Simon (FitzWilliam) de Kyme (abt. 1085 - abt. 1162)

Born about 1085 in Lincolnshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1162 at about age 77 in Hackthorn, Lincolnshire, England

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Biography

• The family was not yet known as Kyme. This surname seems to have begun in this family in the next generation.

Unlike his apparent father known only as William in 1086 (Domesday Book), he was tenant-in-chief, meaning he had no overlord apart from the king. It is therefore often suggested that William or Simon must have been heir to William's overlord Walden the Engineer. This could have happened if William had for example married Walden's daughter.

The Lindsey Survey (dated to 1115/18) records Simon fitzWilliam holding land in Hackthorn. ^[1]

Farrer wrote about Simon

Simon son of William, for his own soul and Agnes his wife's soul founded the priory of nuns and brethren of the order of Sempringham in his park of Bullington and gave the churches of Bullington and Langton and his mill of Hackthorn with land in Faldingworth lying next Hanworth and Newton, and other land in Faldingworth of the fee of William Becket; these gifts he made by the hand of Robert II, bishop of Lincoln (1147-68); among the witnesses were Adelm dean of Lincoln (c. 1145-c. 1162), Robert the archdeacon, Philip de Kime, Simon and Walter, sons of the founder.[Mon. Anglic, vi. 952.] This foundation may be ascribed to about the date 1155-1160. The founder was farmer of the earl of Chester's land from Easter, 1158, to Michaelmas, 1161, being joined by Robert de Mohaut in 1160, in which year he was also farmer of Doncaster and so until 1161.[Pipe R., pass.] In that year, possibly in regard that he had acted as custos of the honor of Chester, he was pardoned 4 marks of the levy of his knights in Lincolnshire, and £4 in respect of the fees which he held of the bishop of Durham.[Ibid. 7 Hen. II, pp. 17, 37. ] In the following year he accounted for the amercements of his men in Lincolnshire,[Ibid. 8 Hen. II, p. 18.] and presumably died that year.

Keats-Rohan's entry for Simon

Son of William, father of Philip I de Kyme, Simon, William, Agnes, wife of Herbert fitz Adelard, and Sibil, wife of Roger de Benniworth. Cf. HKF iii [sic. should be ii] 118-19. Married twice, to Agnes and Sibil (BL Add. 6118, p.815, charter for Bullingdon). Died c.1162 Founder of the Gilbertine nunnery at Bullington (Gilbertine Chh. 91). B. Golding, 'Simon of Kyme; the making of a rebel', Nottingham Medieval Studies 27 (1983)

Research Notes

According to modern editions of the Lindesey survey, Cawley is incorrect to state on his MEDLANDS^[2] project website that calls him "Simon fitz William fitz Anschitel" holding land in Hackthorn. Presumably this comes from the old and highly criticized edition he uses.^[3] It only says "Simon filius Wilellmi".

Perhaps this old text adjustment is associated with a proposal explained by Farrer (and also followed by Cawley) which effectively splits this Simon into three generations, a Simon fitz William, then a William for which there is no record, then a Simon fitz William. The connection seems to be that, associated with this discussion, Farrer mentions that Simon's family seem to be heirs not only of Simon fitz William in the Lindsey survey, but also a contemporary who some see as his father, named William fitz Anschetil, whose Domesday predecessor was named Anschetil.

However it does not seem necessary to add such an extra generation?

Sources

1. ↑ Round, J. The Lindsey Survry (1115–1118). 1909, p. 182-3.
2. ↑ Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Hosted online by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), accessed 2021. [1]
3. ↑ Waters (1882), p. 19. Horace Round is highly critical of Waters’s edition (Round (1909), The Lindsey Survey (1115-1118), p. 182-3), but there appears no reason to doubt the accuracy of the names of the persons which are recorded.

• Farrer, Honors and Knights' Fees, Vol.2, p.118.

• Keats-Rohan, "Filius Willelmi, Simon" in Domesday Descendants, p. 974.

See Also:

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

• Sketches: Illustrative of the Topography and History of New and Old Sleaford, in the County of Lincoln, and of Several Places in the Surrounding Neighbourhood, p. 274.

• Burke's, A General and Heraldic Dictionary of of the Peerages, p. 299.

• The History and Antiquities of of Boston.