Cecilia (Clavering) Clavering Countess of Dunbar (aft. 1222)

Born after 1222 in Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Scotland

Biography

Essentially nothing is known about her except her name, parents, husband, and children.

Sources

• Douglas Richardson "Royal Ancestry", 2013, Vol. 2, p 220-221

It appears that this parentage we known at least as early as 2004 from this post in the Newsgroup soc.genealogy.medieval by John Ravilious, and later confirmed by Douglas Richardson. It appears that it was first discovered by the late Andrew B. W. MacEwen.

"Friday, 29 October, 2004

Hello All,

The account in Complete Peerage concerning Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of Dunbar (or March) who d. 24 Aug 1289, states regarding his wife,

' He m., 1242, Cecil,(a) da. of John [? Fraser]. ' [1]

Following on the work that MichaelAnne Guido has done in identifying Isabel, wife of Roger fitz John of Warkworth, as Isabel de Dunbar [2], I undertook to examine the evidence concerning Cecil [or Cecilia] in CP and Scots Peerage [3] for clues as to her parentage. While no documentary evidence was initially found, reviewing the onomastic evidence for Cecilia and her family indicated a probable relatonship: that Cecilia was a daughter of John fitz Robert of Warkworth, Northumberland by Ada de Baliol, and sister of Roger fitz John - the husband of Isabel, sister of Cecilia's husband Patrick, Earl of Dunbar:

[NOTE: conjectured connections are designated _ _ _ _ _ ] Note: In the original posting following this was a chart intended to be viewed in a pure ASCII medium which will not survive HTML. Click image to see more clearly.

Cecily tree chart

Chronologically there is no objection to the above relationships indicated.

The relationship of Cecilia, daughter of John and wife of Patrick, earl of Dunbar is not shown as conjectured (despite the lack of underlying documentation presented herein) for a sound reason. Based on a reference by Douglas Richardson to a previous article in The Genealogist concerning the Clavering (Warkworth) and Dunbar families, I contacted Andrew B. W. MacEwen, the noted Scots genealogist. In addition to a number of other matters, Mr. MacEwen confirmed that his article had identified exactly this relationship. Specific documentation he mentioned that was cited in the article included records of debts owed by Patrick, earl of Dunbar (d. 1289) and his father to Ada de Baliol, the mother of Cecilia and of Roger (husband of Earl Patrick's sister Isabel): the text of some of these have been provided by MichaelAnne Guido from Bain's Calendar of Documents Pertaining to Scotland [4].

I would like to thank MichaelAnne Guido for all her research and analysis, and both MichaelAnne and Douglas Richardson for their suggestions and support. I would also like to thank Andrew MacEwen publicly, as I have already privately, for his collegiality and insight. Any observations, commentary or criticism re: the material in this post should of course be directed to myself.

~ Following certain additional posts to SGM on the Dunbar family, I will provide an expanded ahnentafel for the family. Following that, a detailed AT (including all documentation to date) will be provided to SGM list members upon request.

NOTES

[1] CP IV:506. Note (a) for this page reads:

' (a) See chartulary of Coldstream, nos. 1 and 9, and chartulary of Kelso, nos. 77 and 81. She is conjectured to have been an heiress of the family of Fraser, in consequence of which alliance this Earl (4 Nov. 1261) bore (being the first of his race who did so) the roses of the house of Fraser in a bordure round the lion rampant of Dunbar. Christian Bruce (sister of Robert Bruce, the competitor, 1291-92, for the throne of Scotland) is the wife assigned to him in Wood's Douglas, but erroneously. (ex inform. A. H. Dunbar). '

[2] MichaelAnne Guido, <Magna Carta line of Eufemia (was Eufemia wife of William Comyn of Kilbride)>, SGM, 22 October 2004.

[3] SP III:259, sub _Dunbar, Earl of Dunbar_ , where she is described as ' The Earl's only recorded wife and the mother of his sons '[SP cites Liber de Calchou, i.57, 60 ].

[4] Extracts provided by MichaelAnne Guido:

Calendar of Documents Pertaining to Scotland Preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London, edited by Joseph Bain, Vol. I 1108-1272, H.M. General Register House 1881, Edinburgh:

1. 1969. Michaelmas Term 1254.

Northumberland:----The king commands the sheriff to distrain Patric earl of Dunbar (Dumbinar), Alan de Harekare, Alexander de Litelinton; Patric son of Patric, and Isabella his sister, executors of the testament of the aforesaid Patric, and to have their bodies & c. on the morrow of St. Hilary to answer to the king together with the executors of Ada de Baylloll, for their debts to said Ada, in part payment &c. Similar command to the Sheriff of York for Hugh de Euere, Ingeram de Bouinton and William de Waldo. And to the Sheriff of Canterbury for Alan the Reeve and William the Reeve. [Memoranda Q.R. 39 Henry III, m. 8 dorso].

1. 1971. Michaelmas Term 1254.

The Sheriff of Northumberland is commanded to realize (fi'fac') from the goods and chattels of Patric earl of Dunbar, 60 marks he owed to Ada de Baylol of a prest, and 70 marks the earl'd father owed to Ada; one moiety of which he ought to have paid to her executors in the octave of St. John [the] Baptist, and another at the octave of St. Martin, as he recognized before the Barons &c.; and to have the money before them in the quinzaine of St. Hilary, to deliver to the king in part payment of Ada's debt to the king. [ Memoranda Q.R. 39 Henry III, m. 5 dorso].

* John P. Ravilious"