Origin of the Lumleys of Ravensworth

Recently I obtained a copy of Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16, containing transcripts of 82 deeds relating to Ravensworth dating from the early twelfth to the seventeenth centuries. Study of the deeds has permitted a better understanding of the Lumley family who held Ravensworth from the bishop of Durham for nearly two hundred years and make corrections and additions to Robert Surtees’ pedigree of the family.

The early part of the pedigree of Lumley of Ravensworth and Lamesley, Durham, given by Robert Surtees in his History and Antiquities of Durham is defective. [1]  It incorrectly shows the descent starting from “ … Lumley, a second son of Lumley Castle” and his wife “Eleanor, sister and heir of John Fitz-Marmaduke.”

In one respect, Surtees was correct, the family of Lumley of Ravensworth descended from Sir John de Lumley, second son of Robert de Lumley of Horden (died 1308) and his wife Mary, daughter of John Fitz-Marmaduke. This Sir John de Lumley appears to have been overlooked by historians and genealogists alike.

The Manor of Ravensworth

In June 1223, Richard bishop of Durham granted the manor of Ravensworth to Robert de Yealand. [2] Robert de Yealand was a younger brother of Sir Adam de Yealand of Yealand, Lancashire. Adam and his brothers Nicholas, Richard and Robert were in the service of Richard Marsh bishop of Durham between 1217 and 1226. [3] Robert de Yealand died shortly before 6 April 1227, when the king granted to Nicholas de Yealand, the custody of the land and heirs of Robert de Yealand, his brother. [4]

The subsequent descent is obscure, but Ravensworth descended to Richard de Yealand, who was probably the son of Robert, and who died in 1261, then to his son Sir William de Yealand who died in 1281, then to his son, Sir Richard de Yealand, who died shortly before 6 January 1290, when his heir was his younger brother John. [5] Before he died, Sir Richard de Yealand granted the manor of Ravensworth to John Fitz-Marmaduke, lord of Stranton and Horden, Durham. [6] Whether this was a sale, or whether there was some family connection between the Yealands and John Fitz-Marmaduke is unclear. The subsequent descent of Ravensworth is as follows.

Fitz-Marmaduke and Lumley

1. John Fitz-Marmaduke, son of Marmaduke Fitz-Geoffrey, was granted the manor of Ravensworth before 1290 by Sir Richard de Yealand. He married firstly Isabel, daughter of Sir Robert de Brus (V), Lord of Annandale by his first wife Isabel de Clare. He married secondly, before 8 May 1285 [7] Ida de Ros, widow of Roger de Bertram (III) who died in 1272, and Robert de Neville who died in 1282. [8] By his first wife, Isabel de Brus he had a son and heir, Richard, and a daughter Mary. John Fitz-Marmaduke died shortly before 24 September 1310. [9]

2. Richard Fitz-Marmaduke, son of John Fitz-Marmaduke was born before 1285. He married before January 1314, Eleanor. In January 1314, by a fine made in the court of the bishop of Durham, William de Silksworth granted the manor of Ravensworth and Lamesley to Richard son of John Fitz-Marmaduke and Eleanor his wife, with remainder to John, son of Robert de Lumley and the right heirs of Richard. [10]  It is not clear how William de Silksworth was holding Ravensworth, but it may have been as a trustee for John or Richard Fitz-Marmaduke. Richard Fitz-Marmaduke died without heirs in December 1318 when he was murdered on Framwellgate Bridge by Robert de Neville 'the Peacock of the North' and his brother John. [11] His heir was his sister Mary who was married to Robert de Lumley of Lumley.

3. Mary Fitz-Marmaduke, sister of Richard Fitz-Marmaduke was born before 1285. She married, probably about 1300, Sir Robert de Lumley, son of Roger de Lumley, who died about 1279, by his wife Sibyl, daughter of Hugh de Morwick who died in 1298. Robert was born about 1272. [12]  Sir Robert de Lumley died shortly before 13 July 1308. [13] In 1318, Mary was heir to her brother Richard. The date of her death is not known. Robert de Lumley and Mary had two sons, Sir Robert and Sir John. For the descendants of Sir Robert de Lumley see Complete Peerage, vol. 8.

4. Sir John de Lumley, second son of Robert de Lumley by Mary Fitz-Marmaduke, was probably born about 1298. In 1315, together with his brother Sir Robert, he witnessed quit-claims by Roger and Alice de Yeland of their interests in John de Yealand's lands in Ravensworth to Richard and Eleanor fitz Marmaduke. [14] Under the terms of the fine of 1314 (above) he held the manor of Ravensworth and Lamesley after the death of his uncle Richard Fitz-Marmaduke in 1318. In September 1342, when he had been knighted, he and Eleanor widow of Richard Fitz-Marmaduke secured the quit-claim of Sir John de Yealand's lands in Ravensworth and Hedley to themselves and John de Lumley's heirs. [15] In August 1356, he granted the manor of Ravensworth to Sir Robert de Umfreville, with reversion to himself after the death of Eleanor, widow of Richard Fitz-Marmaduke. The deed was also sealed by Robert, his son and heir. His wife’s name may have been Margaret. [16] He died on 4 February 1375 [17] and was succeeded by his son Robert.

5. Robert de Lumley, son and heir of Sir John de Lumley. Nothing is known of him or his life. He married Elizabeth. He died before 27 June 1384 seised of the manors of Ravensworth and Lamesley and was succeeded by his son Marmaduke, aged 21. [18] After his death, Elizabeth married secondly, John de Moreslaw and thirdly John de Buckham. She died shortly before 24 April 1394, when her heir was her son Marmaduke, aged 30. [19]

6. Sir Marmaduke Lumley, son and heir of Robert de Lumley and Elizabeth was born about 1363. He married Eleanor before April 1388.[20] They had three sons, Marmaduke, son and heir apparent in 1388, who died v.p.; Robert, who married, about 1400, Isabel daughter of John Colville of Dale. [21]  He apparently died s.p. before about 1410, when Isabel was married to John Wandesford, she married thirdly William Fencotes; William, born about 1392 who succeeded his father. Marmaduke Lumley died shortly before 10 November 1413 and was succeeded by his son William aged 21. [22]

7. Sir William Lumley, son of Marmaduke Lumley was born about 1392. He married Elizabeth, possibly a daughter of William de Washington. In 1420, he sued his brother’s widow Isabel and her husband John Wandesford concerning land near Lamesley. [23] He died on 21 September 1472, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, “aged 40.” [24] Elizabeth survived him and died shortly before 28 October 1482. [25]

8. Thomas son of William Lumley was born before 1433. His wife’s name is unknown. They had three sons, Bertram, Nicholas and George, and a daughter Isabel who married William Watson. He died shortly before 9 December 1476, and was succeeded by his son Bertram, aged 30. [26]

9 Bertram son of Thomas Lumley was born about 1446. He married, by an agreement dated 6 August 1466, Margaret, daughter of Thomas Lord Lumley. [27] He died before March 1497,[28] leaving an only daughter Isabel, wife of Henry Boynton of Sedbury (in Gilling), Yorkshire. Margaret survived him and died before May 1502. [29]

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[1] Robert Surtees, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, vol 2: Chester Ward (1820), 211.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/antiquities-durham/vol2/pp207-218#h3-0006

[2] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 50.

[3] M. G. Snape, ed., English Episcopal Acta, 25: Durham 1196-1237 (2002), 257.

[4] Calendar of Fine Rolls 11 Henry III, No. 180.

[5] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 2. Edward I (1906), 465, No, 767.

[6] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 50.

[7] Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward I, vol. 2: 1279-1288 (1902), 318.

[8] Complete Peerage, vol. 2 (1912), 160.

[9] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 2, Edward II: 1307-1319 (1912), 72.

[10] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 53.

[11] H. S. Offler, “Murder on Framwellgate Bridge,” Archaeologica Aeliana, Fifth Series, vol. 16 (1988), 196-7.

[12] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 3, Edward I (1912), 348, No. 461.

[13] Calendar of Fine Rolls, vol. 2, Edward II: 1307-1319 (1912), 26.

[14] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 52.

[15] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 55.

[16] William Greenwell, ed., Bishop Hatfield's Survey, Surtees Society, 32 (1856), 145.

[17] Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 15, Richard II (1970), No. 812.

[18] Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1885), 230.

[19] Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1885), 164.

[20] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 57.

[21] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 58.

[22] Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1885), 231.

[23] George Wrottesley, Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls, (1905), 306.

[24] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 61.

[25] Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1884), 451.

[26] Forty-Fourth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1884), 450.

[27] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 61.

[28] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 65.

[29] H. E. Bell. ed., "Calendar of Deeds given to the Society by Lord Ravensworth," Archaeologica Aeliana, Fourth Series, vol. 16 (1939), 66.