Nicholas Avenel (abt. 1175)

Biography

Family

Nicholas is apparently related to the prominent Avenel family. The exact relationship remains to be traced.

His existence is known due to his marriage to an unnamed daughter of Robert FitzWilliam and his subsequent property disputes with his brother in law Henry de Furneaux.

Nicholas' parents were William and Hawisia. ^[1]

• Southampton. Inq. Thursday after St. Andrew, 38 Hen III (1254).
• Esslegh, capital messauge, 12a. land, 9a. meadow, 44s 7 ½ d rent of freemen, a mill, 35s 3d from villeinage, etc, whih are the king’s escheat as Normans’ lands, because William de Vernun, earl of the Isle, held the same of the king in chief and gave it to one Hawisia in free marriage with William Avenel; she gave it to her son Nicholas Avenel, a Norman, after whose death William his son held it, during suit twice a year at the earl’s hundred court of Chrisfeschirch, and died without heir of his body; but he had an uncle, brother of the said Nicholas, in Normandy, having an inheritance named Rocheland, who left sons who are still living.
• Somerset. Inq. (undated and defective). Estinton and Pukinton held of William de Fortibus by services of 23 knights fees. ^[2]

Sisters-in-Law

Robert FitzWilliam left three daughters and coheirs.

1. Daughter #1, born, say, 1175, married Nicholas Avenel. Robert's Warminster property passed to this daughter's husband, Nicholas Avenel, ^[3]who held it in 1242–3. ^[4] His relationship to the Nicholas Avenel, who married Mabel Malet and was dead by November 1223, is not clear. ^[5] The second Nicholas Avenel died c. 1246, ^[6]and was succeeded by his son William who died without issue in 1253.
2. Daughter #2 (Joan) , born, say, 1180, married Henry de Furneaux. ^[7]They were the ancestors of Matthew de Furneaux, ^[8]. who was the heir of William Avenel, above, who died without issue in 1253. This Matthew was dead by 1284–5, (fn. 153) and was succeeded by another Matthew.
3. Daughter #3 not mentioned.

Warminster Property

Robert's Warminster property passed to this daughter's husband, Nicholas Avenel, ^[3] who held it in 1242–3. ^[4] His relationship to the Nicholas Avenel, who married Mabel Malet and was dead by November 1223, is not clear. ^[5] The second Nicholas Avenel died c. 1246, ^[6] and was succeeded by his son William who died without issue in 1253.

Kilve, Somerset

Kilve is a village in the west of Somerset County. It had been held by Beorhtric and in 1086 by Roger de Courcelles. The church is St. Mary's. His estates passed mostly to the Malet family who became overlords, but a tenancy was established in the early 12th century, held by Robert de Pirou.^[9]

The tenancy of Kilve was held later by Robert de Pirou's grandson, Robert, son of William. ^[9]

At Robert's death, perhaps about 1200, Robert's heirs were his three daughters. The usual disputes followed, and Kilve was held by the Furneaux family, then the Avenels, then the Furneaux again who remained in possession until the failure of the male line in 1359. Thus Matthew de Furneaux was granted a market and a fair in 1296, and Simon de Furneaux established a chantry of five chaplains there in 1329.^[9]

In 1086 the manor of KILVE comprised a main estate held by Roger de Courcelles in succession to Brictric, to which had been added two other manors, Hill and Pardlestone, held T.R.E. by Edwald and Parlo respectively. (fn. 40) Most of Roger's estates passed to the Malet family, and on the death of William Malet c. 1216 were divided between his two daughters, Helewise, wife of Hugh Pointz (d. 1220), and Mabel, wife successively of Nicholas Avenel and Hugh de Vivonia (d. 1249). (fn. 41) In 1221 Kilve was adjudged to Avenel as husband of the elder daughter, and on his death in or before 1223 it passed to William de Forz (d. 1259), son of Hugh de Vivonia, and then to William's fourth daughter Cecily (d. 1320), wife of John de Beauchamp. (fn. 42) In 1284–5 she was said to hold the manor of the abbot of Glastonbury, of whom her main residence at Compton Dundon was held. (fn. 43) The overlordship continued in the Beauchamps and their successors, as trustees or lords of Dundon manor, until 1605. (fn. 44)^[10]

Robert son of William, who held Kilve at his death c. 1185–6, may have been the grandson of Robert de Pirou, a tenant under the Malets in Henry I's reign. (fn. 45) Robert son of William left three daughters and coheirs, of whom Joan married Henry Furneaux and inherited Kilve. (fn. 46) Henry died c. 1221 and was succeeded by his son, also Henry, probably a minor, whose possession was challenged by a second Nicholas Avenel, husband of another daughter of Robert son of William. (fn. 47) The dispute was continued by Matthew de Furneaux, probably the elder Henry's grandson, c. 1243, (fn. 48) and was settled when Matthew de Furneaux succeeded William Avenel, apparently heir of Nicholas, in 1253. (fn. 49) Matthew was dead by 1285, (fn. 50) and was succeeded by another Matthew, who settled the manor on his wife Maud in 1314 (fn. 51) and died in 1316; Maud was still in possession in 1327, and probably in 1331. (fn. 52) Simon de Furneaux, the last Matthew's son or grandson, died in 1359, leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth, wife of John Blount. (fn. 53) ^[10]

Halsway

At Halsway, or Haway, there was a large wood in the beginning of the thirteenth century, and Nicholas Avenel was attached to answer to Matthew de Furneaux, the lord of the manor of Kilve, why he had wasted the “wood at Halewaye,” and also at Kilve, in which he had thrown down two hundred oaks. Halsway, together with Kilve, as part of the old Courcelle Domesday barony. ^[11]

1255 Badesthorn

In an Inquisition the Tuesday before St. Barnabas, 39 hen III (1255), it was reported that “the jury know not whether the land of Badesthorn’ is the king’s escheat, for William de Vernon, earl of Devon, gave it to Nicholas Avenel, from whom it descended to William his son, now dead, of whom they know of no heir. Joan, late his wife, holds a third part in dower, and the king’s escheator holds the land by reason of the wardship of the heir of Baldwin, earl of Devon. ^[12]

Issue

Nicholas Avenel apparently had a son William who died without issue in 1253. ^[6]

William, the son, married Joan, who survived him. ^[12]

At the death of William in1253, Matthew de Forneaux was named the heir. William Avenel, alias de Avenel, died about the feast of St. Luke. Matthew de Forneaux, age variously stated as 28 and 29, is his heir. (Writ, 18 October, 37 Hen III (1253) ^[1]

Other land at issue included:

• Balthestorn, Devon was land given by Earl William de Vernon to Nicholas Avenel and his heirs, from whom descended the said William, who died without heir of his body, whereof he held 16a of demesne, and 4a meandow of Adam de Tonehill, and the residue was held of the earl of Devon. Also 8 burgages in the Honeton borough.

Chillat, Devon, lands extent given with names of tenants, held of th eking in chief by ½ knight’s fee. Inq. The vigil of St. andrew, 38 Hen III (1254) ^[2]

• Schepwayse (extent given with names of tenants) held of the king in chief by two parts of 1 knight’s fee
• Morleg’, 4 knights fees, which W. de Morleg holds, held of the earl of Devon

Me naschaf’, ½ fee, which Roger son of Simon holds, held of Sir john de Cortenay

• Suideleg’ ½ fee is held b y Richard of the gift of the said William, of the fee of H. de Traci. ^[2]
• Wilts. Worem’ demesne (extent given) HELD OF Sir Nicholas son of Martin by rent of a sore goshawk or 10s. ^[2]

Bereford, held ‘as appears in the extent there made. ^[2]

• Mandate, 27 Feb 38 Hen III (1254) to the queen and the earl of Cornwall, to deliver seisin of the land of Aschleg’ lagte of William Avenel to Robert Wateraund for good services in Gascony. ^[13]
• Mandate, etc, with transcript of writ, 24 May. Inq. Sunday ater St. john the Baptist, 38 Hen III (1254). Baldwin is the right heir of the land of battgesthorne. ^[13]
• Devon. Batsthorne in Huneton alias honniton manor, court and curtilage, 69a. land, 8a, meadow, 1a, wood, waste on the hills, 58s 4 1/2d. rent 4s 6d, aid, etc, tenure unspecified. ^[13]

Research Notes

The following two persons are likely related but different:

• Nicholas Avenel, born 1180
• Nicholas Avenel, born 1175, married unnamed daughter of Robert FitzWilliam. Associated with Kilve Manor in Somerset.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Morten and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office. 278 William Avenel Volume I, Henry III, page 71. London. His Majesty’s Stationery office. 1904. Accessed March 15, 2018 jhd
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4}
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Misc. Gen. et Her. 3rd ser. iii. 272–3; all 3 coheirs and their husbands held Robert's Devonshire property in 1212 (Bk. of Fees, 96) Cited by Warminster Manors.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Bk. of Fees, 717, 737. Cited by Warminster Manors
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Sanders, English Baronies, 39. Cited by Warminster Manors.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Ex. e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii. 2. Cited by Warminster Manors.
7. ↑ The pedigree of this family in Cussans, Hist. Herts. Edwinstree Hundred, 138, is apparently incorrect. If Hen. de Furneaux died in 1214 his son Matthew must have been of age by 1235, when he was engaged in a lawsuit: Sir H. C. Maxwell Lyte, Some Somerset Manors (Som. Rec. Soc. extra series), 316. Yet a second Matthew, who was under age in 1243, was said to be the son of Hen. de Furneaux: ibid. It seems more likely that Nicholas had the wardship of two successive Matthews, and the document quoted by Maxwell Lyte refers to the first. The succession would then be 1. Henry d. 1214, 2. Matthew d. 1235–43, 3. Matthew, aged 28–29 in 1253, and so under age in 1243. Cited by 'Warminster: Manors', in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 8, Warminster, Westbury and Whorwellsdown Hundreds (London, 1965), pp. 96-103. British History Online accessed 9 March 2018 jhd
8. ↑ Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 71; Close R. 1253–4, 8. Cited by Warminster Manors M
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland St Mary Kilve Accessed March 15, 2018. jhd
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} A P Baggs, R J E Bush and M C Siraut, 'Parishes: Kilve', in A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 5, ed. R W Dunning (London, 1985), pp. 96-103. British History Online Kilve Accessed 15 March 2018] jhd
11. ↑ Rev. William Henry Parr Greswell. Forests and Deer Parks of the County of Somerset. Halsway Taunton: Barnicott & Pearce, Athenium Press, 1905, page 246. Accessed March 15, 2018 jhd
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Morten and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office. 325 William Avenel Volume I, Henry III, page 86. London. His Majesty’s Stationery office. 1904. Accessed March 15, 2018 jhd
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Morten and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office. 325 William Avenel Volume I, Henry III, page 80. London. His Majesty’s Stationery office. 1904. Accessed March 15, 2018 jhd