This fifth part looks at the
descendants of Julian one of the five sisters of Alexander de Neville (III) who
died in 1252 (a tale of murder and legal shenanigans).
1. Julian de Neville (c. 1246 - aft. 1299)
At the time of the death of
Alexander, son of Alexander de Neville in 1252, his sister Julian was in the
custody of her mother Mateleon [1]. Sometime before 1271, she married Ingram
Folenfaunt (I).
The origins of the Folenfaunt (literally “foolish child”)
family are obscure, and I have been unable to find many records of them in the
north of England before Ingram.
In the division of the estates of
Alexander de Neville between his five sisters, it appears that Adwick-on-Dearn
and Nunnington came to the Folenfaunts, although there must have been a few exchanges
between the heirs, because John de Heton had part of Nunnington in 1253.
In 1278-80, Ingram Folenfaunt was
summoned to answer the king in a plea of by what right he claimed to have free
warren in Adwick and his lands quit of suit at Adwick and elsewhere without
licence etc. And Ingram came and said that he claimed no warren in his lands in
Adwick. And as to the suit etc. he said that he holds his lands in Adwick by
the law of England of the inheritance of a certain Thomas his son together with
a certain John de Heton and Joan his wife of the inheritance of a certain
Alexander de Nevill. And he says that
the same John performs suit at the county and at the wapentake [2].
The Folenfaunt family were not
the only holders of land in Adwick. There was another family called Reynbergh
who also held property there. Relations
between these two families were sometime acrimonious.
For some reason which I can’t
work out, Ingram Folenfaunt and his wife decided to dispose of the manor of
Adwick on Dearn. On 19 December 1294, Ingram Folenfaunt of Adwick and his wife
Julian granted the manor of Adwick and other rents in Yorkshire and in
Redbourne, Lincolnshire to Sir Nicholas de Leicester, for £7 13s. 4d. per year
for the life of Ingram Folenfaunt [3]. Ingram must have died shortly afterwards,
because on 15 January 1295, Ingram son of Ingram Folenfaunt released the same
premises and rents to Sir Nicholas de Leicester [4].
In 1297, Sir Nicholas de
Leicester had died and his son Roger granted the manor of Adwick to Robert de
Reynburgh [5]. On 12
April 1299, Julian widow of Ingram Folenfaunt released to Robert de Reynbergh
all her claim on the lands that he had of Roger de Leicester in Adwick [6]. This is the last record in which Julian
occurs.
2. Ingram Folenfaunt (II) (c. 1280 – 1309)
Ingram Folenfaunt was succeeded
by his son Ingram Folenfaunt (II). Although
Ingram (II) had released his rights in Adwick to Sir Nicholas de Leicester in
1296, he obviously considered that he still should hold the manor, because on 9
May 1305, Ingram Folenfaunt (II) of Adwick granted to Ingram his son, in tail,
the manor of Adwick [7]. This
grant muddied the legal waters concerning the ownership of Adwick for some
years.
The dispute between the
Folenfaunts and the Reynburghs over the ownership of Adwick must have
escalated, because on 8 April 1310, Thomas son of Robert de Reynbergh was
pardoned for the death of Ingram Folenfaunt [8].
3. Ingram Folenfaunt (III) (c. 1300 – aft. 1325)
Ingram Folenfaunt (II) was succeeded by his son Ingram Folenfaunt (III),
who probably came of age around 1322. He still nominally had a claim to the
manor of Adwick, which had been granted to him in tail by his father in 1305.
On 24 November 1322, Robert Reynburgh and his wife Alice granted the
manor of Adwick to Sir William Clarel and his wife Agnes [9]. Ingram
Folenfaunt saw what he thought was his inheritance slipping away. It was no
longer a dispute between him and the Reynburghs, but he had to deal with the
Clarel family who no doubt had more local influence. But Ingram had a cunning
plan, on 9 June 1324, he granted John de Bosville of Tickhill 100 shillings of
yearly rent from his manors of Adwick and Nunnington [10]. He
probably hoped that John de Bosville was in a stronger position than himself to
support his claim for the manors of Adwick and Nunnington. Then Ingram had a
much more difficult problem to deal with. He was accused of murdering William
de Bereford (probably not the chief justice of that name) and was imprisoned in
Tickhill castle. Ingram managed to break out of prison before Christmas 1324
and on 5 January 1325, he granted the manor of Adwick to John de Bosville of Tickhill,
John his son, of Wadworth, Richard Cock and his wife Agnes and their heirs [11], further
muddying the legal waters concerning the ownership of Adwick.
Ingram must have been recaptured because on 20 February 1325, he was
pardoned for the murder of William de Bereford and breaking out of the prison
at Tickhill on the condition that he went on the king’s service to Gascony [12].
Nothing more is heard of Ingram and he presumably died in Gascony.
The manor of Adwick remained in the hands of the Clarels and on 5 March
1332, Agnes widow of Sir William Clarel granted Adwick to Thomas her son, with
remainder in tail to his sister Joan and her husband John de Stainton [13].
4. Margery Folenfaunt (c. 1320 – 1355)
Before his enforced departure for Gascony, Ingram Folenfaunt had a
daughter Margery by his wife Agnes. Nothing is heard of Margery until 1344 when
she sold the manor of West Nunnington in the North Riding of Yorkshire to Sir
John de Pateshull for 100 marks, although John de Bosville also put in his
claim [14]. The
sale of West Nunnington by Margery was the opening shot in a new legal battle
concerning Adwick.
In 1349, Thomas de Ashbury and his wife Margery Folenfaunt brought a
writ of formedon in the descender against Robert Clarel (the son and heir of
Sir William Clarel by his first wife) claiming two thirds of the manor of
Adwick which Ingram Folenfaunt of Adwick gave to his son Ingram and the heirs
of his body and which therefore came to Margery, Ingram’s daughter [15]. The
Ashburys appear to have lost the case and by a fine at Westminster at Easter
1349, they granted land and rents in Adwick to Robert Clarel together with the
reversion of one third which Agnes, the widow of Ingram Folenfaunt (III) was
holding in dower [16]. Margery
appears to have died before 3 May 1356, when Thomas de Ashbury surrendered his
life interest in premises in Adwick, formerly of Ingram Folenfaunt, to Robert
Clarel [17]. Thomas
de Ashbury and Margery do not appear to have had any children, as there is no
further mention of the Ashburys in connection with Adwick.
Robert Clarel died without heirs before 1354 and Adwick came to his
younger half-brother Thomas Clarel and his heirs. The manor descended to the
Fitzwilliams of Aldwark and their successors the Foljambe family. I am sure
that somewhere in this story there is a link between the Nevilles and the
Clarels, but it is not apparent.
[14] William Paley Baildon, ed., Feet of Fines for the County of York,
From 1327 to 1347, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series 42, 1910,
174, No. 52
[16] William Paley Baildon, Feet of Fines for the County of York, From
1347 to 1377, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series 52, 1915, 19.
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