D'Aubigny Genealogy

D'Aubigny
   The D'Aubigny family came from the Norman village of Saint Martin d'Aubigny, 14 km. north of Coutances and 36 km. north west of Montbray. In medieval naming conventions, the surnames beginning with "DE" or "D'" are Latin for "OF." (Many surnames were derived from localities, with the DE being dropped as time went on. The most common form of this name today is "Albini.")
   The D'Aubigny family has a proud heritage to Kings, Queens, and even United States Presidents like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who cherished his ancestry to this family).
   The surname "D'Aubigny" was first found in Lincolnshire, where they were seated from very early times, and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. They could have fought in the battle, or, more disappointingly, been butlers to William:
   "I believe that it was the William, then Pincerna, and probably also Roger, his son, who were companions of the Conqueror in his expedition; Roger's eldest brother William being in disgrace in Normandy at the time, and not restored to favour, or allowed to enter England before the reign of Rufus, or it may have been Henry I."*
   But it looks like they, fought, as well: Two D'Aubignys are included on the "Battle Abbey Rolls," which list the Norman combatants: GUILLAUME (WILLIAM) D'AUBIGNY and LE SIRE D'AUBIGNY (his son, ROGER). They list the commanders who accompanied William the Bastard of Falaise [later William I of England] at the Battle of Hastings. There are 375 commanders shown on the list, from a total force of about 5000 men. Subsequently, for their services, each commander was granted lordships of large areas of English countryside, albeit each being widely separated from another. To the victors went the spoils. (Various "copies" of these roll with considerable additions and thus differences exist.)
   Our genealogy traces back to this butler named William (1015 - 1066), from whom the ancient Earls of Arundel descended. William married a woman named NN DE PLESSIS (b: 1024), "a sister of Grimoult du Plessis, the traitor of Valognes and Val-ès-Dunes, who died in his dungeon in 1047 (vol. i., pp. 25 and 31), and Wace may after all be right in styling him 'Le Botellier,'as it is probable that he held that office in the household of the Duke of Normandy)*
   They had two sons (There may have been daughters, too, but in feudal times women, unless they were heiresses, were of small account; and often not recorded.) Anyway, William's two sons were:

CHILDREN OF WILLIAM D'AUBIGNY AND NN DE PLESSIS

  • NELE d'AUBIGNY, aka: NIGEL de ALBINI. Nigel's grants were in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire. He was bow-bearer to the king in the reign of William II (Rufus) and was knighted by Henry I, who gave him the manor of Egmanton with parks in Sherwood Forest.
  • ROGER D'AUBIGNY (1040-1138), AKA: ROGER de ALBINI, married AMICE MOWBRAY or MONTBRAY (1055 - 1084). Children listed below.

  • Mowbray
       Roger married a woman named AMICE MOWBRAY or MONTBRAY (1055 - 1084) She was also known as Amicie de Coutances, sister of Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances (according to Orderic Vital, he was "one of the bishops with attendant clerks and monks, whose duty it was to aid the war with their prayers and councils"). Amicia also had another brother, Roger de Montbray (Mowbray).
       They were the children of ROGER MOWBRAY. The surname Mowbray stems from the small village of Montbray in Normandy. This lies about 10 km. north-east of the town of Villedieu-les-Poeles, which itself is 22 km northeast of Avranches on the bay of Mont Saint Michel. From this village came Geoffrey de Montbray who came to be Bishop of Coutances and accompanied Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, at the Conquest of England, after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Family Motto, translated: "Virtue stands by its own strength."
       "By his wife, the sister of Grimoult (I have not yet lighted on her name), he had a son, the Roger d'Aubigny aforesaid, who married Amicia, or Avitia, sister of Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, and of Roger de Montbrai, and is supposed by M. Le Prévost to have been with his brothers-in-law in the battle."
       Roger d'Aubigny, or De Albini, had issue by his wife Avitia de Montbrai, five sons:

    CHILDREN OF ROGER D' AUBIGNY AND AMICE MOWBRAY

  • William, known as William de Albini "Pincerna" (i.e., Butler), ancestor of the Earls of Sussex, who married Maud, daughter of Roger le Bigod, and died 1139.
  • Richard, Abbot of St. Albans
  • Nigel, the third son, was heir of Robert de Montbrai, or Mowbray, his first cousin, whose wife he married during the lifetime of her husband by licence of Pope Paschal, and for some time treated her with respect out of regard for her noble parents; but on the death of her brother Gilbert de l'Aigle, having no issue by her, he craftily sought for a divorce on the ground of that very kinship which he exerted so much influence to induce the Pope to overlook, and then married Gundred, daughter of Gerrard de Gournay, by whom he had Roger, who assumed the name of Mowbray, and transmitted it to his descendants, Dukes of Norfolk and Earls Marshal of England; and Henri, ancestor of the line of Albini of Cainho."
  • Humphrey.
  • Ruafon, or Ralph.
  • Bigod
       The D'Aubignys were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for Roger's distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD.

       Roger's children, maternally from the house of Mowbray, came with the Conqueror and obtained large possessions of land. One of his sons was named WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY (1070 - 1139), born in Aubigny, Calvados, Normandy, France. He was a 'Pincerna', a butler to King William.
       William D'Aubigni married MAUD BIGOD (b. 1080), daughter of ROGER BIGOD and ADELIZA DE GRENTMESNIL.
       Here are their children:

    CHILDREN OF WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY AND MAUD BIGOD

  • WILL IAM D'AUBIGNY "THE STRONGHAND," 1st Earl of Arundel (1102 - 3.10.1176) He married ADELAIDE DE LOUVAIN. Children listed below.
  • NIGEL D' AUBIGNY
  • OLIVER D' AUBIGNY.
  • OLIVIA D' AUBIGNY, born @ 1100, who married Ralphe de Haya.
  • De Louvain
       Our ancestor was their son, EARL WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY "THE STRONGHAND," who was the Earl of Sussex, Earl of Lincoln, 1st Earl of Arundel, and the Lord of Stackhorn.
       William the Stronghand was born @ 1102, in Buckenham, Nomandie, England. In 1136, he married the "Fair Maid of Brabant," ADELAIDE DE LOUVAIN (1102 - 1151), daughter of GRAF GOTTFRIED V (I) VON NIEDERLOTHRINGEN 'DER BÄRTIGE' (AKA: Godfrey Barbutus, the Bearded of Louvaine, Duke of Louvaine & Brabant + Namur, Ida of Brabant. Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine; Godfried I Count of Leuven and Brabant; Duke of Low Lotharingen; Marquise of Antwerp. BRABANT) and IDA DE CHINEY, in 1138.
       Also known as Adeliza de Brabant, she was born in 1102-1103 in Louvain, Belgium. Adeliza was queen consort of England from 1121 to 1135, the second wife of King Henry I of England.
       She married Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England, son of William I 'the Conqueror', King of England, and Matilda de Flandre, on the 29th of January, 1121, at Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England. She is thought to have been aged somewhere between fifteen and eighteen; he was fifty three. It is believed that Henry's only reason for marrying again was his desire for a male heir. (Despite holding the record for the largest number of illegitimate children of any British monarch, Henry's only legitimate male heir had died in 1120.)
       Adeliza was reputably quite pretty, and Louvain and England had a mutual enemy in Flanders; these were the likely reasons she was chosen. However, no children were born during the almost 15 years of the marriage. As of 30 January 1121, her married name was Queen Consort Adeliza of England.
       Henry died on the 11th of December, 1135, in Gisors, St. denis, Seine-St. denis, France, and was buried on the 4th of January, 1136, in Reading Abbey, Reading, Berks, England. The cause of death was his bowels exploding -- either from food poisoning or from over-eating Lampreys.
       After Henry died, Adeliza lived as a nun at Wilton, near Salisbury. As she was still young she came out of mourning some time before 1139, the third year of her widowhood, and married William, who had been one of Henry's chief advisors. (That's a tough union for a second husband to live up to! No matter what he gave her or did for her, how do you top THE KING???) She brought with her a queen's dowry, including the great castle of Arundel, and King Stephen created d'Aubigny Earl of Arundel. In feudal times, women were often bartered as wives. If they were heiresses they were married while still of tender years, and when their husbands died were often remarried three or even four times. After the way Henry died, William probably didn't eat much of her cooking. He was created 1st Earl of Arundel [England] circa 1138. In 1139 he gave shelter to the Empress Maud at Arundel Castle, but ever after adhered to King Stephen. He held the office of Lord of the Manor of Buckenham, Norfolk in 1139.
       Seven of their children were to survive. Among the descendants of this marriage came two girls destined to become tragic queens; Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
       The union lasted about a dozen years. But then: "His wife, the Queen Dowager, retired in 1150 to a nunnery in Afflighem in South Brabant. Adeliza spent her final years in Flanders in the convent. She died on the 23rd of April, 1151, at Affligem Abbey, Afflingham, Flandre, Belgium, and was buried there.
       A romantic story has been invented to account for the lion rampant subsequently borne by William's descendants in the family coat of arms: "Having captivated the heart of the Queen Dowager of France by his gallant conduct in a tournament at Paris, she offered to marry him, an honour which he respectfully declined, having already given his word and faith to a lady in England, another Queen Dowager, no less a personage than Adeliza, widow of King Henry 1 of England. His refusal so angered the French Queen, that she laid a plot with her attendants to destroy him by inducing him to enter a cave in her garden, where a lion had been placed for that purpose; but the undaunted Earl, rolling his mantle round his arm, thrust his hand into the lion's mouth, tore out its tongue, and sent it to the Queen by one of her maids. 'In token of which noble and valiant act,' says Brooke, in his Catalogue of Nobility, 'this William assumed to bear for his arms a lion gold in a field gules, which his successors ever since continued.'"*
       In 1153, William the Stronghand was influential in arranging the treaty where King Stephen retained the crown for life, but with Henry II as heir. In 1163/64, he was one of the embassy to Rome. In 1168, he was one of the embassy to Saxony. He was commander of the Royal army in Normandy, against the King's rebellious sons, where he distinguished himself with "swiftness and velocity" in August 1173. He fought in the battle near Bury St. Edmunds on 29 September 1173, where he assisted in the defeat of the Earl of Leicester who had, with his Flemings, invaded Suffolk.
       The "Stronghand" died on the 12th of October, 1176, in Waverly Abbey, Surry, England, and is buried at Priory, Wymondham, Norfolk, England. His children:

    KIDS OF WILLIAM D'AUBIGNY AND ADELAIDE DE LOUVAIN

  • RALPH (Reyner) AUBIGNY

  • WILLIAM d' AUBIGNY 2nd Earl of Arundel.
  • HENRY AUBIGNY
  • GEOFFREY AUBIGNY
  • ALICE d' AUBIGNY
  • AGATHA AUBIGNY
  • AGNES AUBIGNY of Arundel
  •    Their son, EARL WILLIAM IV D' AUBIGNY "LE BRETON," (1139 - 24/25 Dec 1193), 2nd Earl of Arundel, was born in Arundel, Sussex, England. He married MAUD DE ST. HILARY, daughter of JAMES DE ST. HILARY and AVELINE (de St. Hillary), in 1174. (Maud de St. Hilary was born in 1132-1137 in of Burkenham, Field Dalling, Norfolk and died on 24 Dec 1195 in Norfolk, England.) The lion in the family crest was more probably first borne by him, in token of his descent from Adeliza, widow of Henry l, in whose reign we have the earliest evidence of golden lions being adopted as a personal decoration, if not strictly an heraldic bearing.

    KIDS OF WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY AND MAUD DE ST. HILARY

  • William de Albini, 4th Earl of Arundel (dsp 1224 or 1233) - m. Mabel (dau of Hugh 'Keveliok' de Meschines, 3rd Earl of Chester)

  • Hugh de Albini, 5th Earl of Arundel (dsp 1243) - m. Isabel de Warren (dau of William (Plantagenet) de Warren, Earl of Warren and Surrey)
  • Mabel de Albini (a 1223) - m. Sir Robert de Tateshall
  • Isabel de Albini m. John FitzAlan, lord of Oswestry, Sheriff of Shropshire (b c1164, d 1239)
  • Nicola de Albini - m. Roger de Somerie, lord of Dudley
  • Cecilia de Albini - m. Roger de Montalt
  •    Their son, EARL WILLIAM V D'AUBIGNY, 3rd Earl of Arundel, and Earl of Sussex, was born in 1165 in of Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, and died before the 30th of March, 1221, in Cainell, near Rome, Italy. William d'Aubigny was earl of Sussex (1193-1221). "...the title of earl was most known by Arundel and Chichester, at which places his chief residence used to be, yet it was of the county of Sussex that he was really earl..."** William married MATILDA (MABEL) LE MESCHINES of Chester, daughter of EARL HUGH DE KEVELIOCK, 3rd Earl of Chester, and BERTRADE D'EVREUX, after 1207. (Matilda was born in 1171 and died in 1233.) During the signing of the Magna Charta, William was on way home from 5th Crusade, but his name was appended on the document, and later assembled with the other barons at Runnemede as guarantors or counselors of King John. His children:

    KIDS OF WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY AND MATILDA LE MESCHINES

  • WILLIAM AUBIGNY

  • HUGH d' AUBIGNY
  • ISABEL d' AUBIGNY of Arundel
  • NICOLA d' AUBIGNY
  • MATILDA d' AUBIGNY
  • De Somery
       They had two daughters: Matilda d' Aubigny and our ancestor, NICHOLE D'AUBIGNY. In 1225, Nichole married ROGER DE SOMERY BARON DUDLEY (b: 1208 in Dinas Powis, Wales; Death: 26 Aug 1273 in Staffordshire, England, son of Ralph de Somery and Margaret Marshal.) Nicole died in 1254, at Dudley Castle, Strafford, England, and Roger remarried, to AMABILIA de CHAUCOMBE, in 1254, and had another son: Roger de Somery. Nichole's children:

  • JOAN de SOMERY
  • MABEL de SOMERY
  • MAUD de SOMERY
  • MARGERY de SOMERY
  • MARGARET (Margery) de SOMERY

    Le Strange
    JOAN DE SOMERY was born circa 1233, in Camden, Gloucestershire, England. She married JOHN LE STRANGE, IV, (Birth: 1203 in Knokyn, Salop, England; Death: 26 Feb 1276 in Knockin, Warwick, England). They had a son named JOHN LE STRANGE, V, who became the 1st Baron Strange of Knokyn (ancestor of the Barons Strange, of Knockyn, and the Le Stranges, of Hunstanton, Norfolk). He was born circa 1253 in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England. He married MAUD DE MONTIBUS, daughter of Ebulo de Montibus, Lord of Ketton. He became Baron Strange of Knockyn in 1299. He died in 1310.
       
    JOHN LE STRANGE, the 2nd Baron Strange of Knockyn, was born on the 18th of May, 1282, in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England. He married ISOLDA (or MAUD) DE WALTON, daughter of John de Walton of Walton D'Eiville. John died on the 6th of February, 1311/12, at the age of 29 years, 8 months and 19 days.
       They had a daughter, ELIZABETH LE STRANGE. She married GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT AP MADOG FYCHAN AP MADOG. They had a son, GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT. (In Welsh conventions of patronymics, AB denotes "son of," and FERCH denotes "daughter of.")
       Gruffud married ELEN FERCH THOMAS. She was the daughter of THOMAS AP LLEWELLYN and ELEANOR GOCH, and the great-aunt to Sir Owen Tudor, founder of the Tudor Dynasty in England (he was related to Katherine of France, the widow of Henry the Fifth, King of England).
       They had two children:

    CHILDREN OF GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT AND ELEN FERCH THOMAS

  • Lowri ferch Gruffyd Fychan. She married Robert Puleston. He was born Cir 1358, and died 1399
  • Owen Glendower, The Welsh Rebel hero.
  • Tudor (Twdr) ap Gruffyd Fychan. He married Maud, daughter of Ienaf ap Adda.
  • Puleston
       LOWRI FERCH GRUFFUDD FYCHAN married ROBERT PULESTON, and you'd think things would start to improve with that name. They had a daughter, ANGARAHAD PULESTON. She completely lost her head over one EDWART (IORWERTH) TREVOR AP DAFYDD AB EDNYFED GA. But sanity finally reigned, and they named their daughter ROSE TREVOR. She married SIR OTEWELL WORSLEY. They had a daughter, MARGARET WORSLEY. She married ADRIAN WHETEHILL, and they had a son, SIR RICHARD WHETEHILL. He married ELIZABETH MUSTON and they had a daughter, MARGERY WHETEHILL.

    Isaac
       Margery married EDWARD ISAAC. The Isaac family was first found in Devon, where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.
       Margery and Edward had a daughter, MARY ISAAC (1552 in Well Court,Ickham,Kent,Eng). Mary
    married THOMAS APPLETON (1538 - 1603), in 1572, in Suffolk Co., England, and they had a daughter, JOHANNA APPLETON, who was born at the dawn of the 1600's in England. She married RICHARD GILDERSLEEVE (1601 - 1681) of Suffolk, England. They had a daughter named ELIZABETH GILDERSLEEVE (b. @1620), who married JEREMIAH WOOD (b. 1620) in Yorkshire. Jeremiah was a Puritan, and they were part of the Puritan emigration to the American Colonies.

    KIDS OF RICHARD GILDERSLEEVE AND JOHANNA APPLETON

  • ELIZABETH GILDERSLEEVE, b: ABT 1620. Married JEREMIAH WOOD between 1642 - 1644.
  • RICHARD GILDERSLEEVE, JR., b: 1626, married a woman named DORCAS. He died in 1691.
  • GENEALOGY

    WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY (1015 - 1066) married NN DE PLESSIS (b: 1024), and they begat...

    ROGER D' AUBIGNY (1040-1138), who married AMICE and begat...

    WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY (1070 - 1139), who married married MAUD BIGOD (b. 1080) and begat...

    EARL WILLIAM D' AUBIGNY "THE STRONGHAND" (d. 1176), who married ADELAIDE DE LOUVAIN (1102 - 1151) and begat...

    EARL WILLIAM IV D' AUBIGNY "LE BRETON" (1139 - 1193), who married MAUD DE ST. HILARY (1137 - 1195) and begat...

    EARL WILLIAM V D'AUBIGNY (b. 1165), who married MATILDA (MABEL) LE MESCHINES (1171 - 1233) and begat...

    NICHOLE D'AUBIGNY, who married ROGER DE SOMERY BARON DUDLEY (1208 - 1273) and begat...

    JOAN DE SOMERY (1233 - 1282), who married JOHN LE STRANGE, IV, (1203 - 1276) and begat...

    JOHN LE STRANGE (1253 - 1310), who married MAUD DE MONTIBUS and begat...

    JOHN LE STRANGE (1282 - 1311), who married ISOLDA DE WALTON and begat...

    ELIZABETH LE STRANGE, who married GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT AP MADOG FYCHAN AP MADOG...

    GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT, who married ELEN FERCH THOMAS and begat...

    LOWRI FERCH GRUFFUDD FYCHAN, who married ROBERT PULESTON and begat...

    ANGARAHAD PULESTON, who married EDWART (IORWERTH) TREVOR AP DAFYDD AB EDNYFED GA, and begat...

    ROSE TREVOR, who married SIR OTEWELL WORSLEY and begat...

    MARGARET WORSLEY, who married ADRIAN WHETEHILL and begat...

    SIR RICHARD WHETEHILL, who married ELIZABETH MUSTON and begat...

    MARGERY WHETEHILL, who married EDWARD ISAAC and begat...

    MARY (or AMY) ISAAC, who married THOMAS APPLETON (1538 - 1601) and begat...

    SAMUEL APPLETON (1586 - 1670), who married JUDITH EVERHARD and begat...

    JOHANNA APPLETON (1601 - ?), who married RICHARD GILDERSLEEVE (1601 - 1681) and begat...

    ELIZABETH GILDERSLEEVE (1620 - ?), who married JEREMIAH WOOD (1620 - ) and begat...

    JOSEPH WOOD, who married EUNICE JARVIS in 1680 and begat...

    JOSEPH WOOD, JR. (1680 - ?) who married MARGRIET (MARGARET) WOOD and begat...

    JONATHAN WOOD (1720 - ?) who married JOHANNA CROMPTON (1725 - ?) and begat...

    MARTHA WOOD (1753 - 1822) who married WILLIAM HAUSE (1750 - 1818) and begat...

    JOHN HAUSE (1773 - 1844) who married ESTHER KETCHAM (1779 - 1853) and begat...

    AUGUSTUS HAUSE (1804 - 1875) who married JANE JONES (1802 - 1850) and begat...

    LABAN HAUSE (1831 - 1906) who married MELISSA SANDERSON (1839 - 1921) and begat...

    FRANK HAUSE (1867 - 1951) who married FLADELLA RAYMOND (1869 - 1961) and begat...

    CARLISLE HAUSE (1891 - 1972) who married MARJORIE MARCHANT (1892 - 1939) who begat...

    CARLETON MARCHANT HAUSE, SR. (1917 - 1983) who married JEANNE BRUNNER (1918 - 2000) and begat...

    CARLETON MARCHANT HAUSE, JR. (b. 1939) who married MARTHA WENK (b. 1940) and begat...

    JEFF (who married LORI ANN DOTSON), KATHY (who married HAL LARSEN), ERIC (who married MARY MOONSAMMY), and MICHELE HAUSE (who married JOHN SCOTT HOUSTON).


    LITERATURE ON THE D'AUBIGNI FAMILY

  • *-WILLIAM DE ALBINI, The Conqueror and His Companions, by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
  • **-"The Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom" - George Edward Cokayne (14 vol) I, p234, (a)
  • "Rolls of Arms - Henry III - Aspilogia II" - London & Tremlett / Sir Anthony Wagner