Gilbert (Umfreville) de Umfreville (abt. 1244 - bef. 1307)

Born about 1244 in Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Comyn) de Umfreville — married about 1275 in England

Descendants

Died before 13 Oct 1307 before about age 63 in Hexham, Northumberland, England

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Biography

For 10,000 marks the wardship of the young Gilbert was granted to Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, under whose influence his charge joined the barons in their revolt against Henry III. However, Earl Simon's death at the battle of Evesham in 1265, by when Gilbert had joined the royalists, presumably released the young man from his obligation to pay Montfort 1200 marks for entry to his inheritance on reaching his majority.

Gilbert was Lord of Redesdale between 1245 and 1307, and Earl of Angus in Scotland between 1267 and 1307.

Gilbert was summoned by writ directed "Gilberto de Umfraunvill' Comiti de Anegos" in 1283.

He was Baron of Prudhoe at Northumberland, England, between 1283 and 1307.

He fought for King Edward I in the victory over the Scots (who were led by William Wallace) on 22 July 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk, Scotland.

He served with Edward I in Wales in 1277 and also in Gascony in 1294.

In 1295 Gilbert was summoned to the English parliament as Lord Umfreville, although his Scottish title of earl of Angus was sometimes also used as a courtesy in English royal writs.

In 1286. Earl Gilbert was given custody of Dundee and Forfar castles and in 1290 attended the parliament held at Birgham to ratify the marriage contract between Margaret, the Maid of Norway, and Edward, Prince of Wales. After the death of the Maid, he, along with other keepers of royal castles, professed himself unsure of King Edward's right to take them into his hands until a new king was chosen, but he was soon persuaded and did homage to the English king as lord superior of Scotland.

His wife was Elizabeth, third daughter of Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan, and Elizabeth de Quincy.^[1][2] Gilbert and Elizabeth were buried in a magnificent tomb in Hexham Priory, where their effigies can still be seen.

The couple had three sons, the eldest of whom, Gilbert, died in 1303 without children from his marriage to Margaret, daughter of Thomas de Clare. The youngest, Thomas, was appointed Edward I's constable of the royal castle of Dundee in 1304 once English control was again established north of the Forth. He and a number of his men from the Dundee garrison gave chase to William Wallace ‘beneath’ Ironside, a hill behind Dundee, in September 1304; this was the Scottish leader's last recorded skirmish before his final capture in August 1305, and perhaps forms a flimsy basis for the claim made by a fifteenth-century chronicler, John Hardyng, that Gilbert de Umfraville, earl of Angus, took Wallace prisoner, defeated Bruce in battle, and was regent of Scotland north of the Forth. Alas, Earl Gilbert's career was far more ordinary.

The Umfravilles had come originally from Normandy and acquired a considerable estate in England, most notably the barony of Prudhoe with its castle and the liberty of Redesdale and Coquetdale, all in Northumberland.

Although Earl Gilbert was clearly in possession of his Scottish earldom, including custody of the royal castles of Dundee and Forfar, he does not seem to have played much part in Scottish affairs, although he could lay claim to be one of the seven ancient Celtic earls who allegedly had the right to elect a king of Scots. This claim naturally took on a greater importance after the untimely death of Alexander III. Earl Gilbert, like so many of his peers, was quite at ease with the idea of holding important lands and offices in more than one kingdom, though it was not long before such an outlook become untenable.

He died before 13 October 1307.

Sources

1. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 13 MALLORY 9. Gilbert de Umfreville.
2. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 168.

• G.E.C. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Vol. 1. A to Bo. 1887. George Bell & Sons, London. Publisher. Page 92. [1]

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

• Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, by Frederick Lewis Weis, Th. D.,Fourth Edition (With Additions and Corrections By Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., M. S.; 1971

• Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Hosted online by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), accessed 2022, Earls of Angus (Umfraville).

• J.C. Hodgson. Ms. Pedigrees of Northumberland Families, Part II, Vol. I, p. 174.

• Stewart, R.B. RootsWeb.

• Burke, Sir Bernard, A Genealogical History of the Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (London 1883).

• Paul, Sir James Balfour, The Scots Peerage, (Edinburgh, 1904), vol. i, Angus.

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 01 March 2022), memorial page for Sir Gilbert De Umfreville (1245–Oct 1307), Find A Grave: Memorial #80359273, citing Hexham Abbey, Hexham, Northumberland Unitary Authority, Northumberland, England ; Maintained by AradiaB (contributor 47631932).