William (FitzRoy) de Tracy
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William (FitzRoy) de Tracy (aft. 1090 - abt. 1136)

William de Tracy formerly FitzRoy aka de Bradninch
Born after in Manche, Normandy, Francemap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and [mother unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
Died about before about age 46 in Bradninch, Devon, Englandmap
Problems/Questions
Profile last modified | Created 27 May 2011
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Biography

WILLIAM de Tracy or Tracey, is an illegitimate son of Henry I of England. His mother is unknown.

He died soon after his father, allegedly leaving (by an unknown wife) a daughter and heir named Grace.[1] However, the existence of this daughter, which was popularly reported from the late 19th century, and appeared in Complete Peerage and Keats-Rohan's Domesday Descendants, is now commonly seen as a myth.

In recent times, historian Nicholas Vincent, has been critical of this account, and historians and genealogists such as Douglas Richardson have followed in this.

Vincent writes:[2]

Let us begin with the bastard son of Henry I named William de Tracy, referred to by Robert de Torigni in his continuation of the chronicle of William of Jumièges.
Torigni tells us nothing of this man save for his name and the fact that he was swift to follow his father to the grave. In other words, there is no evidence that Henry I's bastard, who died shortly after 1135, had any connection with the Devon barony of Bradninch.
Likewise, I can find no reliable evidence to suggest that the royal bastard fathered a daughter named Gracia.
Gracia was unknown to Sir William Dugdale, and occurs in none of the early heraldic visitations or county histories.
She seems to have been invented, perhaps in comparatively recent times, to explain certain irregularities in the Sudeley descent, and to justify the claims of the Hanbury-Tracy family of Toddington in Gloucestershire to be descended both from the blood royal of Henry I and from William de Tracy, the murderer of Thomas Becket.

Historian Kathleen Thompson thinks William was born when Henry I was not yet a king, and was relatively old compared to some of the other illegitimate children:[3]

The Tracy toponymic has links with the Cotentin and the Bessin, so William might have been the product of a liaison conducted during the years when Henry held this area from his brother, Robert Curthose. If so, this would place William in his 40s at the time of his death, shortly after Henry I’s own death in 1135.

Sources

  1. Cockayne et al., Complete Peerage, 2nd ed. Volume XI, Appendix D (which is entitled "HENRY I'S ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN"), pp. 105-12
  2. Vincent, Nicholas, "The Murderers of Thomas Becket", in: Fryde and Reitz eds, Bischofsmord im Mittelalter, pp.231ff. Google books.
  3. Kathleen Thompson, "Affairs of State: the illegitimate children of Henry I", Journal of Medieval History Volume 29, Issue 2, June 2003, Pages 129-151

See also:

  • Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. I page 16-17

Other websites

  • Phillips, Weber, Kirk and Staggs Families of the Pacific Northwest, by Jim Weber, rootsweb.com [1] Wrongly equates William to the one who became a monk in 1110
  • Charles Cawley, Medlands Project. Tracy of Toddington
  • Charles Cawley, Medlands Project. William Tracy, son of Henry I




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Comments: 2

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This William Tracy is not the knight accused of murdering Thomas Becket (listed as Source 2). That William Tracy was the son of John de Sudeley and his wife Grace de Tracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_de_Tracy
posted by J Decker
Richardson actually states that CP is in error to say that Grace is William's daughter. Keats-Rohan and Sanders agree with CP.
posted on Tracy-330 (merged) by Andrew Lancaster

Unmerged matches › William Tracy (abt.1040-aft.1110)

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