Dolfin, Earl of Cumberland

Dolfin or Dolphin MacGospatrick, Father of Uchtred MacDolfin

From Dolfin of Carlisle

Dolfin (fl. 1092) was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon magnate in Northumbria. His father was probably Gospatric, one of the most powerful regional figures in the mid-11th century having been earl of Northumbria in the early years of William the Conqueror's reign.[1] Dolfin was the eldest of Gospatric's three sons, his younger brothers being Waltheof, lord of Allerdale, and Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian.[2]

In 1092, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle MS E, a Dolfin was expelled from Carlisle by William Rufus, king of England:[3] William followed up by constructing a castle in the city, and importing settlers from elsewhere in England:[4]

[s.a. 1092] In this year king William with a great army went north to Carlisle and restored the town and built the castle; and drove out Dolfin, who ruled the land there before. And he garrisoned the castle with his vassals; and thereafter came south hither and sent thither a great multitude of [churlish] folk with women and cattle, there to dwell and till the land.[5]

From c. 1098, Ranulf le Meschin (future earl of Chester) was in charge of the region.[6]

Although it is generally thought that this Dolfin was the son of Earl Gospatric, this has been occasionally disputed, notably by historian William Kapelle.[7] Gospatric appears to have been ruler of Cumberland himself in the time of Earl Siward, though Alan Orr Anderson and others have suggested that Dolfin had been placed in the region by Malcolm III of Scotland.[8]

From http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTTISH%20NOBILITY.htm#GospatrickD...

Earl Gospatrick had two illegitimate children by an unknown mistress or mistresses:

5.          DOLFIN (-after 1092).  Simeon of Durham names "Dolfin, Walther and Cospatric" as the sons of Gospatrick[1417].  He is named first of the three sons of Gospatrick given by Roger of Hoveden[1418].  He was expelled from Carlisle in 1092[1419].  His illegitimacy is confirmed by a memorandum dated to [1275] records that "Earl Cospatryk formerly earl of Dunbar in Scotland had a brother Dolfin earl of Northumbarland…both…bastards", that they had "a legitimate brother Waldeve and a legitimate sister Etheldreda…of one father and one mother"[1420].  m ---.  The name of Dolfin’s wife is not known.  Dolfin & his wife had one child:  a)         UHTRED FitzDolfin de Cungeston [Conistone] .  He held land at Conistone in the honour of Skipton and in Burnsall in the Bulmer fief[1421].  m ---.  The name of Uhtred’s wife is not known.  Unfree & his wife had two children: i)          SIMON .  He was ancestor of the Hebden family[1422]. ii)         KETEL . 

From http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTTISH%20NOBILITY.htm#GospatrickD...

Earl Gospatrick & his wife had seven children:

1. DOLFIN . Simeon of Durham names "Dolfin, Walther and Cospatric" as the sons of Gospatrick[395]. He is named first of the three sons of Gospatrick given by Roger of Hoveden[396]. He was expelled from Carlisle in 1092[397].

m ---. The name of Dolfin´s wife is not known. Dolfin & his wife had one child:

a) UHTRED FitzDolfin de Cungeston [Conistone] . He held land at Conistone in the honour of Skipton and in Burnsall in the Bulmer fief[398]. m ---. The name of Uhtred´s wife is not known. Uhtred & his wife had two children: i) SIMON . He was ancestor of the Hebden family[399]. ii) KETEL .

Lord Dolphin (son of Earl Gospatrick II fils Maldred of Northumbria and Aethelreda) was born Abt. 1070 in England, and died Aft. 1092 in England.

Refs

• Aird, William M. (2004), "Gospatric, earl of Northumbria (d. 1073x5), magnate", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Fee required), retrieved 2010-12-11
• Anderson, Alan Orr, ed. (1922), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286 (2 vols), Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd
• Anderson, Alan Orr, ed. (1908), Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers A.D. 500 to 1286 (1991 revised & corrected ed.), Stamford: Paul Watkins, ISBN 1-871615-45-3
• Kapelle, William E. (1979), The Norman Conquest of the North: The Region and Its Transformation, 1000–1135, London: Croom Helm Ltd, ISBN 0-7099-0040-6
• McDonald, Andrew (2004), "Dolfin (fl. 1092)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Fee required), retrieved 2010-12-11
• Sharpe, Richard (2006), Norman Rule in Cumbria, 1092–1136: A Lecture Delivered to Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society on 9th April 2005 at Carlisle, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Tract Series No. XXI, Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, ISBN 1-873124-43-0
• [S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 178. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.
• [S60] Charles and Hugh Brogan Mosley, editor, American Presidential Families (London, U.K.: Alan Sutton and Morris Genealogical Books, 1994), page 46. Hereinafter cited as American Presidential Families.
• http://thepeerage.com/p10767.htm#i107670
• http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gospatric_(DNB00) "He had three sons: Dolfin, who held Carlisle, probably as a grant from the Scottish king, and was driven out by William Rufus in 1092; ..."

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Dolfin (fl. 1092) was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon magnate in Northumbria. His father was probably Gospatric, one of the most powerful regional figures in the mid-11th century having been earl of Northumbria in the early years of William the Conqueror's reign.[1] Dolfin was the eldest of Gospatric's three sons, his younger brothers being Waltheof, lord of Allerdale, and Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian.[2]

In 1092, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle MS E, a Dolfin was expelled from Carlisle by William Rufus, king of England:[3] William followed up by constructing a castle in the city, and importing settlers from elsewhere in England:[4]

[s.a. 1092] In this year king William with a great army went north to Carlisle and restored the town and built the castle; and drove out Dolfin, who ruled the land there before. And he garrisoned the castle with his vassals; and thereafter came south hither and sent thither a great multitude of [churlish] folk with women and cattle, there to dwell and till the land.[5]

From c. 1098, Ranulf le Meschin (future earl of Chester) was in charge of the region.

References Aird, William M. (2004), "Gospatric, earl of Northumbria (d. 1073x5), magnate", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Fee required), retrieved 11 December 2010
Anderson, Alan Orr, ed. (1922), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286 (2 vols), Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd
Anderson, Alan Orr, ed. (1908), Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers A.D. 500 to 1286 (1991 revised & corrected ed.), Stamford: Paul Watkins, ISBN 1-871615-45-3
Kapelle, William E. (1979), The Norman Conquest of the North: The Region and Its Transformation, 1000–1135, London: Croom Helm Ltd, ISBN 0-7099-0040-6
McDonald, Andrew (2004), "Dolfin (fl. 1092)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Fee required), retrieved 11 December 2010
Sharpe, Richard (2006), Norman Rule in Cumbria, 1092–1136: A Lecture Delivered to Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society on 9th April 2005 at Carlisle, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Tract Series No. XXI, Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, ISBN 1-873124-43-0