General Notes

Margery (or Eleanor), heiress of 1/4 hundred of Bisley, co. Gloucester. [Ancestral Roots]

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He [Theobald de Verdun] married, before 6 November 1276, Margery (c). He died 24 August 1309 at Alton, aged about 61, and was buried 13 October in Croxden Abbey, in that co.  [Complete Peeerage XII/2:249-50, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(c) By right of his wife he held 1/4 of the hundred of Bisley, co. Gloucester.

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From: Douglas Richardson (royalancestry@msn.com)
Subject: Margery de Bohun, wife of Theobald de Verdun (Was: A New Bohun Daughter Discovered)
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Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Date: 2002-01-11 15:41:47 PST

Dear Newsgroup ~

Today I had the opportunity to further research the matter of Theobald de Verdun's wife, Margery.

VCH Gloucester 11 (1976): 12 indicates about 1170, Hugh, Earl of Chester, granted the fee of Bisley, co. Gloucester to Humphrey de Bohun, son-in-law of Miles of Hereford.  Humphrey was to hold the property for the service of 3 knights fees out of the 5 owed for the fee.

VCH Gloucester 11 (1976): 1 further shows that in 1274, the Hundred Rolls show that the hundred of Bisley was held by Peter Corbet (in right of his wife, Joan), Tibbald le Botiler (in right of his wife, Margery), and Richard le Eyer.  Half of the profits belonged to Peter, the other half was shared equally by Tibbald and Richard.

In 1303, a total of 2 3/4 fees in Bisley and Stroud were held from the earl of Hereford. including parts of Bisley manor, which fees were in the possession respectively of Joan Corbet, Tibbald de Verdun, and Richard of Bisley [Reference: Feudal Aids, 2 (1900): 251].

In 1309, at Theobald de Verdun's death, it was recorded that he owned a capital messuage and lands at Bisley, co. Gloucester "in free marriage of the earl of Hereford by service of rendering 1 lb. cummin yearly." [Reference: Cal. IPM, vol. 5 (1908): 96].

The above information, taken together with the abstract of the legal case I posted earlier today, make it clear that Theobald de Verdun's wife, Margery, was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, and that she had a 1/4 share of the manor and hundred of Bisley, co. Gloucester in free marriage.  Also, it appears that Margery was married previously to a certain Robert de W., who evidently died prior to 1274, without male issue.  For an abstract of the legal case, see my earlier post which is shown below.

As to which Humphrey de Bohun was Margery's father, it appears that the correct Humphrey is the Humphrey de Bohun, born say 1230, died 1265, who married before 1249 Eleanor, daughter of William de Breuse, lord of Abergavenny, by Eve, daughter of William le Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. This Humphrey was never Earl of Hereford, he having died in his father's lifetime.  This would explain why Theobald de Verdun's statements refer to him only as "one Humphrey" and not as "Humphrey, Earl of Hereford."

It is unusual that a high born marriage for a Bohun woman should have escaped the attention of so many people prior to this time.  This situation appears to have been caused by the tangled history of the hundred and manor of Bisley, co. Gloucester, which properties had multiple owners.  It is fortunate indeed that a record of Theobald de Verdun's statements regarding his wife's parentage were preserved in the Yearbooks of Edward I and that his inquisition clearly show that he acquired the property at Bisley in free marriage, held under the Earls of Hereford.

Given that some 40 odd immigrants descend from Theobald de Verdun and his wife, Margery de Bohun, this new discovery doubtless affects the ancestry of a good many people here in the newsgroup.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

E-mail: royalancestry@msn.com