Lord Scrope; d. 31 Jul 1392 [3] 5. __________ 6. John de Welle, 4th Lord Welles; d. 11 Oct 1361 [3] 7. Maud de Ros 8. Geoffrey le Scrope, of Clifton-upon-Ure and Masham, co. Yorks.; 2nd son; supporter of the King against the Earl of Lancaster, 1322; ambassador to Scotland 23 Apr 1327; d. Ghen Dec 1340 [3] 9. Juetta or Yvette de Ros [4] 10. _______ 11. _______ 12. Adam de Welle, of Faxton, co. Northants; 3rd Lord Welle; summ to Parliament from 27 Jan 1332/3; m. bef 1334; d. aft 24 Feb 1344/5 [3] 13. Margaret Bardolf; d. bef 28 Feb 1345/6 [3] 14. William de Ros, of Helmsley, co. York; 2nd Lord Ros; m. bef bef 25 Nov 1326; d. 3 Feb 1342/3 [3] 15. Margery de Badlesmere, eldest daughter; coheiress of brother Giles, 2nd Lord Badlesmere [3] 16. William le Scrope, of Wensley, co. Yorks.; knighted at the Battle of Falkirk, 1298; d. bef 1 Feb 1311/2 [3] 17. [Probable] Constance de Newsom, daughter of Thomas de Newsom, of Newsham on Tees [3] 18. Sir William de Ros, of Ingmanthorpe; b. bef Oct 1268; d. bef 28 May 1310 [3] -MC DESCENDANT; GT GRANDSON OF WILLIAM THE LION [KING OF SCOTS] 19. Eustace FitzHugh, daughter of Ralph FitzHugh, heiress of grandfather Hugh fitz Ralph, of Greasley, co. Notts. [3] 20. _______ 21. _______ 22. _______ 23. _______ 24. Adam de Welle, of Faxton, co. Northants.; fought at Falkirk; summ to Parliament from 6 Feb 1298/9, held thereby to have become lst Lord Welle; d. 1 Sep 1311 [3] - DESCENDANT OF CHARLEMAGNE 25. Joan Engaine, daughter of Sir John Engaine, of Laxton, co. Northants. and Joan de Greinville [3], [5] 26. [probable] Sir Thomas Bardolf, 2nd Lord Bardolf; d. 15 Dec 1328 [3], [6] 27. Agnes [3], [6] 28. William de Ros, of Helmsley, co. Yorks.; Lord Ros; summ to Parliament from 6 Feb 1298/9, held thereby to have become lst Lord Ros; competitor for the Scottish crown, 1292; d. bef 16 Aug 1316 [3] - MC DESCENDANT; GT GT GRANDSON OF WILLIAM THE LION [KING OF SCOTS] 29. Maud de Vaux, younger daughter and coheiress of John de Vaux [Vallibus], of Pentney, Norfolk and Vaux and Wisset, Suffolk [3], [7] 30. Bartholomew de Badlesmere, of Badlesmere and Chilham Castle, Kent; summ to Parliament from 26 Oct 1309, held thereby to be lst Lord Badlesmere; supporter of the Earl of Lancaster at Boroughbridge; exe. 14 April 1322 [3] 31. Margaret de Clare, coheiress of her nephew Thomas; daughter of Thomas de Clare, of Inchiquin and Youghal, Thomond and his wife Juliane FitzMaurice - MC DESCENDANT; DESCENDANT OF HENRY I OF ENGLAND [3], [8] NOTES: [1] Douglas Richardson, 'Maud le Scrope, wife of Baldwin Freville, of Tamworth' [first message in this thread] [2] Weis and Sheppard, The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215 [5th edition] [3] Complete Peerage [incl. but not limited to Vol. XI, Scrope - pp. 554 et seq.; see also articles under Ros; Ros of Ingmanthorpe; Badlesmere; Welle/Welles; & c.] [4] With regard to the identity of Juetta de Ros, see discussion of the evidence at CP Vol. XI, p. 560 and note k on that page. The identification is certain, but not proven. Note: the descent of Juetta de Ros places Stephen le Scrope and Margery [Margaret] de Welles in position of consanguinity in the 4th-5th degrees, by descent from Sir William de Ros (d. 1264) and Lucy fitz Piers. [5] Granddaughter of Sir Viel Engaine, subject of the recent SGM thread <FitzUrse and de Cantelou/Cantilupe> [6] See discussions of Sir Thomas Bardolf, his marriage(s) and issue in the SGM archives. [7] See discussions re: Oliver de Vaux and Petronilla de Craon, the paternal grandparents of Maud de Vaux, in the SGM archives. [8] See discussions re: Thomas de Clare, his identification and descendants, in the SGM archives.