Ralph de Vere (aft. 1150 - bef. 1214)

SEE BRIEF BIOGRAPHY and LIST of DESCENDANTS FURTHER DOWN BELOW:

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I agree, chronologically, and some of the research suggests ca.1150 as a better birth date, which brings into question which wife or ex-wife of Earl Aubrey was in fact the mother of Ralph. Perhaps his being passed over for the Earldom of Oxford supports this line of thought.

The charters of Kelso Abbey referenced herein are primary I believe. For brevity sake, I didn't include the various charters witnessed by Ralph and brother Robert with William I of Scotland, &c., mentioned in the CDSNA webpage and some of these other listed publications.

It's not chronologically possible for Ralph de Vere, born in mid to late 1160s the son of Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford to be the same person who is attesting charters in Scotland from about 1174 or to be around during the early reign of William I of Scotland. There were several de Vere families who weren't all related and both Ralph and Robert were reasonably common names. Also none of the sources referred to below cite any primary records that I can see.

Please see the informative biography including descendants, plus major sources, featured on the Clan Douglas Society website page, 'Blackwood & Weir' at http://clandouglassociety.org/blackwood/ .

I will proceed with a condensed version here below and list Ralph de Vere's male descendants, and hope that it may be upgraded to the Biography and Sources sections of this profile in time.

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Ralph (Ralfredus) de Vere, (b. ca.1140s-50s), perhaps also 'Baltredus de Vere,' is recorded as the second or third son of the Earl of Oxford, Aubrey (Alberic) III de Vere, but is probably of earlier birth and circumstances.

His brother was Sir Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford, one of the twenty-five Magna Carta Surety Barons in 1215 [and my 27th great-grandfather].

Perhaps through opposition to King Henry II and the favor of William I of Scotland and local Abbots of Kelso, Ralph lost his claim to Earl of Oxford, but received vast lands and was the forefather of the future Vere/Weir family Lairds of Blackwood estate, &c., in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

[ He is my 25th great grand uncle on my mother's side and my first cousin 27x's removed on my father's side.

Due to this direct de Vere lineage, I take a great interest in seeing his record and genealogy here far extended beyond a gedcom-created, unsourced entry.

I have several generations of documented Ralph de Vere descendants with published sources, but cannot well proceed without the 'Pre-1500 Certification.'

But here goes for now... ]

First, some sources: 'The Weir succession from Ralph de Vere to Rothaldus Weir [1st. Laird/Lord] of Blackwood is fully detailed in the charters of Kelso Abbey. See Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, pp. 475-476, 1899. See George Vere Irving, The Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, 1864' (Clan Douglas Society, 'Blackwood & Weir' webpage).

DESCENDANTS:

Ralph de Vere (ca.1150 - bef.1214);

son, Walter Veir/Weir (ca.1190);

son, Radulphus Weir (1225-1296);

son, Thomas Weir (ca.1256);

son, Richardus Weir (1280-1314);

son, Thomas Weir (1310-1371) of Blackwood, Lanarkshire; first recorded proprietor (1314 Charter of Kelso Abbey);

son, Buan Weir (1340-1390);

son, Rothaldus Weir (1368), first Laird of Blackwood, Bailie of Lesmahagow (1398-1400); granted further land in Blackwood and Dermoundyston, with Stonebyres, Archtyfardle, and the whole of Mossmynyne;

son, Thomas Weir (1400), 2nd. Laird of Blackwood;

son, Robert Weir (1425-1479), 3rd. Laird of Blackwood;

son, Thomas Weir (1462-1531), 4th. Laird of Blackwood; m. Aegida Somerville (ca.1430-1505/06), dau. of John, 3rd Lord Somerville, of Cowthally.

Source: THE UPPER WARD OF LANARKSHIRE (1864, Glasgow) by G.V. Irving, (Clan Douglas Society, 'Blackwood & Weir' webpage).

Now from Maxwell’s "A History of the House of Douglas: 1& 2":

"... James Hamilton, Lord of Raploch (b. ca.1475), who married Isabella Weir (b. ca.1500), daughter of

[son of Thomas Weir, 4th Laird Blackwood], James Weir, 5th Laird of Blackwood and Emphemia Hamilton...."

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COAT OF ARMS:

"The arms of 1) WEIR OF BLACKWOOD, 2) WEIR OF THAT ILK, and 3) Sir George WEIR OF BLACKWOOD are all described as Argent on a fess Azure three mullets of the first."

Source: Nisbet, Alexander, and Robert Fleming. "A System of Heraldry Speculative and Practical...: Illustrated with Suitable Examples of Armorial Figures, ... Most Considerable Sirnames and Families in Scotland, &c." by Alexander Nisbet. Edinburgh: Printed for J. MackEuen. Anno Dom, 1722.

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More Sources:

Fraser, William. "The Douglas Book: In Four Volumes." Burlington, Ont: TannerRitchie Pub. in collaboration with the Library and Information Services of the University of St. Andrews, 2005. Internet resource. http://www.http://archive.org/details/douglasbook03fras

Weirs in Scotland. http://donnagene53.tripod.com/weir/id1.html

The Weir History. http://www.lexter.freeservers.com/weir_genealogy.html

Weir Family Origins: The Ancestors of Alexander Nicholl Weir. http://www.freewebs.com/weirfamilyorigins/

(above cited on Douglas Clan Society webpage, 'Blackwood and Weir')

Also, from "De Vere family" article on wikipedia.org:

L. C. Loyd, "The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families" (Leeds: 1951), 110.

R. W. Eyton, "Court, Household, and Itinerary of King Henry II" (London: 1878), 16

G. E. C. Cokayne, "The Complete Peerage" v. X

De Vere Pedigree from the De Vere Society ( http://www.deveresociety.co.uk/pdf/OxfordPedigreeTree.pdf ).