Le Strange Genealogy
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The "Le Strange" surname was first found in Norfolk where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor of Knockyn. The Coat of Arms: A silver shield with two red lions passant guardant.
Our genealogy starts with a family legend: Most of the printed genealogies say that the Le Strange family sprang from a mythical Duke of Brittany, whose younger son, Guy, settled in England. It traces back to HOEL LE STRANGE, born before 1022. Hoel married a woman named from the HAWSIE clan. She was born about 1026. They had a son, named GUY LE STRANGE, born in 1048, who lived in Norfolk, England and died in 1105 in London, England.
The le Strange legend that has been repeated through successive generations can be found in part of an epic tale, the Romance of Fouke le fitz Warine. This French prose which was written by an unknown author in traditional trouverian style of the 13th century, was translated and reproduced in early medieval times for its popularity gained by the declared outlaw Fulk who is otherwise known as Fulk the son of Warine Ii. It is a story set in the 11th century A.D. wherein it begins with a certain lady, Mellette, who features as the outlaw's grandmother in her youth, she was united with her husband Guy of Metz, whom otherwise was known in France from whence he came, as Guarine or Warine de Metz.
The chapter conveys how the le Strange family was founded, prior to the Warines, when Mellette, a beautiful damsel, has a jousting tournament arranged for by her wealthy uncle, William Peverel. This was held in the time of William the Conqueror, in 1083 at his Castle Peveril in the Peak of Derbyshire, England (shown above), and this is where she was expected to find a suitable husband, to which she replied:
"Sire" no knight is there in all the world that I would take for the sake of riches and the honour of this land but if ever I take such a one he shall be handsome and courteous and accomplished and the most valiant of his order in all Christendom. Of riches I make no account, for truly can I say that he is rich who has that which his heart desires" from: Mellette, 'The Romance of Fouk le fitz Warine'.
Noble-men eager to win her as their bride together with dowry including the attractive white tower of white town, known as Whittington Castle Shropshire, came from every corner; Scotland, Wales and France. The two most salubrious guests, Owen Prince of Wales, and Eneas, Prince of Scotland, brought 200 knights along, - the Duke of Burgundy outnumbered them with a hundred more. Ydromor, Prince of Galloway came with a modest 150 men, but Guy (Guarine de Metz France ), son of John, Duke of Brittany, (Johan duc de la Petite-Bretagene), came with only a hundred, plus his 9 brothers.
Ultimately, Guy, with his life spared, victoriously claimed his wife, Mellette, whom already expressed her interest in him by sending over her glove. It continues... "..... Guy remained in England: And conquered, by the force of his sword, many beautiful lands, and so was named Guy le Strange ...." .
Unfortunately, that's all made up by storytellers from the Middle Ages. The details of this story stamp it as a romance—for instance, there were no ‘dukes’ but ‘counts’ of Brittany in the twelfth century, and none of them was called John, nor had ten sons. The legend, however, thus started into existence in the thirteenth century, and the wide acceptance of this legendary history of the family is due Leland’s ‘Collectanea’, published in 1612, derived from an English version of the French romance of Fulk fitz Warin. The story quoted by Leland is to the effect that John, Duke of Brittany, had ten sons, whom he sent to a tournament, proclaimed at the Castle of the Peak by William Peverel of Whittington, whose niece and heiress, Melette, together with the lands of Whittington, was to be the prize of the victor; that the lady was won and duly espoused by Guarin de Metz, and after the espousals that the nine elder sons of the Duke of Brittany returned home, while the youngest remained in England and acquired many fair lands by his sword, and was called ‘Gwy le Estraunge e de ly vindrent tous les grantz seignurs de Engleterre qe ont le sournom de Estraunge.’
Now here's the truth: The first recorded Le Strange was ROLAND LE STRANGE - who was born about 1096, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England and died before 1158. Roland married MATILDA LE BRUN about 1141 while living in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England. Matilda was born about 1100, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England. She was the daughter of Ralph Fitzherlewin Hunstanton Brun and Helewisa de Plaiz.
Roland le Strange, who witnessed the St. Florent Charter circa 1122, left four sons, viz. (1) John, who succeeded him; (2) Hamon; (3) Guy, and (4) Ralph. As far as is known Roland possessed no property elsewhere than in Norfolk; yet, early in the reign of Henry II, all of his sons were enfeoffed in lands in Shropshire in the middle of the twelfth century. It does not, of course, follow that, because no daughters are recorded, none existed. In feudal times women, unless they were heiresses, were of small account. 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, and may have sometimes then got a chance of pleasing themselves—e.g. Alice de Lacy, of whom further on.[55] But when they were not heiresses little is recorded of them, even if their existence is mentioned; filial piety sometimes has preserved the Christian name of a mother in cases where, not being an heiress, no mention of her father’s name has come down to us.
JOHN LE STRANGE was born about 1142, lived in Ness and Cheswardine, Shropshire, England and died about Dec 1178 in Hunstanton, Norfolk, England . John married Hawise about 1167. Hawise was born about 1146, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England. John le Strange (I) lived through the whole of the troublous reign of Stephen (1135–54), and during the first twenty-four years of the reign of Henry II. In Hunstanton he inherited two distinct manors, one from his father Roland, and another through his mother Matilda. He must have succeeded his father towards the close of the reign of Henry I, as his name appears as a witness to a grant by William fitz Alan and his wife Christiana of land in Sheriff Hales to Haughmond Church. Eyton[6] shows cause for believing that this deed belongs to the period before 1138, since in that year fitz Alan was exiled from Shropshire and deprived of his estates. At that period John le Strange held no fiefs in Shropshire; the large possessions which the family subsequently possessed in that county all date from the reign of Henry II, or shortly before it, a reward doubtless for their services to the Empress Matilda and her son during the usurpation of Stephen. The Breton (or Angevin) connection of the family is emphasised by their loyalty to the house of Anjou; hence the Cheswardine grant by Henry before 1154, and the subsequent solid establishment of the family in Shropshire.
1148: John le Strange [2.1]
1150: Hamo le Strange [2.2]
1152: Ralph
le Strange [2.3]
1154: William le Strange [2.4]
1154: ? le Strange [2.5]
----- Fifth Generation -----
5. JOHN LE STRANGE II was born about
1168, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England and died about 1237 in Knocklin,
Warwickshire, England . John married AMICIA about 1193 while living in Cheswardine,
Shropshire, England. Amicia was born about 1172, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire,
England. He succeeded his father in his possessions in Norfolk and Shropshire
in 1178–79. For a period of fifty-six years he served under four successive
sovereigns, through the last eleven years of Henry II, the whole of the reigns
of Richard I and John, and through eighteen years of that of Henry III. The principle
which guided him in public life appears to have been that of steadfast loyalty
and unshaken fidelity to the occupant of the throne, totally irrespective of the
merits of the individual: he was the ideal of a feudal tenant, the King’s
‘man’ and never swerved during that troubled half-century from the homage
which he had sworn and the fealty which he owed to his lord, whoever he might
be.
1193: John le Strange [3.1]
Hamon le Strange [3.2]
Margery le Strange
[3.3]
----- Sixth Generation -----
6. John Le Strange III was born
about 1194, lived in Ness and Cheswardine, Shropshire, England and died about
1269 in Knocklin, Warwickshire, England . John married Lucy de Tregoz. Lucy was
born about 1210 in Ewyas-Harold, Hereford, England. She was the daughter of Robert
de Tregoz and Julian de Cantilupe. She died in 1294 in Knocklin, Warwickshire,
England .
Children: (Quick Family Chart)
i. John Le Strange was born about
1226, lived in Cheswardine, Shropshire, England and died in 1276 in Knockin, Warwick,
England . See #7. below.
1231:
John le Strange [4.1]
1233: Hamo le Strange [4.2]
1236: Roger le Strange
[4.3]
1237: Robert le Strange was born about 1232 in Hunstanton, Norfolk,
England and died Aug 1276 in Prob. Litcham, Norfolk, England .
1240: Hawise
le Strange [4.5]
1242: Alice le Strange [4.6]
----- Seventh
Generation -----
7. John Le Strange IV was born about 1226, lived in Cheswardine,
Shropshire, England and died in 1276 in Knockin, Warwick, England . He was the
son of John Le Strange and Lucy de Tregoz.
John married Joan de Somery. Joan
was born about 1232, lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England. She was the daughter
of Baron Roger Dudley de Somery and Nicole d'Albiny. She died in 1282 in Knockin,
Warwick, England .
Children: (Quick Family Chart)
1254: Margaret le Strange [5.2]
John Le Strange was born about 1253,
lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England and died on 8 Aug 1309 in Walton, Warwick,
England . See #9. below.
----- Eighth Generation -----
9. John
Le Strange V was born about 1253, lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England and
died on 8 Aug 1309 in Walton, Warwick, England . He was the son of John Le Strange
and Joan de Somery.
John married Maud d'Eiville. Maud was born in 1251, lived
in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England. She was the daughter of Roger d'Eiville. She
died after 1309 .
Children: (Quick Family Chart)
i. John Le Strange was
born in 1282, lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England and died Feb 1311/1312 .
See #11. below.
ii. Eubolo Le Strange was born about 1286, lived in Ellesmere,
Shropshire, England and died in 1335 .
iii. Hamon Le Strange was born about
1293, lived in Hunstanton, Norf., England.
----- Ninth Generation
-----
11. John Le Strange - was born in 1282, lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire,
England and died Feb 1311/1312 . He was the son of John Le Strange and Maud d'Eiville.
John married ISOLDA DE WALTON about 1299. Isolda was born about 1277, lived
in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England. She died after 1311 .
Children: (Quick
Family Chart)
i. John Le Strange was born about 1302, lived in Ellesmere,
Shropshire, England and died May 1323 .
ii. Roger Le Strange Sr was born on
15 Aug 1300, lived in Ellesmere, Shropshire, England and died on 29 Jul 1349 .
See #13. below.
They
had a daughter, ELIZABETH LE STRANGE. She married GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT AP MADOG
FYCHAN AP MADOG, who married ELEN FERCH THOMAS. She
was 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).
She married GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT.
They had two children: our ancestor, LOWRI FERCH GRUFFUDD FYCHAN, and OWEN (OWAIN
GLYNDWR) GLENDOWER, the Welsh Rebel hero.
ELEN
FERCH THOMAS. She was 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). She married GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT. They
had two children: LOWRI FERCH GRUFFUDD FYCHAN and OWEN (OWAIN GLYNDWR) GLENDOWER,
the Welsh Rebel hero.
GENEALOGY
JOHN LE STRANGE (1203 - 1276), who married JOAN DE SOMERY (1233 - 1282) and begat...
JOHN LE STRANGE (1253 - 1310), who married MAUD DE MONTIBUS and begat...
JOHN LE STRANGE (1282 - 1311), who married ISOLDA DE WALTON (1263 - 1325) and begat...
ELIZABETH LE STRANGE (1298 - 1320), who married GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT AP MADOG FYCHAN AP MADOG...
GRUFFUDD FYCHAN AP GRUFFUDD O'R RHUDDALLT, who married ELEN FERCH THOMAS (b. 1337) 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 (1555 - 1601) and begat...
JOHANNA APPLETON 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 LE STRANGE FAMILY