Thomas Basset (1156 - 1220)

Born 1156 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Philippa (Malbank) Basset — married before 1194 in Oxfordshire, England

Descendants

Died 1220 at about age 64 in Whitford, Devon, , England

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Illustrious Men Thomas Basset was one of 16 Illustrious Men, counselors to King John, who were listed in the preamble to Magna Carta. Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Biography

Thomas was a younger son of Thomas Basset and Adeliza de Dunstanville.^[1] His birth date is uncertain.

A member of a family with a tradition of serving the monarch, Thomas became a royal servant, and was rewarded with manors. In about 1188 he was granted the manor of Headington, Oxfordshire by Richard I.^[2]

In 1191 he and his brother Gilbert, and possibly also another brother, Alan, were among the supporters of the future king John who swore to uphold the Treaty of Winchester between John and the chancellor William de Longchamp.^[3] Late that year he was excommunicated by William de Longchamp when William fled England.^[1]

He witnessed many charters of Richard I, and was one of the few royal servants who attended Richard's deathbed at Châlus near Limoges.^[1] He continued to witness charters under King John.^[4] King John confirmed his holding of Headington, Oxfordshire in 1202, making this in perpetuity the following year, at a fee of £20 a year.^[1] In 1204 he was granted the manor of Staffeld, Southampton, Hampshire^[2] and some manors confiscated from holders who had supported the French king against King John.^[1]

Thomas was Constable of Dover, Kent before 1202.^[1] From 1202 to 1214 he was Sheriff and Constable of Oxford, succeeding his father and his brother Gilbert.^[1][5]

In 1205 Thomas paid 500 marks for the wardship of Henry de Beaumont, heir of Waleran, Earl of Warwick: Henry subsequently married Thomas's daughter Philippa.^[1][6]

In 1210 he took part in King John's expedition to Ireland.^[7]

Thomas supported King John during the baronial rebellion of 1215-1217^[1], and was one of the Illustrious Men listed as counsellors of King John in the Magna Carta.^[8] He was given custody of Warwick Castle and of manors of some of the rebels.^[1] In May 1217 he fought on the royalist side at the battle of Lincoln.^[9]

Marriage and Children

He married Philippa Malbank or Maubanc.^[1][10] They had at least three children:

• Joan, who married Reginald de Vautort^[1][10]
• Alice^[1][10] who married William Malet as his second wife^{[11][12][13][14]}
• Philippa^[1] who married Henry de Beaumont, 5th Earl of Warwick^{[10][6][15][16]}

Death

Thomas Basset died not long before 1 May 1220. His three daughters inherited his estates.^[1]

Research Notes

Previously-shown Children

Thomas Basset has previously been shown on WikiTree as having a son also called Thomas Basset. There seems to be no evidence for this, and the estates of the Thomas of this profile were divided on his death between his three daughters.^[1] So the relationship has been severed.

In 2013, Alicia Bickerstaff was attached as a daughter of Thomas and his wife Philippa. No source or evidence was given for this relationship. The Peerage of Ireland names her father as Simon Bickerstaff.^[17] She has since been detached.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Basset, Thomas (d. 1220)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe. Politics, Lordship, Locality and Culture in the Thirteenth Century, 2013 thesis made available on King's College, London Research Portal, p. 15, accessed 13 September 2019
3. ↑ William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe, p. 12
4. ↑ William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe, p. 14
5. ↑ Wikipedia: High Sheriff of Oxfordshire
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} G E Cokayne. The Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XII Part II, St Catherine Press 1959, pp. 364-365, WARWICK V
7. ↑ William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe, p. 16
8. ↑ William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe, p. 17
9. ↑ William John Stewart-Parker. The Bassets of High Wycombe, p. 18
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580, Harleian Society, 1882, p. 158, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011, Vol. III, pp. 96-97, MALET-1. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
12. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013, Vol. IV, pp. 2-3. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.
13. ↑ Frederick Lewis Weis (with additions and corrections by Walter Lee Sheppard Jr with William R Beall). The Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 5th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1999, p. 75, line 57-1
14. ↑ Frederick Lewis Weis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists who came to America before 1700, 8th edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004, p. 211, line 234A-28
15. ↑ Rosie Bevan. The Earls of Warwick - Complete Peerage Correction, article in 'Foundations' (the journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy), Vol. 1, pp. 194-197
16. ↑ 'Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage: Volume 12, part 2: Warwick', weblink on website 'Some Notes on Medieval Genealogy'
17. ↑ John Lodge. The Peerage of Ireland, vol. 3, James Moore, Dublin, 1789, p. 241, Internet Archive

• Keats-Rohan, Domesday Descendants, p.167
• Sanders, English Baronies, p.51.
• Harleian Society. The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580, The Publicatons of The Harleian Society (London: The Society, 1882), p. 158, Internet Archive: "Tho. Bassett Baro' de Haddington."
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Basset, Thomas (d. 1220)', print and online 2004, available online via some libraries
• Stewart-Parker, William John. The Bassets of High Wycombe. Politics, Lordship, Locality and Culture in the Thirteenth Century, 2013 thesis made available on King's College, London Research Portal, accessed 13 September 2019

Acknowledgments

This person derives partly from the import of the following GEDCOMs:

• Acrossthepond.ged on 21 February 2011
• Lent_Vise_2011-05-11aa.ged on May 26, 2011 by Bryan Sypniewski
• greenwald-millerGEDCOM.ged on 27 September 2010
• Archibald Family Tree.ged on 01 March 2011
• FISCUS Family Tree.ged on Jun 6, 2011 by Liisa Small