Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The Heirs of Alexander de Neville of Redbourne (Part 6 – Neufmarché)

This sixth and final part looks at the descendants of Cecily, probably the youngest of the five sisters of Alexander de Neville (III) who died in 1252 (this is a short story).

1.   Cecily de Neville (c. 1247 - 1300)

At the time of the death of Alexander, son of Alexander de Neville in 1252, his sister Cecily was in the custody of her mother Mateleon [1].  Sometime before 1271, she married Adam de Neufmarché (Novo Mercato) (see previous posts for details).

Exactly who Adam de Neufmarché was is difficult to say. He almost certainly belonged to the same family as Adam de Neufmarché of Whatton who died in 1247, ancestor of the family of Newmarch of Womersley [2].  Adam left two known sons, John, his heir apparent and Sir Adam, ancestor of the family of Newmarch of Whatton [3]. My guess is that the Adam who married Cecily de Neville was the son of an unrecorded brother of this John and Sir Adam, but that is only a guess.

Adam died before 30 August 1291 when the escheator beyond Trent was ordered to cause all the lands that Adam de Novo Mercato held of the king in chief as of the inheritance of Cecily, his wife, in Redburn near Hibaldestowe, which the escheator took into the king's hands upon Adam's death, to be replevied to Cecily until the next parliament, so that there may then be done what ought of right to be done [4].

From this entry in the Close Rolls, it would appear that Adam had died without leaving heirs. There does not seem to be any record of the next parliament to tell us what was decided concerning his land, but apparently his and Cecily’s lands were divided between the other Neville heirs after her death.

On 15 August 1307, Adam son of Robert de Novo Mercato granted land in Hopton and Mirfield to Adam de Pontefract, which included land lately held of Cecilia de Novo Mercato [5]. This suggests that Cecily had died before that date. Who this Adam de Neufmarché was is also a mystery, but my guess is that he was a nephew of the Adam who married Cecily de Neville.




[1] Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry III: vol. 7: 1251-1253 (1927), 166.
[2] Complete Peerage, vol. 9, 545-6.
[3] Complete Peerage, vol. 9, 548, note (p).
[4] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward I: vol. 3: 1288-1296 (1904), 177.
[5] A. S. Ellis, Yorkshire Deeds, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. 12 (1893), 260.

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