General Notes

REFN: 7637AN
Ralph de Mortimer, the presumed son of Roger de Mortimer, accompanying t
he Duke of Normandy in his expedition against England, was one of his prin
cipal commanders at the decisive battle of Hastings; and shortly afte
r, as the most puissant of the victor's captains, was sent into the march
es of Wales to encounter Edric, Earl of Shrewsbury, who still resisted t
he Norman yoke. This nobleman, after much difficulty and a long siege in h
is castle of Wigmore, Mortimer subdued and delivered into the king's hand
s, when, as a reward for his good service, he obtained a grant of all Edri
c's estates and seated himself thenceforward at Wigmore. Independent
ly of these great Welsh territorial possessions, Ralph Mortimer enjoye
d, by the bounty of his royal master, sundry lordships and manors in oth
er parts of the realm which he held at the time of the general surve
y. In the beginning of Rufus' reign, Mortimer took part with Curthose, b
ut he subsequently changed sides and, being constituted general of the for
ces sent by King Henry I to oppose that prince in Normandy, he totally rou
ted the enemy and brought Curthose prisoner to the king. This gallant pers
on m. Millicent, dau. of ---, by whom he had issue, Hugh, his successor; W
illiam, Lord of Chelmhersh, and afterwards of Netherby; Robert, ancest
or of the Mortimers, of Richard's Castle; and Hawise, m. to Stephen, Ea
rl of Albemarle. He was s. by his son, Hugh de Mortimer. [Sir Bernard Burk
e, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage Lt
d, London, England, 1883, p. 382-3, Mortimer, Barons Mortimer, of Wigmor
e, Earls of March]