Maud Fitz Hugh (Avranches) d'Avranches (abt. 1068)

Born about 1068 in Chester, Cheshire, England [uncertain]

Died [date unknown] in England

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Research has shown that this person never existed. See the text for details. Join: Disproven Existence Project Discuss: Disproven_Existence

Biography

No evidence in any reliable source has been found for the existence of a woman named Maud d'Avranches.

An example of Maud's existence in popular genealogy is a profile on Ancestry.com for "Matilda Lupus," daughter of "Hugh Lupus", in which "Lupus" (Wolf), a nickname for Maud's supposed father Hugh d'Avranches has been made into a surname for both. ^[1]

Research Notes

Was Maud/Matilda the daughter of Hugh d'Avranches?

Some genealogies show Maud as the daughter of Hugh d'Avranches, either legitimately through his wife Ermentrude or illegitimately through one of his many mistresses. In addition, some give her a birth year of 1068 in Chester.

There is no mention of Hugh, the first Earl of Chester having a daughter named Matilda in Helsby's edition of Ormerod's History of the County Palatine and City of Chester,^[2]

There is also no mention in Charles Cawley's Medieval Lands database.^[3]

By making Hugh Lupus d'Avranches her father, popular genealogies show his other children as her siblings:

• Tanglust FitzHugh;
• Helga d'Avranches who married Lathom;
• Robert FitzHugh;
• William Smyth de Caryngton;
• Geva d'Avranches who married de Ridel; and
• Richard d'Avranches, his parent's legitimate heir, and later Earl of Chester;

Logic works against her existence

When Richard d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, died in 1119, his cousin inherited the earldom. If Maud was his legitimate sister wouldn't she, or if she was dead, one of her sons, have inherited the earldom? Therefore, if Maud existed, she wasn't the daughter of Earl Hugh's only documented wife, Ermentrude de Clermont.^[3]

Did Maud d'Avranches marry Harold FitzRalph, Earl of Hereford?

Many popular genealogies show Maud married to Harold FitzRalph, some giving a date of 1084. No evidence has been found for this, and she has been disconnected from him as her husband.

The wife of Harold de Ewias of Ewias Harold, Herefordshire, son of Raoul de Mantes Earl of Hereford and his wife Gytha, is unknown.

Harold had five sons: Robert de Ewias; Roger; John de Sudeley; Alexander de Ewias; and William de Ewias, and they have been disconnected as her children.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Self-published Family Tree Accessed 31 May 2023 jhd
2. ↑ George Ormerod, Esq, LLD, FRS & FSA, "Containing the Introduction and Prolegomena, the county of the city of Chester and Bucklow Hundred", The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester; Compiled from Original Evidences in Public Offices, the Harleian and Cottonian MSS, Parochial Registers, Private Muniments, Unpublished Ms Collections of Successive Cheshire Antiquaries, and a Personal Survey of Every Township in the County; incorporated with a republication of King's Vale royal, and Leycester's Cheshire antiquities, 2nd Edition, Ed. Thomas Helsby, Esq, Vol. I, (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1882), accessed 16 March 2015, pp.9-49.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Cawley, Charles, "HUGUES d'Avranches, EARLS of CHESTER 1071-1120 (AVRANCHES), Medieval Lands, 2006-15, http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#HuguesAvranchesdied1101 16 March 2015
4. ↑ Cawley, Charles, "Harold de Ewias (Ewias), Medieval Lands, 2006-15, http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISHNOBILITYMEDIEVAL3D-K.htm#HaroldEwiasidiedafter1100B 16 March 2015