Walter
Fauntleroy
Born about in Dorset, England
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of
Juliana (Thornhill) Fauntleroy
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Adam Fauntleroy
Died [date unknown]
in England
Profile last modified
| Created 25 Apr 2015
This page has been accessed 1,979 times.
Contents |
Biography
Name
The name Fauntleroy is a variant of "Enfantleroy," which means "child of the king" [1]
Ancestry
There is an old legend in the Fauntleroy family, alleging that the family originated with an illegitimate son of King John II of France. The French King was a prisoner in England for several years in the 1350's, and a legend has been passed down that during that period he fathered an illegitimate child in England. This legend would seem to be supported by the family's surname, as well as coat of arms and motto, but it would be disproved if there is any earlier record of the Fauntleroy family in England, before the captivity of King John II in the 1350s.
A fanciful variation of the family legend is presented by the Essex Review of 1899. In this story, the Queen, while engaged in travel to raise funds for her husband's ransom, stopped on the island of Jersey where she was "delivered of a child." This variant, apparently attempting to erase the earlier presumption of bastardy, requires the preposterous assumptions that (1) the Queen of France traveled to England, unknown to history; and (2) a French prince was born in England and stayed there without any international outcry.[1]
The supposition that Walter was the son of King John of France, either by the Queen or by an English mistress, presumes that Walter was born during the period of the King's captivity, 1357 to 1360.
In the absence of actual birth records, evidence which places the birth of Walter Fauntleroy outside the period 1357 to 1360, disproves the family legend.
Robert Fauntleroy reports that the earliest known record of a Fauntleroy is that of Adam Fauntleroy, of Sherborne, County Dorset, who was a witness at an Inquisition at Shefton June 27, 1340. In addition a John Fauntleroy was a witness at an Inquisition Post Mortem in Dorset in 1353, and was a plaintiff in a suit at Sherborne In 1373, when he stated that he was the son of Adam Fauntleroy, and a grandson of Walter Fauntleroy who married Juliana, daughter of Robert de Thornhull, [2]
John Hutchins writing in the 18th century, stated, "Tradition says that this family had their name of L'enfant le Roy, which Mr. Coker hints at, from being the natural issue of some of our kings; but we do not find any traces of such relation. [3] Mr. Falle, his History of Jersey, pp. 106, 107, says, " That Geoffrey Wallis or Welsh, seigneur of St. Germans, Haudois, and other fiefs in that island, was slain in the battle of Barnet, on the part of Henry VI. for which his estate was seised, but, in the time of Henry VII ordered to be restored to John Fauntleroy his next heir." But we meet with very little account of them, except that their names frequently occur in ancient deeds from the time of Edward III and Richard II . A gentleman of that name who resided at Chelmsford, in Essex, and lived on a small independence, was a most worthy character, and used often to relate the following account of his predecessors, with some little vanity. King John of France, in 1357, being prisoner to King Edward III. The Queen of France came to Jersey to treat upon a ransom, and was there delivered of a son named Fauntleroy or infant to the King. This son settled and lived in Dorsetshire. [4]
1273 Birth Year Estimation
To his summary of a 1373 lawsuit, George Wrottesley adds his pedigree notation showing Walter Fauntleroy married to Juliana, and then William the son, Adam the grandson and John, the plaintiff, the great-grandson. [5] Assuming that John is still a young man, say aged 23 in 1373, John's birth would be 1350. Using 25 year intervals to estimate the previous generations would place Adam at 1325, William at 1300, and Walter at 1275.
Mary Emily Fauntleroy states that Walter Fauntleroy was born about 1273. [6] While she does not provide sources, it would seem that she followed the same estimation process based on the 1373 lawsuit, a lawsuit also reported by Robert Fauntleroy. [2]
Even unsourced sites of widely varying reliability such as Geni give a birth year for Walter Fauntleroy earlier than the legends would allow, in this case placing his birth "before 1280 in Sherborne, Dorset, England"[7]
A birth year of 1360, which appears in some genealogies, appears to be derived from the assumption of Walter's birth during the period of the French King's captivity, 1357-1360.
Marriage to Juliana
According to later testimony of his grandson, Walter Fauntleroy married Juliana, daughter of Robert Thornhull. [8][5]
Walter married Juliana de Thornhull, daughter of Robert de Thornhulll, of sherborne, Dorsetshire, England. Mary Emily Fauntleroy states that the history of the de Thornhull family can be traced back to records dated as early as 1200. The earliest de Thornhull was John, who had two sons, Ralph and Walter. In 1227, Walter granted his brother Ralph the estate of Alveston Manor, and estate which later appears among the Fauntelroy estates. Walter de Thornhull had a son, also named Walter, who married in 1274 Cecelia Antioch, and died in 1307. The son of the younger Walter was Robert de Thornhull, married in 1294, and had daughter Juliana, who married Walter Fauntleroy. [6]
Death
Walter Fauntleroy died circa 1339 in Fauntleroys Marsh, Dorset, England [7]
1332 Subsidy Roll
A search of the National Archives catalogue and the Somerset Archives also finds a William Fauntleroi de Boterwyk in Allweston tithing (Sherborne hundred) in the Dorset Lay Subsidy Roll of 1332, and a John Fauntleroy as a witness in 1382 and 1393 which again I think supports that the Wrottesley source is correct.
Lawsuit by Grandson
John Fountleroy engaged in a lawsuit regarding Sherbourne property.
Cavanagh places the lawsuit in 1473" "As a plaintiff in a lawsuit there [Sherbourne, Dorset) in 1473 he [John Fauntleroy, b. 1416] stated that he was the son of Adam Fauntleroy and grandson of Walter Fauntleroy who married Juliana, daughter of Robert Thornhull; he was 24 years old when his father died in May 1449 (Inq. p.m.)."[8]
In the lawsuit in Dorset, John Fauntleroy sued Walter le Brut and Agnes, his wife, for land in Shirbourne, which Robert de Thornhulle had given to Walter Fauntleroy in frank marriage with Juliana, his wife. [9]
Wrottesley, however, places the lawsuit in 1373. On "Trinity 47 E.3" John Fauntleroy sued Walter le Brut and Agnes, his wife, for land in Shirbourne, which Robert de Thornhulle had given to Walter Fauntleroy in Frank marriage with Juliana his wife.[5] The date of this suit would be Trinity season in the 47th year of the reign of Edward III, which according to the regnal calendars [10] would be between 25 Jan 1373 and 24 Jan 1374.
Issue
Walter and Juliana (de Thornhull) Fauntleroy were the parents of two sons: #John, recorded as being a witness in a law suit in 1333, [6]
- Adam Fauntleroy. Adam, recorded as living at Alveston, part of the Fauntleroy estate, in 1340. Adam had but one son, whose name was John (living in Fauntleroy Marsh in 1373).[6]Cavanagh is not clear on dating, stating Adam's death took place in May 1449, but also stating that Adam's son John, born 1416, testified that he was aged 24 at the time of his father's death, which would either make Adam's death occur in the year 1440, or make John born in 1425 rather than 1416. [8]
Hutchin's own pedigree starts with John Fauntleroy and Joan le Walshe or Le Walys and is based on the 1565 visitation of Dorset..He says John died 18 Hen. V1 (1439-40) A footnote says "18, Hen. VI. John Fauntleroy, knt. died seised of no lands, co. Somerset: John his son and heir. Perhaps this estate did not come into his family till after his death: sed quarere ? " [4]
Heraldry
There are at least two known Fauntleroy coats of arms. The first coat of arms, evidently from the senior branch of the family in co. Dorset, is "Ermine, three prince's heads crowned and mantled proper couped at the breast--ENFANTLEROY."[11]
The second Fauntleroy coat of arms appears among the descendants of Tristram Fauntleroy, third son of John Fauntleroy of Dorset, who settled in Hampshire. "Another case in which the heads of children appear are the arms of Fauntleroy [Gules, three infants' heads couped at the shoulder proper, crined or], which are a very telling instance of a canting device upon the original form of the name, which was Enfantleroy."[12] This coat of arms was confirmed to Moore Fauntleroy the elder (brother of Moore Fauntleroy the younger, immigrant to Virginia) in the Hampshire Visitation of the early 1630s.[8]
Mary Emily Fauntleroy states that Arms were granted to member of the Fauntleroy Family by the College of Arms in England in 1600. [6]
Locations
Fauntleroy's Marsh
The Fauntleroys gave their name to "Fauntleroy's Marsh. 'Mr Coker says " This place was named from the Fauntleroys, men of no mean antiquity, and, if you understand the name, of equal descent; who long since seated themselves in these parts by an heir of Walleys, and whose ancient house is still owned by their offspring." [4]
Alveston
The earliest mention of a Fauntleroy that I found in Hutchin's was for Alveston ( a mile NE from Folke, Fauntlery's Marsh was half a mile NE from Folke. They were both in the parish of Folke) 'by a custumary of the manor, 14 Rich 11, Nicholas Fauntelroy (1390/1) held half a virgate of land here, paying to the Lord 5s 8d per annum He also says, "6 Hen. IV (1404-5) It appears by a court roll of this manor to have been possessed by BaldwinThornhull." [13]
1437 Sherborne Alms House
A John Fauntleroy of Fauntleroy's Marsh was one of the founders of the alms house in Sherborne, he gave 20 l and 80 loads of timber, his wife gave 5 l (15 Henry V1, 1436-7) [13]
There are other instances dotted around the various volumes of a John Fauntleroy Esq being a witness to an agreement and of being a member of an IPM jury in the early 14th C. [13]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Essex Review: An Illustrated Quarterly Record of Everything of Permanent Interest in the County, Volume 8 (1899), p. 140.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Robert H. Fauntleroy. The Fauntleroy Family, 1952 See also Family History Library Accessed July 17, 2017 jhd
- ↑ Note Mr Coker was really Thomas Gerard, 1592-1634, his survey of Dorset written in about 1622. Helen Ford, July 17, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 John Hutchins (1698-1773) The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset Third edition, corrected, augmented, and improved by William Shipp and James Whitworth Hodson 1861-73 Vol 4 p 179 ff. Cited by Helen Ford, July 17, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Major General The Hon. George Wrottesley. Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls Collected from the Pleadings in the Various Courts of Law, A. D. 1200 to 1500. From the Original Rolls in the Public Record office. Accessed July 17, 2017. jhd
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Mary Emily Fauntleroy. The Fauntleroy Family Indiana Magazine of History, Volume 35, Issue 2, pp. 210-217
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Geni Walter Fauntleroy Managed by: Desiree "Dez" Stratford; Last Updated: September 8, 2015 Accessed July 18, 2017. jhd
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Harrison Dwight Cavanagh, Colonial Chesapeake Families (2014), vol. 1, p. 190.
- ↑ Details of the lawsuit are found in Pedigrees from the plea rolls: collected from the pleadings in the various courts of law, A.D. 1200 to 1500, from the original rolls in the Public Record Office by By Major-General the Hon, GEORGE WROTTESLEY pdf [1]
- ↑ Regnal Calendar
- ↑ Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry (1894), p. 311.
- ↑ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909), p. 169.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Helen Ford, WikiTree G2G, July 18, 2017
See also:
- Americans of Royal Descent: Collection of Genealogies Showing the Lineal Descent from Kings of Some American Families ... page 142-143 - by Charles Henry Browning pub: Genealogical Publishing Com, 1911 [2] in which the text traces a 16th C. Fauntleroy lineage from John Fauntleroy of the Marsh at Alvestop in Dorset England to Colonel Moore Fauntleroy granted land in Virginia in 1643.
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F > Fauntleroy > Walter Fauntleroy
2. William Palmes place of birth is stated as Fontleroy. 3. John Palmes of Fontleroy is listed as married to Ann Stourton.
The manor at Fauntleroys Marsh is still in existence comprising what were most likely in origin two early medieval first floor halls with cross wings and the remainder of a large chapel.
Regarding the arms, I have not found any medieval reference to the Fauntleroy arms, nor any evidence that any medieval member of the family was ever knighted. More research is needed; I added two sources.