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WHICH JOHN DE MOWBRAY WAS THE BROTHER OF CHRISTIANA DE PLUMPTON?
BY DOUGLAS HICKLING

Introduction
It is widely thought that the father of Christiana de Mowbray, the second wife of Sir William de Plumpton, was John I, Lord Mowbray (b. 4 September 1286). Lord Mowbray was descended from King Henry II through his natural son William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury. For Lord Mowbray's line of descent from King Henry II, see Douglas Richardson, PLANTAGENET ANCESTRY (2004), pp. 528-530. It seems reasonably well-proved that Christiana was a member of a Mowbray family. At the baptism of her daughter Jacoba Emeldon in 1325, one of the godparents who lifted the child from the baptismal font was "Joan Moubray." [CALENDAR OF INQUISITIONS POST MORTEM (cited hereafter as CIPM) 8: 207.] On 12 December 1333, Christiana, as the widow of Richard de Emeldon, named "John de Moubray, her brother," to seek and receive her reasonable dower from her late husband's lands. [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 185.] Several members of the online SGM newsgroup do not regard these documents as proof that Christiana was a member of the baronial Mowbrays and have noted the existence of other men named John de Mowbray, Christiana's contemporaries, who could have been her brother. As an aid to identifying the John de Mowbray referred to by Christiana as her brother, I have examined primary and secondary sources related to the Mowbrays and to Sir William de Plumpton, his second wife Christiana, and their associates. The Calendars of Fine Rolls (CFR), Patent Rolls (CPR), and Close Rolls (CCR), covering the reigns of Kings Edward II and III, contain abstracts of nearly 500 documents which refer to "John de Mowbray" or its variants. Ignoring those entries in which the named John de Mowbray is clearly too young or too old to have been a contemporary of Christiana, nearly all of the remaining documents refer to the baronial Mowbray family of Thirsk and Hovingham in Yorkshire, also of Epworth, the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire, and several dozen other enclaves scattered around England and Wales. Those very few entries which do not refer to a John de Mowbray, either father or son, of the baronial family are covered in Part 2 along with John II, Lord Mowbray. Part 1 - CHRISTIANA DE MOWBRAY'S HUSBANDS JOHN SCOT, SON OF HENRY John Scot, son of Henry, was the scion of a family of wealthy and influential merchants in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [Madeleine Hope Dodds, A HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND (hereafter NCH) (1930) 13: 216.] Henry Scot, John's father, was mayor (chief bailiff) of Newcastle many times between 1274 and 1299. ["Early Deeds Relating to Newcastle upon Tyne," ed. Arthur Maule Oliver, PUBLICATIONS OF THE SURTEES SOCIETY 137 (1924): 209-212.] John Scot's grandfather Peter Scot was a bailiff or chief bailiff (mayor) of Newcastle intermittently between 1240 and 1251. [Ibid. 202.] John Scot, son of Henry, served Newcastle as a bailiff in 1314 during one of Richard de Emeldon's many terms as chief bailiff (mayor). [Ibid. 210.] John Scot first appears in the public records as "son of Henry" in 1302 when he witnessed a local deed. ["Members of Parliament for the Boroughs of Northumberland (1295-1377)," ed. C. H. Hunter Blair, ARCHAEOLOGIA AELIANA, 4th series, 13 (1936): 59, p. 68.] From this, one can conclude that he was born no later than 1281. John Scot served as a member of parliament representing the Borough of Newcastle in 1307 (at Carlisle), and 1309 (at Stamford). He last appeared alive in the public record when he was named as one of the two representatives of Newcastle at the parliament of 1320 (at London). [Ibid. 67-69, and 72.] No returns were found for the parliament called for 15 July 1321, but, at the 2 May 1322 parliament at York, John Scot was replaced by Robert de Angerton. [Ibid. pp. 210-211.] The only known public record which establishes his marriage to Christiana is in the rolls of the Court of Common Pleas, cited but not quoted in NCH 13: 314 as De Banco Rolls, Easter, 1 Edward III, m. 74 (1327). In 1327-1328 the Court of Common Pleas considered the request of Richard de Emeldon and Christiana, his wife, for her dower in properties owned by her late husband John Scot. [CP 40/269, m. 74; CP 40/270, m. 117; CP 40/272, m. 9d; CP 40/273, m. 98d; and CP 40/275, m. 183.] These citations are from the index of plea rolls contained in LISTS AND INDEXES v. 32 (Part II), published by the Public Record Office, London (Kraus Reprint 1963) p. 506. At my request, Chris Phillips has examined these documents at the National Archives, and he has provided transciptions and translations of them. The action was brought against Richard Scot, apparently Christiana's stepson, and sought a third part of six messuages, 160 acres of arable land, and 20 acres of meadow in Thirston, a town located about 23 miles north of Newcastle. Richard Scot did not defend the action, and the court adjudged that Richard de Emeldon and Christiana should recover their seisin by default. Pursuant to court order, the Sheriff determined that Richard and Christiana had been damaged by the "detention of the dower to the value of 70s. 8d.," which the court directed the Sheriff to recover from the lands and chattels of Richard Scot in his jurisdiction. Roger de Angerton, who in 1322 succeeded John Scot in parliament, was no doubt well acquainted with both Scot and Richard de Emeldon. Angerton had a long career in Newcastle's civic life. He and Scot were among the burgesses of Newcastle who were pardoned by Edward II in 1313 in connection with the killing of Piers Gaveston. [CPR Edward II 1313-1317, pp. 21, 24-25.] Angerton served as a bailiff during Richard Emeldon's mayoralty from 1319 through 1322. [Oliver, "Early Deeds, etc.," pp. 210-211.] He is described by Blair, in his "Members of Parliament, etc.," p. 73, as a shipowner and a wool merchant and mayor several times between 1348 and 1371. In July 1364, more than forty years after John Scot's death, Angerton, then the mayor of Newcastle and its escheator, conducted an inquisition post mortem into Christiana's holdings. In the record of that inquisition, Angerton refers to "the death of Richard de Emeldon, her first husband." [CIPM 11: 460.] Angerton may simply have forgotten Christiana's marriage to John Scot, his former associate. In the alternative, it is possible that, although Scot and Christiana were lawfully married so as to entitle her to dower in Scot's assets, the marriage, which resulted in no children, may not have been consummated. RICHARD DE EMELDON Far more is known of the life of Richard de Emeldon, whose marriage to Christiana is amply proved by contemporary records. There are two excellent accounts of his life published 100 years apart: Frederick Walter Dendy, "An Account of Jesmond," ARCHAEOLOGIA AELIANA, 3rd series, 1 (1904): 59-65; and Constance M. Fraser, PhD., "Embleton, Richard," OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY (2004) 18:387-388. Also helpful is Richard Welford, MEN OF MARK 'TWIXT TYNE AND TWEED (1895) 2: 180-184. Emeldon was even more active in the public life of Newcastle than John Scot, and his services were regularly called upon by his peers and the king, often taking him away from his adopted city. A burgess of Newcastle in 1296 and a bailiff in 1301-1303, Emeldon was selected as a burgess to attend a meeting of merchants called by King Edward I, held before the king's council at York on 25 June 1303 for the purpose of considering the king's request for new payments and customs. The merchants voted unanimously to reject the king's proposal in favor of "the customs anciently due and used." [C. H. Hunter Blair, "The Mayors and Lord Mayors of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1216-1940," ARCHAEOLOGIA AELIANA, 4th series, 18 (1940): 3; Welford, pp. 180-181; SOURCES OF ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY, ed. Carl Stephenson and Frederick George Marcham (1937), p. 166.] As a prosperous merchant and shipowner, he occasionally went "beyond the seas" in order to transact business. At times, he called upon the king for assistance. In 1309, King Edward II, in Emeldon's behalf, wrote the burgomasters of Bruges requesting them to restore to Emeldon 27 sacks of wool and many gold coins saved from a warehouse fire. In 1314, Emeldon complained to the king of the seizure of skins from his ships sailing from Alnmouth where he had several burgages. [Blair, "Members of Parliament, etc.," p. 70; and Dendy, p. 61.] Emeldon served as chief bailiff or mayor of Newcastle for nineteen years between 1305 and 1333, holding that post consecutively from 1314 through 1320. [Oliver, "Early Deeds etc.," pp. 209-212.] The great army of England came through Newcastle to a disastrous defeat by the Scots at Bannockburn in 1314. Emboldened by their success, the Scots made destructive raids throughout Northumberland and Newcastle, adding to the misery caused by the famine in most of Europe north of the Alps that resulted from prolonged torrential rains. [William Chester Jordan, THE GREAT FAMINE (1996), pp. 17-20.] On 6 May 1315, Emeldon obtained special protection from the king so that his servant could go beyond the seas to buy corn and other victuals for the townspeople. [Welford, pp.181-182.] Emeldon also served as a Member of Parliament over several years, including 1311 (London), 1314 (York), 1324 (London), 1325 (London), 1328 (one at York, one at Northampton), and 1331 (London). Newcastle was not represented at parliamentary sessions in 1315, 1318, 1327, and September 1332, as no one was available because of the incursions of the Scots. ["Members of Parliament, etc.," pp. 69-79.] King Edward II, on 15 November 1318, mandated "the mayor and bailiffs of the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to arrest and imprison all persons creating disturbances in their town." [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, p. 227.] On 24 November 1318, the king appointed Emeldon and two others "to distribute the 40 tuns of wine, which the king had granted for the relief of knights and others of the county of Northumberland, who have been impoverished by the incursions of the Scots." [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, p. 247.] A month later, on 10 December 1318, Emeldon was appointed one of three conservators of the peace in Northumberland. [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, p. 301.] On 24 March 1322, following the Battle of Boroughbridge - a fight between the king and Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in which the Scots did not participate - the king ordered the Sheriff of Northumberland to deliver over to Emeldon "the keeping of all the castles and lands late of Thomas, earl of Lancaster, and other the king's enemies and rebels and others in the county of Northumberland." Emeldon was further directed "to be intendant on the said keeping, neglecting all other things." Five weeks later, on 1 May 1322, Emeldon was ordered by the king to seize into the king's hand all wardships which he could find to have been in the hands of the "said enemies and rebels" in Northumberland and Durham. [CFR Edward II 1321-1324, pp. 117, 125.] In 1323, Emeldon was one of the wardens of the truce of the Scots in Northumberland [Dendy, p. 60], and, in 1324, the king "in part allowance for his long services, and great losses in the wars with Scotland," granted Emeldon the manor of Silksworth in Durham, forfeited by the attainder of Robert de Holand following Boroughbridge. [Welford, p. 182.] Christiana de Mowbray's birth year is unknown. We know that she was married to Richard de Emeldon by 1324, because their only known child, Jacoba, was born and baptized in Newcastle on 23 March 1324/25. The godparents, who lifted the infant from the baptismal font, were "Lawrence de Dunelm', Margaret de Castro Bernardi, and Joan Moubray." Emeldon was in London at the time and was told of Jacoba's birth by a letter from Christiana which he received on 30 March 1325. [CIPM 8: 207.] Since John Scot, Christiana's first husband, was still alive in 1320 and she had no children by him, it is reasonable to place her year of birth at about 1305. In 1332, Emeldon, as mayor, and the burgesses of Newcastle petitioned the king praying that "whereas they are impoverished by the wars of Scotland before these times and have incurred great costs in saving the town against the attacks of the Scots and are now burdened by escheators and subescheators in those parts, the king would grant that the mayor be escheator." On 14 September 1332, the king and council responded to the petition by giving Emeldon an interim appointment as escheator and ordering the former escheator "to meddle not with that office" in Newcastle "but to permit Richard to exercise the same." [CFR Edward III 1327-1337, p. 330.] In June 1333, in an effort to recapture the city of Berwick from the Scots, the young King Edward III gathered his forces at Newcastle and "tarried three days for the residue of his host that was coming after," before departing toward Scotland. [CHRONICLES OF FROISSART, ed. John Burchier (1904) (Macmillan London), pp. 35-37.] The king ordered Emeldon to bring with him from Newcastle "as many men-of-arms as he could gather together for the siege" of Berwick. Emeldon complied with the order and "led from Newcastle to Berwick 17 men-of-arms and 30 light horsemen, and other armed men, and kept them there at his own cost until the battle of Halidon Hill, which was fought outside Berwick on the 19th of July, 1333." The Scots were completely routed with little loss of English lives generally, but Emeldon and all of his men were killed. [Dendy, pp. 61-62.] On 12 October 1333, the king ordered the escheators "to take into the king's hand the land late of Richard de Emeldon, deceased tenant in chief" and eight days later granted William de Denum the wardship of Jacoba Emeldon and of her one-third interest in her late father's lands. [CFR Edward III 1327-1337, pp. 375, 377; CPR Edward III 1330-1334, p. 520.] The king, on 2 November 1333, granted a license "for Christiana, late the wife of Richard de Emeldon, tenant in chief, on account of good service done by the said Richard in his lifetime to the late king and the king, to marry whomsoever she will of the king's allegiance." [CPR Edward III 1330-1334, p. 477.] On 12 December 1333, "Cristiana, late the wife of Richard de Emeldon, tenant-in-chief, puts in her place John de Moubray, her brother, and Henry de Haydok, clerk, to seek and receive in chancery, her reasonable dower from the lands which her husband held." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 185.] On 1 March 1334, the king ordered that the escheator was "to take the fealty of Cristiana, late the wife of Richard de Emeldon, which is due to the king, and to deliver to her the lands which the king assigned to her" as her dower. [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 238.] By 30 June 1334, Christiana de Emeldon had married William de Plumpton, on which day her dower was "made to the said William and Cristiana." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 319.] Emeldon's executors were successful in gaining payment for food furnished by Emeldon to King Edward II. On 5 June 1335, King Edward III ordered payment of sums owed for "divers victuals, bought of him for the late king's use ... considering the good place which Richard, while he lived, held not without heavy labours." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, pp. 400-401.] SIR WILLIAM DE PLUMPTON, SON OF SIR ROBERT DE PLUMPTON AND LUCY DE ROS Sir William de Plumpton was descended through his mother from William the Lion, King of Scotland. [COMPLETE PEERAGE (hereafter CP) 11: 92-93, 117-118.] Plumpton's first marriage was to Alice, daughter and heir of Sir Henry Beaufiz [also seen as Beaufitz and Byaufiz]. They were married no later than 14 April 1322, the date of a settlement by his father upon Sir William and Alice, his wife, and heirs of their bodies of the manor of Nesfield. [PLUMPTON CORRESPONDENCE, ed. Thomas Stapleton, CAMDEN SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS no. 4 (1839), p. xx.] At the death of Sir Henry in 1325, Alice was said to be aged 28 and more. [CIPM 6: 399.] If she were born about 1297, and considering that this was likely the first marriage for each of them, Sir William's birth year can be estimated at 1295. No surviving children resulted from this marriage and Alice was dead by 30 June 1334 when Christiana de Emeldon's dower was "made to the said William and Cristiana." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 319.] The Plumptons had since ancient times held most of their Yorkshire properties as tenants of the Percys, and in 1295, Sir Robert de Plumpton, Sir William's grandfather, adopted "the armorial insignia of his lord paramount, 'the Sire de Percy,'" slightly modified. [Stapleton, pp. xvii-xix.] William de Plumpton had been knighted by 19 September 1328 when he and his brother-in-law Sir Peter de Middelton witnessed a charter by Sir Henry Percy. [CPR Edward III 1327-1330, p. 398.] On 24 August 1330, before Sir William married Christiana, a commission of oyer and terminer convened to hear the complaint of John, Lord Mowbray, that a large number of men, including Plumpton and Sir Peter de Middelton, had "entered his free chaces and warrens" at Kirkby Malzeard and other Mowbray holdings in Yorkshire and had "hunted there without license, and carried away deer, hares, rabbits, partridges, and pheasants." [CPR Edward III 1327-1330, p. 569.] Henry and Geoffrey le Scrope, members of the commission, were related to Plumpton. Geoffrey's wife was Juetta de Ros, a sister of Plumpton's mother Lucy de Ros. The complaint made by Mowbray may reflect enmity arising from the fact that Plumpton had acquired an interest in the manor of Kirkby Malzeard through his father-in-law, Sir Henry Beaufiz, who held "the manor of Kirkeby Malasart, now in the king's hand through the forfeiture of John de Moubray," a reference to Lord Mowbray's father who was executed after being captured at Boroughbridge in 1322. [CIPM 6: 399.] Neighborly relations may have improved for many years, because it was not until 20 August 1351 that a commission of oyer and terminer was convened on the complaint of John, Lord Mowbray, that Plumpton, who was then the Sheriff of York, and others had entered Mowbray's free chace at Kirkby Malzeard, hunted therein, carried away deer, and assaulted his men. On the same day, another such commission looked into a complaint made by Blanche de Mowbray that Plumpton and others had "broke her closes and houses" and drove away oxen and cows at several other Mowbray holdings in Yorkshire. [CPR Edward III 1350-1354, pp. 159-160.] Blanche is identified as the daughter of John de Mowbray on 10 August 1349 in CCR 23 Edward III 1349-1354, p. 51. The last of Lord Mowbray's complaints of poaching against Plumpton and several other prominent Yorkshire men was heard by a commission of oyer and terminer on 20 October 1354. This action again complained of an entry into his free chace at Kirkby Malzeard as well as at Burton in Lonesdale, County of York, the hunting and carrying away of deer, and assaults upon his men. [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 130.] Kirkby Malzeard, a locale of all three of Lord Mowbray's complaints of poaching against Plumpton and his associates, was a major holding of the Mowbrays. [CIPM 3: 357.] As noted above, Plumpton also had an interest in Kirkby Malzeard through his father-in-law who had acquired it from the Crown after its forfeiture by John I, Lord Mowbray, executed following the Battle of Boroughbridge. On 24 April 1345, Plumpton received a license for the alienation in mortmain affecting some of his holdings in Kirkby Malzeard and elsewhere in Yorkshire for the celebration of divine services in the church of St. Wilfrid, Ripon, for his good estate, his soul when he is dead, and the souls of his parents, ancestors, and heirs. [CPR Edward III 1343-1345, p. 455.] In any event, Kirkby Malzeard continued to be listed as one of the four Mowbray manors in Yorkshire. [CIPM 11: 138-139 (1361).] Although the Plumpton holdings were mostly in Yorkshire, he eventually acquired an estate in Nothumberland which was not part of Christiana's dower. As early as 1346 and as late as 1358, "William de Plumpton and Christiana his wife" held the manor of Brenkley, located 7 miles NNW of Newcastle, of Sir John de Eure for one-eighth of a knight's fee. [FEUDAL AIDS 4: 57-59; and NCH 12: 522-523.] Sir William de Plumpton served as a Member of Parliament representing Yorkshire in 1331. [Godfrey Richard Park, PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATION OF YORKSHIRE (1886), p. 288.] He was on many occasions called upon for his services in the North of England. On 10 February 1354 and again on 2 July 1354, Plumpton and others were appointed justices to enforce the Statute of Labourers in parts of Yorkshire. [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, pp. 58-61.] On 20 January 1347, an order of appointment by the king's council noted that "William de Plumpton who is of the retinue of Henry de Percy" was "about to go in his company to the march of Scotland for the defence thereof." [CFR Edward III 1337-1347, p. 493.] The Percys, long an important family in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, had become dominant landowners in Northumberland as the result of their 1309 purchase of Alnwick from the Bishop of Durham. [CP 10: 458.] King Edward III having made over to Henry Percy the reversionary interests in Warkworth and other Clavering estates on 2 March 1328, they passed to the Percy family in 1332 upon the death of John de Clavering. [W. Percy Hedley, NORTHUMBERLAND FAMILIES (1968) 1: 161.] Sir William de Plumpton was no doubt a member of Henry Percy's retinue because Plumpton owed knight's service to Percy (1301-1352), his feudal lord. Percy must have called upon Plumpton for services in his retinue with some frequency. Percy took "part in the siege of Berwick, of which he was made the keeper, and fought at Halidon Hill." [CP 10: 461.] This is the battle in which Richard de Emeldon was killed. Plumpton and Lord Mowbray served together at least four times on commissions of oyer and terminer. First, Mowbray and Plumpton served on a commission convened on 8 February 1350 to hear a complaint by Christopher Maillore that several miscreants had "broke his close and houses" at Hoton Conyers, Yorkshire, and done other damage. [CPR Edward III 1348-1350, p. 520.] On 6 July 1352, Lord Mowbray and two others were added to a commission of which Plumpton was a member and which looked into a claim that a ship had been broken up and its timbers carried away. [CPR Edward III 1350-1354, p. 289.] On 10 July 1356, Plumpton, Lord Mowbray, and three others were members of a commission that heard a complaint that an abbot, his fellow monks, and others had besieged a house near Knaresborough in Yorkshire and carried away goods. [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 498.] Last, on 26 June 1361, Lord Mowbray and Plumpton served together on a commission that heard a complaint by the Abbot of Fountains that disturbers of the peace had entered his free chaces and free warrens, felled trees, and carried away game from several places in Yorkshire. [CPR Edward III 1358-1361.] This may have been the last time that Lord Mowbray and Sir William de Plumpton were together as Mowbray died on 4 October 1361. [CP 9: 383.] Plumpton's life, too, was coming to an end. "He died 36 Edw. III. 1362, towards the close of the year." [Stapleton, p. xxi.] Christiana survived her husband for about a year, the date of her death in 1363 being given both as "20 December" and the "Saturday after Christmas." [CIPM 11: 459-460.] Before moving on to Part 2, the author thanks Chris Phillips for his transcription and translation of the de banco records relating to Christiana's dower action against Richard Scot.

Part 2 - THE JOHN DE MOWBRAYS WHO WERE CHRISTIANA'S CONTEMPORARIES JOHN DE MOWBRAY, SON OF SIR PHILIP DE MOWBRAY OF REDCASTLE, FORFARSHIRE, SCOTLAND John de Mowbray, a son of Sir Philip de Mowbray of Redcastle, is referred to as "John de Moubray, knight, late lord of Tours in Vymeu" in two records in the patent rolls: 17 June 1335. CPR Edward III 1334-1338, pp. 120-122. "Attestation at the request of Anselm de Guyse and Philippa de Moubray, his wife, sister and one of the heirs of John de Moubray, knight, late lord of Tours in Vymeu." 12 February 1336. CPR Edward III 1334-1338, p. 222. "Testification, at the request of Robert Gower, knight, and Margaret, his wife, sister and one of the heirs of John de Moubray, knight, late lord of Tours in Vymeu." Sir Philip de Mowbray, this John's father, was a son of Sir Galfrid or Geoffrey de Mowbray and a daughter of Red John Comyn. [See William Stephen, HISTORY OF INVERKEITHING AND ROSYTH, (1921), pp. 53-54, and the addendum to this work which appears in the same author's THE STORY OF INVERKEITHING AND ROSYTH (1938), p. 149.] Sir John de Mowbray, son of Sir Philip de Mowbray of Redcastle, must be ruled out as Christiana de Plumpton's brother for two reasons. According to Stephen, HISTORY, etc., p. 54, Sir Philip de Mowbray and his wife Eve were the parents of a son, Sir John of Redcastle, and three daughters, "who were the respective wives of Ancelm de Gyses, Robert Gower, and David Merschal." [See CALENDAR OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO SCOTLAND 3: 319.] Christiana was not one of these. Further, Sir John, a supporter of Edward Baliol, was killed in Baliol's defeat at Annan on 26 December 1332. [Ibid.] Sir John's death in 1332 preceded by several months the death of Richard de Emeldon, Christiana's second husband at the battle of Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333, so he could not have been the brother named by Christiana on 12 December 1333 to seek and receive her dower from Emeldon's estate. This John de Mowbray was a contemporary of Christiana de Mowbray, but he was not her brother. JOHN, SON OF GEOFFREY DE MOWBRAY OF WROOT "John, son of Geoffrey de Mowbray," appears with certainty in just one of the patent rolls: 20 May 1354, CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 69. "Commission of oyer and terminer to William Basset, Thomas de Fencotes, Thomas Levelaunce and Thomas de Egmanton, touching the death of Geoffrey de Moubray 'chivaler,' John his son and Adam de Halsham, killed at Eppeworth. co. Lincoln." Several weeks later, on 26 June 1354 [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p.76], a pardon was granted to John Noble detained in the gaol of the castle of Lincoln for the death of Geoffrey de Moubray, "chivaler," killed at Eppeworth, of the king's suit for the said death, as it appears by the record of William Basset and his fellows, justices of oyer and terminer touching that felony, that he killed him in self defence. The Geoffrey de Moubray who, with his son and servant, was killed at Epworth in 1354, was no doubt the same person whose complaint was heard by a commission of oyer and terminer on 20 October 1350 [CPR Edward III 1350-1354, p. 25], alleging that several men from Lound and a great many others from Finningley broke his close at Wrote [Wroot], co. Lincoln, drove away 5 horses and 10 oxen of his there, worth 20L., carried away some of his goods and burned others, and assaulted his men and servants ... The parish of Wroot is located within the western edge of the Isle of Axholme, 5 miles west of Epworth. The Lords Mowbray, whose principal home was Epworth manor, were the barons of the whole Isle of Axholme. [CIPM 11: 138-139; CCR Edward III 1333-1337. p. 490.] Geoffrey de Mowbray of Wroot is identified as a "chivaler," which is usually synonymous with "knight." As such, he was almost certainly a person of means, and it may be assumed that he held his estate at Wroot, directly or indirectly, of the baronial Lords Mowbray of the Isle of Axholme. William Mowbray and Stephen Goslin, in their THE MOWBRAY JOURNAL, hereafter cited as TMJ, v. 1, no. 2, August 1976, p. 4, state that it is probable that John I, Lord Mowbray, had a brother named Geoffrey. The records that refer to the breaking of Geoffrey's close at Wroot and to his death at Epworth amply support TMJ's conjecture that Geoffrey was a member of the baronial family and a brother of John I, Lord Mowbray. Geoffrey's son John was therefore a first cousin of John II, Lord Mowbray and a contemporary of Christiana. JOHN DE MOWBRAY, SON OF WILLIAM DE MOWBRAY OF EASBY/KIRKLINGTON The Mowbrays of Easby and later of Kirklington are the subject of two useful articles. "Mowbray of Kirklington," by G. Andrews Moriarty appears in THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER 120 (1966): 170-174, hereafter cited as Moriarty, and "The Mowbrays of Easby," which appears in TMJ, v. 4, no. 3, December 1979, beginning at 15, This family and its holdings are chronicled in VICTORIA COUNTY HISTORY (hereafter cited as VCH) YORKSHIRE NORTH RIDING 2: 305-307. Also helpful is "The Chartulary of the Priory of Guisborough," which appears in THE SURTEES SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS v. 89 (1891): 27-30. Four persons named John were members of the Mowbray family, which held one of the two manors located in the township of Easby in the parish of Stokesley in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Only one of them qualifies as a contemporary of Christiana de Mowbray, who, as suggested above, was born about 1305. The John de Mowbray of Easby/Kirklington, who was a contemporary of Christiana de Mowbray, was a Judge of the Common Pleas, 1359-1373. [Moriarty 170.] John de Mowbray (the future judge) was the second son of William de Mowbray, the only member of his family to be taxed in Easby in 1301, and his wife Agnes. [TMJ 17; Moriarty 171.] William and Agnes appear on 1 April 1312 in connection with their land in the North Yorkshire town of Brompton-on-Swale, located about 35 miles WSW of Easby. [CCR Edward II 1307-1313, p. 457.] TMJ, p. 17, says that William attested deeds in 1302, 1312, and 1320, and that in 1316 he was appointed to survey the grain in his home wapentake of Langbaurgh. "Two months later in the same year an urgent reminder was considered necesssary as he had not yet done so." William was dead by 1320 and had been succeeded by his elder son Thomas de Mowbray of Easby to whom a debt was acknowledged on 13 January 1320. [CCR Edward II 1318-1323, p. 218.] John de Mowbray, son of William, was taxed at Easby in 1327. It appears that John (the judge) was a few years older than Christiana, although he outlived her by nine years, dying about 1373. [Moriarty 173.] Until his appointment as a Judge of Common Pleas in 1359, he was consistently styled in the public records as "John son of William de Moubray," even decades after his father's death. An exception was his appointment on 2 July 1354 as a justice to a commission to keep the statute of labourers in "Pykering and Clyveland in the North Riding, co. York." [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 60.] As there was no doubt only one "John de Moubray" living in Cleveland, an area which included Easby, there was no need to further identify him. The earliest appearance of "John son of William de Moubray" in the Calendar of Patent Rolls was his participation in 1345 on a commission of oyer and terminer looking into a complaint brought in Yorkshire by John de Mowbray of the manor of Kirkby Malzeard. [CPR Edward III 1343-1345, p. 502.] In July 1355, Robert son of Sir John de Musters released a life estate in the manor of Kirklington to "John son of William de Moubray," a transaction witnessed by John's nephew "John son of Thomas Moubray," who, as the judge's nephew, was a generation younger than Christiana. [CCR Edward III 1354-1360, p. 234.] On 16 October 1355, William Boteler of Kydale acknowledged a debt owed to "John son of William Moubray." [CCR Edward III 1354-1360, p. 226.] The last record which styles John de Mowbray (the judge) as "John son of William Moubray" is the enrolment of a release which he witnessed in August 1359, just a few weeks after his appointment to the bench. [CCR Edward III 1354-1360, p.638.] John son of William Mowbray appears to have been the "King's Serjeant [at law] and later a judge (a knight in 1360)," who was summoned to Parliament "among the lawyers from 1354 to 1370." [CP 9: 380 n. (j).] The King's "[a]ppointment, during pleasure, of John Moubray as a justice of the Bench, with the usual fee," was dated 11 July 1359. [CPR Edward III 1358-1361, p. 241.] On 8 January 1363, the King, in order to remedy a judicial backlog in the common bench of the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Nottingham, Westmoreland, York, Lincoln, Derby, and Lancaster, appointed a justice of the king's bench to that court. The backlog was caused by the failure of all of the judges to have been to those parts for a long time and "none comes there but John de Moubray, who seldom comes because the said Bench being open there and closed elsewhere he must be present in parts far distant from those counties about the things which pertain to the office of justice to which he is specially ascribed." [CPR Edward III 1361-1364, p. 278.] The last reference in the patent rolls to "John Moubray, one of the justices of the Bench" is dated 6 February 1370, and relates the creation of a commission of oyer and terminer to look into the breaking into the manor of Kirklington by many evildoers while the judge was "in the king's protection" in order to steal John's goods, to wound and imprison his men and servants, and to ravish and carry away "Elizabeth, late the wife of Alexander Moubray," the judge's son. Elizabeth is also described as the judge's "special servant" at Kirklington. [CPR Edward III 1367-1370, p. 421.] On 5 August 1302, the king pardoned a much earlier "John son of William de Moubray of his outlawry for the death of Robert de Bildesdale ..." [CPR Edward I 1301-1307, p. 51.] TMJ, pp. 16-17 suggests that he was an uncle of the judge. Since the pardon occurred some years before Christiana's probable birth year, he was likely a generation older. John de Mowbray (the judge) was survived by his son John Mowbray, a cleric. This John was warden of Laysingby Hospital about 1364 and in 1374 he was parson of Ripley in Yorkshire. He was later appointed a papal chaplain, auditor, and referendary, and died about 1390. [TMJ 17, Moriarty 173-174.] These dates show that John Mowbray, the cleric, was one generation younger than Christiana and are consistent with the identification of his father John de Mowbray (the judge) as Christiana's contemporary. The Mowbrays of Easby were neighbors of the Lords Eure, whose principal manor in that area was in Stokesley, but they also held one of the two manors of Easby. Sir John de Eure of Stokesley, Ingleby, and Easby, was an associate of the Earl of Lancaster and of John I, Lord Mowbray, at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 and, like them, was subsequently executed. [CPR Edward II 1321-1324, pp. 75 and 128; and THE CHRONICLE OF LANERCOST, ed. and trans. by Sir Herbert Maxwell (1912), pp. 235-236.] He was succeeded by his son, also named John de Eure, the latter being for a time as early as 1346 the feudal lord of William de Plumpton and Christiana his wife with respect to the manor of Brenkley near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. [NCH v. 12: 522-523; and FEUDAL AIDS v. 4: 57-59.] According to VCH YORKSHIRE NORTH RIDING 2: 306-307, the second manor of Easby was held for several centuries by the Mowbrays who inherited the lands of William de Tanton. There is no indication that the Eures ever owned both manors at Easby. Even so, William de Mowbray, the father of Sir John Mowbray (the judge), was required to do homage to John de Eure in 1301 "for all the property he held of John de Insula in Stokesley manor." ["Feet of Fines for the County of York from 1300 to 1314," edited by M. Roper, YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY RECORD SERIES 127 (1963): 3.] It is not clear what interest, if any, William de Mowbray had in the manor of Stokesley that required him to give homage. The 1326 inquisition post mortem of the elder John de Eure's estates in Yorkshire lists "the manor with its members, held jointly with Agnes his wife and the heirs of their bodies, of John de Claveryng by knight's service." [CIPM 6: 462.] There is no indication that John de Mowbray held any interest in this manor at that time. JOHN II, LORD MOWBRAY, SON OF JOHN I, LORD MOWBRAY John de Mowbray, the father, was the son of Roger, Lord Mowbray. He is said to have been born 4 September 1286, and was made a knight on 22 May 1306. [CP 9: 377.] He married Aline de Braose in 1298. [CP 9: 379.] The baronial John de Mowbrays, father and son, became an enduring presence at a high level in Northumberland and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From 1308 to 1319, the elder John, Lord Mowbray, was regularly summoned for service against the Scots. [CP 9: 378.] On 23 March 1314/15, King Edward II appointed him captain and keeper of Newcastle and the County of Northumberland. [ROTULI SCOTIAE 1: 136.] This appointment followed the defeat of the English forces by the Scots at Bannockburn in June 1314 which resulted in destructive incursions by the Scots into Northumberland and Newcastle, which, in conjunction with prolonged rains, gave rise to fear and famine. As captain and keeper, John, Lord Mowbray, would have had frequent and continuing contact with its leading merchants and civic figures, including John Scot and especially Richard de Emeldon, who served as Newcastle's mayor during virtually all of the years during which Mowbray was involved in Scotland and in the North of England. The marauding Scots used Northumberland as their route and Newcastle as their gateway into Yorkshire where the Mowbrays had many holdings, so Lord Mowbray had strong economic reasons for wanting to stop the Scots before they could reach Newcastle. In an apparent effort to protect them from the Scots, the king, on 18 September 1317, granted the town and borough of Scarborough in Yorkshire to Mowbray, and on the 26th he was given custody of the castle of Scarborough. [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, pp. 25, 29.] To these holdings, the king added custody of the manor and castle of Malton, Yorkshire. [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, p. 28.] Prior to 19 March 1318, Mowbray and William de Ros of Helmsley, at the king's direction, had seized the castle of Knaresborough, Yorkshire. [CPR Edward II 1317-1321, p. 123.] Knaresborough was six miles north of the Plumpton estate in Spofforth. William de Ros of Helmsley was a second cousin of Sir William de Plumpton, their common ancestors being an earlier Sir William de Ros of Helmsley and Lucy Fitz Piers. Even though the younger John de Mowbray was then still a child, having been born at Hovingham, Yorkshire on 29 November 1310, the king, on 1 April 1319, granted a license to John, Lord Mowbray, to enfeoff John his son and his heirs of his manor of Hovingham. [CP 9: 380.] The elder John, Lord Mowbray, was called for service as a Member of Parliament from 26 August 1307 to 15 May 1321, although his attendance was excused as to the 6 January 1314/15 parliament because he had been made Warden of the Marches toward Carlisle. [CP 9: 378.] His parliamentary attendance would have put him in contact with John Scot, who represented Newcastle at the parliaments held in 1307, 1309, and 1320; and with Richard de Emeldon who was a Member of Parliament representing Newcastle in 1311 and the parliamentary session held at York on 9 September 1314, just months after Bannockburn. Lord Mowbray and Emeldon, with their mutual interests, were no doubt strong allies at this latter parliament. Lord Mowbray had the misfortune to have aligned himself with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, in a dispute with King Edward II. In January 1321/22, he took part in besieging the king's castle at Tickhill, which resulted in orders by the king for his arrest and the seizure of his lands. Mowbray was captured on 16 March 1321/22, while fighting for the Earl at Boroughbridge. He was then taken to York where he was hanged on 23 March and his estates forfeited. [CP 9: 379.] On 26 February 1321/22, his wife Aline and their son John, still a child, were taken to the Tower of London and confined there for several years, but, on the accession of King Edward III in 1327, the inheritance of the younger John, Lord Mowbray was restored. [CP 9: 380.] On 28 February 1327, the king granted rights to young John's marriage to the new Earl of Lancaster. [CPR Edward III 1327-1330, p. 26.] John II, Lord Mowbray, married Joan, the earl's daughter. Having given homage to the king, Mowbray, although still a minor, was given "seisin of the lands whereof his father was seised in his demense as of fee, excepting lands that belonged to the Templars" on 27 July 1327. [CCR Edward III 1327-1330, p. 152.] King Edward III, on 12 April 1333, granted the 22-year old Lord Mowbray respite for all of the debts owed the king "because he is about to set out in the king's service and by his order, to Scotland." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 105.] Prior to the siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill at which Richard de Emeldon and his men were killed, the king's forces gathered at Newcastle-upon-Tyne before departing toward Scotland. Among the king's train were the Lords Percy and Neville, as well as "the lord Ros and the lord Lucy and the lord Mowbray." [CHRONICLES OF FROISSSART, pp. 35-37.] Henry le Scrope (1312-1392), Sir William Plumpton's first cousin, was knighted at the siege of Berwick and fought at Halidon Hill. [CP 11: 561.] Sir William de Ros of Helmsley (d. 1343), Plumpton's second cousin, was in 1333 "amongst the magnates who guaranteed the terms of surrender of Berwick." [CP 11: 98.] Although Sir William de Plumpton was very likely in the retinue of Henry, Lord Percy, his feudal superior, there is no record evidence of his presence at either Berwick or Halidon Hill. While Plumpton may not have been an associate of Lord Mowbray at Halidon Hill or Berwick, the above sources make clear that at least two of Plumpton's cousins as well as his feudal lord were among those who fought on Mowbray's side. Lord Mowbray was summoned to Parliament from 10 December 1327 to 20 November 1360. [CP 11: 380.] If he was faithful in his attendance, he would have been present at some of the same parliaments as Richard de Emeldon, including the parliaments at York on 7 February 1328, at Northampton on 24 April 1328, and at London on 16 March 1332. Presumably, he attended the parliament at London summoned for 30 September 1331 along with Sir William de Plumpton. In his personal life and in his many years of public service in the North of England, Lord Mowbray had extensive contacts with the relatives of both Sir William and Christiana de Plumpton and with Sir William's feudal lord, Sir Henry Percy, all of which suggest the likelihood that Lord Mowbray was related, or in some other manner connected, to them. As mentioned in the sketch of the life of Sir William de Plumpton, complaints brought by Lord Mowbray against Plumpton were heard by commissions of oyer and terminer in 1330, 1351, and 1354, and Sir William and Lord Mowbray served together on such commissions in 1350, 1352, 1356, and 1361. On 23 June 1335, Lord Mowbray acknowledged "that he owes to Geoffrey le Scrop, knight, 200 L, to be levied, in default of payment, of his lands and chattels in co. York." [CCR Edward III 1333-1337, p. 497.] Geoffrey le Scrope's wife was the sister of Sir William de Plumpton's mother. After John Denton, who had succeeded Richard de Emeldon as Mayor of Newcastle, was murdered, John, Lord Mowbray, served with Henry de Percy on a commission of oyer and terminer convened on 4 May 1345 to investigate the killing. [CPR Edward III 1343-1345, p. 511.] The Bishop of Durham was ordered on 12 February 1346 to arrest several men, including Edmund de Widdrington, who had "been indicted of divers felonies and trespasses committed in Newcastle upon Tyne before John Moubray and his fellows, justices of oyer and terminer in that town ..." [CFR Edward III 1337-1347, pp. 453-454.] Shortly thereafter, on 18 February 1346, Mowbray served on a commission of inquisition touching a petition by Maud, late wife of Richard Acton, seeking to recover property in Newcastle previously held by Edmund Widdrington, "outlawed for felony." [CPR Edward III 1345-1348, p. 106.] Edmund Widdrington was probably a grandson of Matilda/Maud de Emeldon, the second daughter of Richard de Emeldon. Matilda married Richard Acton of Newcastle, and their daughter Elizabeth married Richard de Widdrington. [NCH 13: 320.] The Scots were defeated at the Battle of Neville's Cross, fought on 17 October 1346. Divisions of the English army were led by Henry de Percy, Lord Mowbray, and others, and the cavalry was placed in reserve and commanded by William de Ros of Helmsley and others. Henry le Scrope fought under Percy. [Robert White, "The Battle of Neville's Cross," ARCHAEOLOGIA AELIANA (2nd series) 1 (1857): 280-284.] Sir William de Plumpton was probably in the retinue of Lord Percy, his feudal superior. William de Ros of Helmsley (1329-1352), was the son and heir of the William de Ros of Helmsley who fought at Berwick, and was Plumpton's second cousin once removed, their common ancestors being Sir William de Ros of Helmsley and Lucy Fitz Piers. Henry le Scrope, who also fought at Berwick and Halidon Hill, was Plumpton's first cousin. Henry's mother Juetta de Ros was the sister of Plumpton's mother Lucy de Ros. [CP 11: 561.] John, Lord Mowbray, was commissioned on 8 November 1347 to inquire into a petition claiming entitlement to rent from a messuage in Newcastle granted by Peter Graper. Peter was very likely the brother of Adam Graper, the husband of Agnes, Richard de Emeldon's eldest daughter. [NCH 13: 314; Blair, "Members of Parliament etc.," p. 74; Dendy, p. 65.] Henry de Percy, John de Stryvelyn, Lord Mowbray, and others were appointed to a commission of the peace in the County of Northumberland on 2 April 1353. [CPR Edward III 1350-1354, p. 450.] Sir John Stryvelyn [Stirling] was Jacoba Emeldon's second husband, making him Christiana de Plumpton's son-in-law. John, Lord Mowbray, and Henry le Scrope were appointed by the Council to a commission of the peace in Yorkshire on 25 February 1354. [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 61.] Henry le Scrope (1312-1392) and Sir William de Plumpton were first cousins. Robert de Plumpton, son of Sir William and Christiana de Plumpton, married Isabella, Henry le Scrope's daughter. [Stapleton, p. xxiii; and THE PLUMPTON LETTERS AND PAPERS, ed. Joan Kirby, (1996), unpaginated chart entitled "The Later Plumptons."] On 2 July 1354, Lord Mowbray and Richard and William le Scrope were commissioned as justices to enforce the Statute of Labourers in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and William de Plumpton was similarly appointed for the West Riding of Yorkshire. [CPR Edward III 1354-1358, p. 61.] William le Scrope (1325-1367) and Richard le Scrope (abt. 1328-1403) were also cousins of Sir William de Plumpton. William le Scrope, a younger brother of Henry le Scrope, was Plumpton's first cousin. On 12 February 1357, the king revoked a commission of inquiry that had included John, Lord Mowbray, and John de Middelton. [CCR Edward III 1354-1360, p. 390.] Although not descended from her, John de Middleton and his sisters were co-heirs of Jacoba (Emeldon) Stryvelyn. The Middletons were related to Sir John Stryvelyn's first wife, Barnaba Swinburne. [NCH 13: 327-328.]

Part 3 - CONCLUSIONS - WEIGHING THE EVIDENCE Medieval English families of the baronial and gentry classes, whose young daughters were not heiresses, tended to have difficulty in arranging for suitable husbands for them, especially if the family's real estate was entailed to male heirs, its cash and chattels were limited, or the family simply did not want to give them up. When the potential husband was already rich in real estate, cash, and chattels, he might be less interested in the strictly economic aspects of the marriage than in the social and political or other benefits of an alliance with the bride's family. After all, the right social and political connections can themselves contribute to wealth preservation and accumulation. Although medieval marriage partners were sometimes unknown to each other, they were very likely well-known to the parents who had selected them from an extended family related by social class, politics, acquaintance, or, sometimes, blood. In choosing which John de Mowbray was Christiana's brother, one may look for signs that show which John de Mowbray, or his father, belonged to the same extended family as Christiana's husbands. Were the John de Mowbray under consideration, and his father, well-acquainted with her husbands, as shown by substantial contacts with them before and during her marriages? Did they know and have contacts with the relatives, feudal lords, or other associates of Christiana or her husbands? On the subject of politics, considering that John Scot and Richard de Emeldon were much involved with the defense and governance of Northumberland and Newcastle both there and in parliament, does one of the John de Mowbrays stand out as being similarly involved in governing or defending the North of England? Finally, since there is no evidence that Christiana's early Newcastle marriages were based upon a transfer of Mowbray wealth to her husbands, was there some significant mutual benefit accruing to the families through the marriage, or any other factor which lends plausibility to the view that one John de Mowbray was more likely than the others to have been Christiana's brother? John de Mowbray and his father Geoffrey of Wroot, both of whom were killed at Epworth in 1354, are virtually unknown in the public records. They are, therefore, unlikely ever to have been summoned to parliament or involved in public affairs. While it appears from their residence in the Isle of Axholme that they were cousins of John, Lord Mowbray, and therefore share his descent from William Longespee, there is no evidence that Geoffrey and his son were acquainted with Christiana's husbands and their extended families, or active in governing and defending the nothern parts of England. It is unlikely that John de Mowbray, son of Geoffrey, was Christiana de Plumpton's brother. There is a possibility, though remote, that Christiana was a sister of John de Mowbray (the judge), son of William de Mowbray, of Easby in North Yorkshire. Sir John de Eure and his father of the same name,were neighbors of the Mowbrays of Easby and were the holders of extensive estates in Northumberland, some of their lesser properties being in Newcastle. CIPM 6: 206. Sir William and Christiana de Plumpton held the manor of Brenkley near Newcastle as feudal tenants of the younger Sir John de Eure as early as 1346. Sir John de Eure, the elder, very probably knew John Scot and Richard de Emeldon and could have introduced to them the daughter of his Easby neighbor. Countering the latter possibility is the fact that Sir John de Eure, the younger, and John II, Lord Mowbray, had at least one significant thing in common. Their fathers were executed as traitors to the king following the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. While the possible contacts between the Mowbrays of Easby and John Scot and Richard de Emeldon are of interest in looking for the existence of an extended family between Christiana, her husbands, and John de Mowbray (the judge), they are entirely too tenuous and insufficient to establish such a family without a good deal more. It is most unlikely that William of Easby was acquainted with Christiana's Newcastle husbands as his public life does not seem to have extended very far from his manor at Easby. His only known venture in governance was his 1316 appointment as a grain surveyor in his home wapentake of Langbaurgh - a task which went undone, giving rise to an urgent reminder. There is no record that William's son, John (the judge), had any significant contacts with John Scot, Richard de Emeldon, or Sir William de Plumpton and their extended families. Although John de Mowbray (the judge) was summoned to attend parliament "among the lawyers from 1354 to 1370," this service occurred more than two decades after the deaths of Scot and Emeldon. Until summoned to attend parliament, and his appointment as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1359, John, son of William, performed his public service near his home. In 1345, he served on a commission of oyer and terminer sitting in York looking into a complaint by John, Lord Mowbray, and his 1354 appointment as a justice on a commission to keep the Statute of Labourers was apparently limited to the wapentakes of Pickering and Cleveland, near his home at Easby. The appointment in 1359 to the common pleas bench no doubt resulted in his becoming a familiar figure in Northumberland and elsewhere in the North of England, but this was only three years before Sir William and Christiana de Plumpton died. The public records provide no grounds for believing that John de Mowbray (the judge) had frequented Newcastle during the years leading up to Christiana's marriages there or that he was a part of her extended family or those of her Newcastle husbands. As the holder of a manor in North Yorkshire, he would have shared with the Newcastle magnates an interest in stopping the Scottish incursions into Northumberland and through Newcastle into Yorkshire, but there is no evidence that he was ever in any way involved in defending against the Scots or that he visited Newcastle until late in his life when he served on the Court of Common Pleas. The 1333 close rolls entry states that the widowed Christiana de Emeldon put "in her place John de Moubray, her brother" to collect her dower. While it is difficult to get into the mind of the 14th century author of that entry, it seems likely that he knew which John de Mowbray was Christiana's brother and intended to accurately reflect that identity. The John de Mowbray referred to in the close rolls entry was not styled "son of William," which tends to support the view that John de Mowbray (the future judge) was not the person named by Christiana as her brother. Even so, had there not been a far more likely contender, John de Mowbray of Easby would be regarded as Christiana's probable brother. That far more likely candidate as Christiana's brother exists in the person of John, Lord Mowbray. In weighing the known evidence, what meaning is to be given to the complaints of poaching brought against William de Plumpton by John II, Lord Mowbray? In his SGM newsgroup posting of 11 June 2003, Jeff Duvall concluded that the fact of Lord Mowbray's complaints against Plumpton "proves nothing" as to Christiana's ancestry. Douglas Richardson has a sharply contrasting view. He has told the author that Lord Mowbray's complaints are "fatal" to the view that he was Christiana's brother. Mr. Richardson says "to look more closely at the other John Mowbrays to find Christian's brother," whose family when he is correctly identified will have "the beneficial ties and common bonds which are typically present between two families which are intermarried." Mr. Richardson's comments are not to be taken lightly. They should encourage all of us to redouble the search for Christiana's brother. But, while Lord Mowbray's disputes with Plumpton may be taken as some evidence that they were not brothers-in-law, those conflicts may not be determinative. They must be weighed together with all of the other evidence in identifying her brother. Medieval brothers-in-law did not always share "beneficial ties and common bonds." King Edward III's sister Joan was married to King David of Scotland, "yet up to the time of the battle of Neville's Cross, the King of England never ceased to do his brother-in-law injury." [White, op. cit. p. 272, n. 10.] Consider also the relationship between Sir Adam Banaster, husband of Margaret de Holand, and his brother-in-law Sir Robert de Holand. In 1315, Sir Adam led a revolt against his brother-in-law seemingly motivated by jealousy arising from Sir Robert's advancement as the chief household official of the Earl of Lancaster. Banaster and the other captured rebel leaders were beheaded "by the order of the earl and Robert de Holland." ["South Lancaster in the Reign of Edward II," ed. G. H. Tupling, CHETHAM SOCIETY REMAINS, 3rd series, v. 1 (1949), pp. xlii-xlvii.] The complaints brought by Lord Mowbray against Sir William de Plumpton may have resulted from the fact that Plumpton, through his father-in-law, had been given real estate in Kirky Malzeard once owned by the Mowbrays but forfeited to the Crown. Since the Mowbrays still held most of Kirkby Malzeard, differences were likely to occur. The disputes do not seem to have been particularly violent in nature and the complaints to the commissions of oyer and terminer may have been viewed as a peaceful and amicable means of resolving property disputes. It seems unlikely that, had Mowbray and Plumpton been enemies, they would have been selected to serve together on several commissions of oyer and terminer. Contemporary records are convincing evidence that the baronial John de Mowbrays between them knew and had many contacts with the extended family comprised of Christiana de Mowbray, her husbands, their relatives, and feudal lords. Virtually all of these contacts between the Mowbrays and this extended family, Lord Mowbray's complaints of poaching against Sir William de Plumpton aside, relate either to the defense of the North of England from Scottish incursions or to its governance. The defense of Northumberland and Newcastle from the Scots was of great mutual interest, and resulted in a substantial joint benefit, to the magnates of Newcastle, who regularly saw their lands and commercial enterprises laid waste by the invaders, and to the Lords Mowbray, whose several estates in Yorkshire were inviting destinations for the Scots. John I and II, Lords Mowbray, spent many years defending the North of England from Scottish invasions. From 1318 to 1319, the elder Lord Mowbray was regularly summoned for service against the Scots and in 1315 he was appointed captain and keeper of Newcastle. In 1317, he was given custody of castles in North Yorkshire to keep them from the Scots. In 1318, Mowbray, in association with Plumpton's second cousin William de Ros of Helmsley, took protective possession of the castle at Knaresborough, near Plumpton's Spofforth estate. The younger Lord Mowbray served with Sir William de Plumpton's cousins and his feudal lord Henry Percy at the siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill, at which Richard de Emeldon was killed, in 1333, and at the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. It is very likely that Plumpton served in Lord Percy's retinue in these battles as he was so identified in a 1347 order of the king's council. The elder Lord Mowbray's parliamentary service coincided with that of John Scot in 1307, 1309, and 1320, and with that of Richard de Emeldon in 1311 and the session at York on 9 September 1314. The parliamentary service of the younger John, Lord Mowbray, also coincided with that of the extended family members. If he attended the parliaments to which he was summoned, he would have been there with Richard de Emeldon in 1329 and 1332 and with Sir William de Plumpton in September 1331. In his many years serving on various commissions in the North of England, John, Lord Mowbray, the younger, had extensive contacts with the extended family comprised of Christiana, her husbands, their relatives and associates. These contacts included his serving with William de Plumpton on at least four commissions of oyer and terminer. Following the murder of John Denton, who had succeeded Emeldon as Mayor of Newcastle, Lord Mowbray, in 1345, served with Henry Percy, Sir William de Plumpton's feudal lord, on a commission of oyer and terminer that looked into Denton's death. In 1346, Edmund de Widdrington, an apparent grandson of Richard de Emeldon's second daughter Maud, was indicted and turned over to Lord Mowbray and his fellow members of a commission of oyer and terminer. In the same year, Mowbray served on a commission of inquisition into a petition by the same Maud trying to recover property in Newcastle previously held by him. In 1347, Mowbray was commissioned to look into a claim for rent from a messuage in Newcastle granted by Peter Graper, a close relative of the husband of Richard de Emeldon's eldest daughter Agnes. In 1353, Lord Mowbray was appointed to serve on a commission of peace in Northumberland together with Henry Percy, Plumpton's feudal lord, and John Stryvelyn, Jacoba Emeldon's second husband, Christiana's son-in-law. Mowbray and Henry le Scrope, who was Plumpton's first cousin, were appointed by the council to a peace commission in Yorkshire. The following year, Lord Mowbray and Wiliam le Scrope, another of Plumpton's first cousins, were commissioned as justices to enforce the statute of labourers in the North Riding of Yorkshire, while le Scrope and Plumpton were appointed to a similar commission in the West Riding. Finally, in 1357, the king revoked a commission of inquiry that had included Lord Mowbray and John de Middelton. John de Middelton and his sisters were co-heirs of Jacoba (Emeldon) Stryvelyn. Who, then, was Christiana de Plumpton's brother John de Mowbray, and who was her father? It is not possible to answer these questions with the certainty that DNA evidence would permit. Nor can they be answered by applying the beyond a reasonable doubt standard that usually applies in criminal cases. The standard of proof generally applied in civil litigation is known as "the preponderance of evidence," which BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY (6th ed. 1990) p. 1182 defines as evidence which shows "that what is sought to be proved is more likely true than not true." Using this standard, I conclude that it is more likely than not that John I, Lord Mowbray, was Christiana's father and John II, Lord Mowbray, was her brother. The joint participation of John, Lord Mowbray, father and son, with members of Christiana's extended family in the governing and defense of the North of England produced significant benefits to both families. The most important of these benefits was the protection of John Scot's and Richard Emeldon's properties in Newcastle and the Mowbray and Plumpton estates in Yorkshire from Scottish invaders. The conclusion that Christiana de Plumpton was a member of the baronial Mowbrays coincides with the published beliefs of the leading antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne extending back one hundred years. [See Dendy (1904), p. 63; NCH (1930) 13: 313-314; Blair, "Members of Parliament etc.," (1936) p. 70; and Blair, "The Mayors and Lord Mayors, etc." (1940), p. 3.] The most recent and authoritative expression of this view is that of Constance M. Fraser, PhD., a former President of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne and the author of the lengthy, scholarly article "Embleton, Richard," appearing in the 2004 OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY 18: 387-388. I encourage all of you to discover additional evidence that will remove any remaining doubt as to the identity of Christiana's brother. I gratefully acknowledge John Schuerman's generous assistance in the preparation of this article. Each of its pages bears the imprint of John's scholarship and his passion for genealogy. I also thank Douglas Richardson for his thoughtful comments. Douglas Hickling 516 Blair Avenue Piedmont CA 94611 USA Dhhic@comcast.net 1 June 2005 A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR Douglas Hickling, a son of Canadian parents, was born and raised in Eden, New York, the hometown of the kazoo. He graduated from Cornell (1954), the U. S. Army Field Artillery (1956), and the Harvard Law School (1959). At Harvard, he studied labor law under Archibald Cox, who was later to become the Watergate special prosecutor who was ordered dismissed by President Nixon in the famous "midnight massacre." Hickling has been married for 40 years to the former Madeleine Henning of St. Cloud, Minnesota. She is descended from William and Christiana de Plumpton through Peter Worden I of the Massachusetts Colony.