Robert de Alfreton, Lord of Alfreton, Norton & Marnham

Family

From https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ancestorsearch&id...

1. Robert FitzRalph (Ranulph fitz Ingelram3, Ingelram2, Ingelram1) died 1180. He married Tuschet.

	  Child of Robert FitzRalph and Tuschet is:

* William, d 1209. Married Helewise.

Biography

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_FitzRanulph

Robert FitzRanulf also known as Robert de Alfreton (born c. 1117-1172) was a Saxon lord from Alfreton.[1] He is notable for building a number of churches in Derbyshire, most notable of which is Beauchief Abbey.[2] The abbey was dedicated to St. Thomas Becket, and it is believed Robert founded the abbey to expiate his guilt for taking part in the murder of Thomas, however this has been disputed.

Robert was also responsible for founding churches in Norton, on the site of the present St James, Norton church.

He served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests during 1165–1168.

He died about 1172 in Dronfield.

Origins

http://www.riversheaf.org/sheafrwp/?page_id=3582

The FitzRanulf family was descended from the Saxon Earl Ingram. Ranulf (Ralf) de Alfreton was the son of Ingram and served twice (1155-1156 and 1160-1164) as Sheriff of Nottingham and Derby during the reign of Henry II.

Ralf had two sons, William and Robert , both of whom, like their father, became Sheriff of Nottingham and Derby. Robert served from 1165 to 1168 and William from 1169 to 1176. They served jointly as Sheriff from 1177 to 1179.

The family was greatly favoured by King Henry II.

Robert FitzRanulf was Lord of Alfreton, Norton and Marnham. He later took the name of ‘de Alfreton’.

Sometime between 1172 AD and 1176 AD, Robert made a gift of land to a group of monks to set up an abbey in Beauchief. The abbey was dedicated to St. Mary (The Virgin) and St. Thomas the Martyr (Thomas Becket). It is believed that Robert had some involvement in the murder of Beckett. He also gave the Abbey the churches of Alfreton and Norton.

By 1183 Robert had passed on his titles to his son William and had become a priest and joined the order at Beauchief Abbey.

William FitzRanulf became Lord of Alfreton and Norton in 1180 AD. William was also a benefactor of Beauchief Abbey, giving the abbey the mill at Coal Aston.

When William’s daughter Alice married Sir Radulphus, first Lord of Ecclesall, some of the Alfreton estate passed over in the form of a dowry. The lands and titles passed directly to Robert (2) and in turn to his son Thomas.

Thomas had no male heirs to carry on the family name and rights and so on his death, the titles and properties passed through Robert’s daughters when they married. Alicia married Sir William de Chaworth and Amicia married Robert de Lathom.

• The Feudal History of the County of Derby: (chiefly During the 11th, 12th ... By John Pym Yeatman, Cecil George Savile Foljambe Earl of Liverpool. “The Berewic of Tapton.” Page 443. GoogleBooks Ranulf Fitz Ingelram continued sheriff probably to the end of his life, and his son, Robert Fitz Ranulf, the founder of Beauchief Abbey, succeeded him.

Notes

From 'Houses of Premonstratensian canons: The abbey of Beauchief', in A History of the County of Derby: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London, 1907), pp. 63-69. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/derbs/vol2/pp63-69 [accessed 13 October 2019].

7. THE ABBEY OF BEAUCHIEF (fn. 1)

¶The abbey of Beauchief, or 'De Bello Capite,' was founded near Norton, for Premonstratensian or White Canons, by Robert FitzRanulph, lord of Alfreton and Norton, about 1175, and dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, in conjunction with the recently canonized St. Thomas the Martyr. (fn. 2) Dugdale made the strange mistake of stating that Robert FitzRanulph was 'one of the four knights who martyred the Blessed Thomas of Canterbury, and afterwards founded the monastery of Beauchief to expiate his crime.' (fn. 3)

The names, however, of the four knights are well known through the unanimous testimony of four eye-witnesses. The principal actors in the eventful deed of 29 December, 1170, were Brito, Moreville, Tracy, and FitzUrse. Dr. Pegge has shown conclusively that the founder had no connexion with the murder, though a more recent attempt has been made to turn him into an accomplice. (fn. 4)

Robert FitzRanulph, who was for several years sheriff of the united counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, was a generous founder. In addition to a considerable area of land in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, the bounds of which are accurately defined in the foundation charter and included about 700 acres, he bestowed on the house the churches of Norton and Alfreton in Derbyshire, Wymeswold in Leicestershire, and Edwalton in Nottinghamshire. It was for a long time supposed by those who accepted Dugdale's statement that this was an expiatory foundation connected with the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and that the very name of Beauchief was derived from the fair head or saintly crown of the martyr. The wording, however, of the foundation charter at once upsets this theory, for the site is therein described as 'locum qui dicitur Beuchef in Doresheles.' (fn. 5).

From https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ancestorsearch&id...

The manor of Alfreton was given by Wulfric, a noble Saxon, and confirmed by Ethelred II to Burton abbey. It had again passed into lay hands before the compilation of the Domesday Survey; in which it is described as held by Ingram, under Roger de Busli. This Ingram was the immediate ancestor of Robert Fitz-Ranulph or Fits-Ralph, Lord of Alfreton, who founded Beauchief abbey in the reign of Henry II. His descendants were denominated de Alfreton.

References

• *http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/bonser1948/sutton19.htm “Robert Fitzranulph, son of Ingelram, a Baron by tenure and lord of Alfreton, Norton and Marnham, was of so great importance as to be Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derby, A.D. 1166 to 1170, and again in 1189. ...”
• http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1901/dealfretonandch...
• http://www.disnorge.no/slektsforum/viewtopic.php?p=62728
• Marshall, George William. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the Years 1569 and 1614 (London, 1871) Page 123 GoogleBooks
• Honors and Knights' Fees, Volume 2. By William Farrer. Page 152 - 153. GoogleBooks