Walter de Berkeley, Chamberlain of Scotland, Lord Red Castle and Inverkeillor

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Walter de Berkeley (de Berchelei), Chamberlain of Scotland, Lord Red Castle and Inverkeillor

Also Known As: "Barclay"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Berkeley, near Frome, Somerset, England
Death: circa 1193 (52-91)
Scotland
Immediate Family:

Son of NN de Berchelei, of Somerset and NN de Berchelei
Husband of Eva mac Uhtred
Father of John de Berkeley; NN daughter of Walter & Eva de Berkeley, heiress of Berkeley and Agatha de Barclay, heiress
Brother of Robert de Berkeley, Laird of Maxton

Occupation: Great Chamberlain, baronies of Redcastle (Inverkeilor) in Forfarshire and Urr in Galloway
Office: Great Chamberlain of Scotland from 1165-1189.
Managed by: Pam Wilson (on hiatus)
Last Updated:

About Walter de Berkeley, Chamberlain of Scotland, Lord Red Castle and Inverkeillor

Sir Walter de Berkeley, Lord of Redcastle and Inverkeillor, Great Chamberlain of Scotland from 1165-1189

The most recent scholarly research and interpretation of documents concerning this line of Berkeleys has found that they are not related to the Berkeley family of Gloucestershire but are instead from a village in Somerset named as Berchelei in the 1086 Domesday Book. See https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/person/6/ for hundreds of document abstracts mentioning this man.

NOTE: No mention is made in any of the contemporaneous documents of Gartley or Gartly. Apparently Gartly did not even exist at this time. Claims that Walter and his heirs were Lords of Gartley need documentation from primary sources.

Parents: Unknown, from village of Berkley, Somerset

Brother: Robert de Berkeley

Possible first wife: Heiress of Ardoyne, Aberdeen

Wife: Eve of Galloway (fitzUhtred) who later married Robert de Quincy

Children:

  • John de Berkeley (died soon after father)
  • NN daughter married Ingelram de Baliol (Balliol), inherited Urr and Inverkeilor
  • Agatha married Humphrey de Adeville, son of Theobald--> Humphrey de Berkeley/Barclay

Walter was almost certainly from Berkley, near Frome, in Somerset, and arrived in Scotland with his brother, Robert, around 1165. Walter was appointed to succeed Philip de Valognes as chamberlain of William I, king of Scots, around 1171. He held estates Inverkeilor (ANG), the baron of Redcastle, and Newton near Hawick; he also held property at St Boswells, and Plenmeller in Tynedale. In Galloway, he received the large lordship of Urr from Uhtred, son of Fergus, lord of Galloway, around 1170. Walter may have married firstly a lady who was heir of Ardoyne, Aberdeenshire. He married (perhaps secondly), Eve, who may have been a daughter of Uhtred, lord of Galloway. She later married Robert de Quincy (d.c.1200). Walter and Eve had one son, John, who seems to have died soon after his father; he was succeeded by two daughters, one of whom, Agatha, married Humphrey, son of Theobald de Adeville. Humphrey took the Barclay surname. The other (unnamed) daughter married Ingram Balliol, though which marriage the Balliols inherited Urr and Inverkeilor. Walter Barclay died around 1193. K. Stringer, 'Walter of Berkeley', ODNB, v, 392; [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/articleHL/49371]

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From the Clan Barclay wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Barclay)

Since the eighteenth century, Barclay historians, noted for their low level in medieval scholarship,[3] have assumed the Scottish family Barclay (de Berchelai) is a branch of one of the Anglo-Norman Berkeley family of Berkeley, Gloucestershire. However, the link between the Scottish and English families is disputed.[3] ...

An old family tradition is that the Scottish family is descended from John de Berkeley, who was the son of Roger de Berkeley, provost of Berkeley, and went to Scotland in 1069 with St Margaret.[4][5] Another theory is that the clan is descended from a John de Berkeley who went north in 1124 with Maud, queen of David I.[6]

Another theory of the Barclay origin, put forth by the historian G. W. S. Barrow, points to the small village of Berkley in Somerset (in 1086 Berchelei).[3] In 1086 the overlordship of Berkley belonged to Robert Arundel, whose main tenant was a Robert.[3] Arundel's manors included Cary Fitzpaine (in Charlton Mackerell), near Castle Cary. Cary Fitzpaine seems to have been held by the tenant Robert as well.[3] At the same time as Henry Lovel of Castle Cary first appears in Scotland, there appear the names of Godfrey de Arundel and Robert and Walter de Berkeley.[3]

The most recent work on the family rejects previous ideas and instead proposes that there were two migrations of Barclays.[7][8][9] The first of these involved a younger son of the original English family moving to Scotland in the first half of the twelfth century, while a second migration occurred around 1220. Only a distant kinship existed between these separate branches of the Scottish Barclays in the early thirteenth century, and the original family, including such notables as Walter de Berkeley, Chamberlain of Scotland,[4] had become extinct in the male line around 1200.[8] Charters from the reign of William the Lion show that the king granted the estates of Laurencekirk and Fordoun to Humphrey son of Theobald, in right of his wife Agatha. Agatha was herself a 'de Berkeley' and her husband and children adopted her surname, but only her daughter survived into adulthood.[3] A charter preserves Humphrey's father's surname as 'de Adevil(l)e'.[3] This was about two decades before Roger de Berkeley, younger brother of Henry de Berkeley, lord of Dursley, married a Scottish heiress and became the ancestor of the succeeding Barclay families.[9]

Both branches of Scottish Barclays soon established themselves in strong positions in land, offices and alliances.[4] By 1171 Sir Walter de Berkeley was Chamberlain of Scotland.[4] Sir David Barclay was a close associate of king Robert the Bruce, took part in the Wars of Scottish Independence and was present at most of his battles, most notably the Battle of Methven where he was captured.[4] In more modern times, the descendants of the Barclay of Mathers line were noted for producing field marshals, Quakers and bankers.[3]

References

3 The Kingdom of the Scots, p.331-334.
4 Way, George and Squire, Romily. Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 72 - 73. 5 Clan Barclay: official site 6 The Misty Origins of the Barclays baronage.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2013. 7 Barclay, T (2017). "The Earlier House of Berkeley: A Revised History". Foundations. 9: 47-70. 8 Barclay, T (2017). "The First Berkeleys in Scotland". The Scottish Genealogist. LXIV (3): 83-97. 9 Barclay, T (2018). "The Origin of the Scottish Barclays: Part I". The Scottish Genealogist. LXV (1): 12-25.

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See poms.ac.uk for further information on these references:

Doc 1/6/150 King William to Walter of Berkeley; he has given, granted and by this charter established _Neutun_ (Longnewton, ROX, or Newton in Forgandenny, PER).

Doc 1/6/163 King William to Walter of Berkeley, his chamberlain; he has given, granted, and by this charter estbalished, Inverkeilor (ANG).

Doc 1/6/164 King William to the church of Inverkeilor (ANG), and to Master Henry, _persona_ of that church; he has granted and by this charter established the remission of _grescan_ (pasture tribute?) made to them by Walter of Berkeley.

Doc 1/6/206 King William to Arbroath Abbey; he has granted and by his charter confirmed the church of Inverkeilor (ANG), as the charter of Walter of Berkeley bears witness.

Doc 3/83/1 Walter of Berkeley has remitted to the church of St Mo-Chonóc of Inverkeilor (ANG) and to Master Henry, persona of said church and king’s clerk, the ‘grescan’ (pasture tribute?) and every other service which the land of the church of Inverkeilor and the m

Doc 3/83/2 Walter of Berkeley, chamberlain of the king of Scotland, has given, granted and by this his charter established, to Arbroath Abbey the church of Inverkeilor (ANG) with all its just pertinents, in free, pure and perpetual alms.

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EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ABOUT WALTER'S ANCESTRY IS SUBJECT TO MUCH SKEPTICISM BASED UPON RECENT RESEARCH:

One of the classic histories of this family is Charles W. Barclay's A History of the Barclay Family, Part II: The Barclays in Scotland (London, 1933), Part II written by Hubert F. Barclay, which is available as a scanned document on archive.org [https://archive.org/stream/historyofbarclay00barc_0/historyofbarcla...]. Below, I'll paste some of the relevant information from this book--of which, like all early single-family genealogies, we should be generously skeptical.

The Gartley Line

SIR WALTER DE BERKELEY, THE CHAMBERLAIN

...In virtue of his combination of offices, the Chamberlain in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was one of the most important and influential of the great officers of the Scottish Crown. He was at once the collector and the disburser of the Royal revenue, he exercised a jurisdiction over burgs, and from the funds under his control he met all public expenditure, including the charges of the Royal Household, and to a certain extent military expenses.

The first layman to hold this high office was Walter de Berkeley, Lord of Reidcastle (or Redcastle). “He was pre¬ ferred to the Chamberlain’s place in 1165, when Nicolaus, his predecessor in the office, was made Chancellor.” He is described as being possessed of good estates in Forfarshire, the “Barony of Innerkillour,” which he had from King William. The chronicles show that he was senior in position to other Barclays who appear as witnesses, and there is no doubt that he was connected with them, but there is no direct evidence that he was connected with Gartley.

He bore, however, the same coat-of-arms as that borne by the Barclays of Mathers, the Barclays of Brechin and their acknowledged cadets, and by no other Barclays—viz. Tincture of the field Azure and the crosses Argent—and our assumption that he was head of the House of Gartley is strengthened by the general indication of the records.

From various chronicles and official records and charters much of the career of Sir Walter de Berkeley, the Chamber- lain, may be traced. The duties of his high office would have kept him in close attendance upon the person of his Royal master, William the Lion, in those historic scenes which come before us with the clear outline and vivid colouring of an illuminated manuscript. ...

William the Lion, with a small band of followers, among whom was his Chamberlain, Sir Walter de Berkeley, was ambushed while riding near Alnwick, in July, 1174. The capture was effected by a band of Yorkshire Barons, and we learn from the account of one of the party, the great lawyer- warrior Ranulf de Glanville, keeper of the Honour of Rich¬ mond, that the value of the Chamberlain, when he came to be assessed for ransom later, was 28 marks.

The Scottish King was hurried ignominiously to Henry at Northampton, with his legs hobbled under his horse’s belly, and on August 8th Henry sailed for Normandy, taking with him his illustrious captive.

It is suggested by the Editor of the Calendar of Scottish Documents, as there is no special entry in regard to so notable a prisoner as the Great Chamberlain, that Walter de Berkeley’s passage to Normandy was probably included in the freight of 40 vessels which conveyed Earl William de Mande- ville and the King’s retinue, with the widowed Countess of Brittany, sister to William the Lion, and other prisoners of high degree in Porchester Castle. They sailed from South¬ ampton to Rouen on August 10th, 1174.

Negotiations between the two kings proceeded slowly during the following months, first at Caen and later at Falaise. We are told that the Scottish King, “all loaded with chains,” was visited by numerous friends, this “consolation” being allowed him on the grounds that their presence was necessary to the discussion of terms of peace.

Greatly as William desired freedom, it was not until five months had passed that he submitted to the humiliating terms dictated by the rapacity of Henry.

On December nth the Treaty of Falaise was signed and William the Lion became the liegeman of the English King, together with his brother, his Barons, the clergy and all his vassals. The castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Stir¬ ling and Edinburgh were delivered to English garrisons at Scottish expense. The Scottish Church surrendered to the supremacy of the Church of England.

Three days after signing the treaty the Lion sailed for England, leaving behind him his brother and twenty-two Scottish nobles, among whom was Sir Walter de Berkeley, as hostages, until the castles had been duly handed over. Each of these noblemen was further required, after his release, to give a son or next heir in pledge for the terms of the treaty.

The actual Homage of Scotland did not take place until a year later, 1175, and is vividly described in Gesta of Henry II by Richard FitzNeal.

“ And . . . King Henry went to York and came thither on the feast of St. Lawrence (10 August) ; and he had there to meet him William, King of Scotland, who had brought with him all the Bishops and Earls and Barons, Knights and Freeholders of his land, from the greatest to the least, to do there homage and allegiance and fealty to the King of England and his heirs forever, against all men, as had been agreed between them at Falaise in Normandy, before the King of Scotland went out from his prison. . . .

“When therefore all were assembled in the Church of St. Peter of York, William, King of Scotland, commanded the Earls and Barons to do allegiance and fealty and homage to Henry, King of England, son of Maud the Empress and to King Henry his son ; and so it was done.

“ At first the King of Scotland himself and David his brother became the vassals of the aforesaid King for all their holdings ; and especially for Scotland and Galloway. And touching the sacred Evangels, they swore to him fealty and allegiance against all men ; and afterwards became the vassals of the King his son, and swore to him fealty, saving fealty to his father.

“Then similarly, by command of the King of Scotland . . . the Bishops, Abbots, Earls and Barons . . . and they swore that if the King of Scotland drew back from the aforesaid agreement, they would hold with the King of England against him until he came to befitting satisfaction and to do the will of the King.

“ And then in the presence of all, the King of England caused to be read and to be confirmed by the King of Scotland and David his brother, the following agreement, which had been made between him and the King of Scotland. . . .

“This is the agreement and the compact which William, King of Scotland, has made with the Lord Henry, King of England, son of Maud, the Empress.

“William, King of Scotland, has become the liegeman of the Lord King against every man, for Scotland and for all his other lands, and has done him fealty as to his liege Lord, as his other vassals were accustomed to do to him. Similarly he has done homage to his son, and fealty, saving his faith to the Lord King his father. . . .

“Moreover the vassals of the Lord King shall hold the lands which they had, and ought to have, of the Lord King, and of the King of Scotland and of his vassals. And the vassals of the King of Scotland shall hold their lands which they had and ought to have, of the Lord King and his vassals.

“And in token to the Lord King and Henry, his son, and to his heirs of the sure observance by the King of Scotland and his heirs of this agreement and compact, the King of Scotland has delivered to the Lord King the castle of Roxburgh, and the castle of Berwick, and the castle of Jedburgh, and the castle of Maidens (Edinburgh) and the castle of Stirling. . . .

“Moreover in token of the fulfilment of the aforesaid agreement and compact, the King of Scotland has delivered up to the Lord King his brother, David, as hostage, and Earl Duncan and Earl Waldeve, and Earl Gilchrist, and the Earl of Angus, and Richard de Morville the Constable . . . and Walter de Berkeley and . . .

“When therefore this had taken place at York, immediately the King of Scotland with his household went back to Scotland from York.”

We may presume that Walter de Berkeley was present in the Minster for the homage, as was David the King’s brother, and that the deliverance of the hostages like that of the surrender of the castles refers to what had already taken place.

It is evident that King William the Lion, during the long months of negotiation, had considerable difficulty in persuad¬ ing his nobles to submit to the terms of this ignominious treaty, forced upon him by conquest and capture. Many proud Scottish hearts bitterly disagreed with it, not a few rebelled openly.

Numerous Scottish families received grants of land from King William and became vassals for fresh estates at this date, among them cadet Barclays.

We read in the Scalacronica of the disputes which arose in consequence of the treaty as follows :

“pur quoi il emprit od ly en Escoce plusours des fitz pusnes der seynours D’Engleterre qi ly estoient beinvoillauntz, at lour dona lez terres dez authres l’y ly estoient rebells. Si estoint Claude des Balliols, de Bruys, de Soulis, et de Moubray et les Saynclers ; les Hayes, les Giffards, les Ramesays, et Laundels, les Biseys, les Berkeleys, les Walenges, les Boyfis, les Montgomeries, les Vaus, les Colevyles, les Frysers, les Grames, les Gourlays, et plusours autres.”

The Scalacronica is not contemporary testimony. It was written by Sir Thomas de Gray during his imprisonment in Edinburgh, 1355-1356 ; it cannot be taken too literally, as it relates incorrectly the sequence of events, but doubtless it represents the facts in stating that because these families ac¬ cepted the agreement with England, their cadets or “pusnes” were enriched by the lands of those who did not, and that they returned home to Scotland in the King’s train.

During the next fifteen years animosity between the Kings seems to have lessened, for the Vassal William repeatedly at¬ tended the English Court, and in 1186 he married a cousin of Henry II, Ermingarde, daughter of the Viscount of Beau¬ mont. But it was not until the accession of Richard I that the wound to Scottish pride was healed, and that only at a price. Richard needed funds to equip his Crusade, and for the sum of 10,000 merks he was willing to surrender all claim of superiority over Scotland.

The work of collecting the good red gold could only have been carried out to the tune of murmurings and discontent, but it was accomplished, and the Treaty of Falaise revoked by the Treaty of Canterbury, on December 5th, 1189. Peace between England and Scotland was now secured for a century.

... Immediately north of Arbroath is Inverkeillor, or Inver- kileder, in which lordship, granted to Walter de Berkeley by King William, stood Redcastle. It is reported to have been built by the Chamberlain, and was described by Lewis, as late as 1849, as “ one of the oldest castellated ruins in Angus, small but some of it still immovably strong, with a considerable rampart, rising from the sheer rock almost perpendicular from the sea, and commanding the whole bay of Lunan, at the mouth of the river Lunan.” Nearby is the Court Hill, where the Lord of Redcastle held his courts, and two castles, Tappy and Fast, once stood on Court Hill Farm. Fast Castle is said to have been the lord’s prison house. There are witch pools in Lunan Water, and the names of Hawk Hill and Gallows Hill,near by, show to what use those spots were severally devoted.

We are told by James Fraser, author of Polichronicon in the seventeenth century, that King William lived with his family “at Redcastle in Angus, near the shore,” during the years when he was building the Abbey of Arbroath. Walter de Berkeley, generally described as “of Redcastle,” would assuredly have been in attendance as Chamberlain if, indeed, he was not at that time the host of the King.

The dedication of the Abbey of Arbroath to St. Thomas of Canterbury has sometimes been held to be an act of direct defiance to the King of England, but that opinion seems hardly justified.

William the Lion and Becket had been well acquainted at the English Court, where indeed the Archbishop had been especially commended to the Prince by the Pope. Canterbury and its shrine was fast becoming the greatest centre of pilgrim¬ age in Christendom. Its proximity to the port of Dover, with all the coming and going for war and crusade, increased its popularity, and King William, in his assiduous cultivation of trade and traffic with the Continent, may well have desired to have a similar centre of attraction in his own kingdom. In his zeal fcr the Abbey of Arbroath he enlisted the practical in¬ terest of his entourage, and among them the Berkeleys.

Lindores Abbey was founded about the same time. Earl David of Huntingdon, “the King’s brother,” owned the castle adjacent to it. The two abbeys were not far apart, for Arbroath (Aberbrothock) is situated in Forfar, where the river Brothoc falls into the North Sea, while Lindores is in Fife, looking over the Firth of Tay, on the opposite side of which, and midway between the two abbeys, is Dundee.

Lindores Castle is said to have been the property of Duncan Macduff, first thane of Fife. In the woods to the west of it are the remains of an ancient cross, that of Magdrum, and about a mile further south, on the confines of Stratherne, is Macduff’s cross, the pedestal of which is still to be seen. A legend tells that after the defeat of the usurper Macbeth in 1057, an d t ^ ie succession of Malcolm Caenmoir to the Scottish throne, Mac¬ duff, as a reward for his assistance, was granted special privi¬ leges for his kinsmen. Clansmen within the ninth degree of relationship could, on reaching the cross, claim remission of the capital sentence by paying the fine for homicide, nine kye (cows) and a colpindash (young cow). It will be seen later that the Barclays of Mathers had occasion to claim the privilege of Clan Macduff, and obtained pardon for the murder of the sheriff of the Mearns in 1421.

Lindores has many interesting associations for the Barclays. The Castle was held by them through marriage with the Brechin descendants of Earl David, and passed from them to the Earl of Atholl, who was executed in 1437. Chiefs of the Brechin line of Berkeleys were styled “Lord of lindores,” and the Barclays of Collairnie, whose castle was near by, were hereditary Bailies of Lindores from February 20th, 1563, until that office was abolished in 1747.

... When it is realised that we are dealing with the history of a man who lived eight hundred years ago, we count ourselves fortunate in being able to trace not only his many journeyings but not a little of the private life of Walter de Berkeley the Chamberlain.

Something of an itinerary could be drawn from the long list of places at which he and his kinsmen attested charters, mostly for King William, and the names of his co-witnesses are so often repeated that they constitute a list of those who must have been his close friends. David, “the King’s brother,” Earls Waldeve and Duncan, Malise, Gillechrist, Gilbert, Richard de Morville the Constable, Roger de Quincey, Richard and William Comyn, William de Laceles (Leslie), Walter and David de Lindeseia (Lindsay), Walter Olifard (Oliphant), Philip de Valoynes and a host of others too nume¬ rous to mention.

Sir Walter de Berkeley married the Lady Eva, daughter of Uchtred of Galloway, and had one son and two daughters. He was a man of great possessions, holding land in different parts of the country. It is recited in a Bull of Pope Alexander III (1175) that he made a grant of land to the Abbey of Holmcultram, in Cumber¬ land. ...He may have held this land through his wife, or possibly the interest of the Lady Eva in the Abbey led to the benefaction. The grant is confirmed by her brother Roland, son of Uchtred, as overlord.

The people of Galloway were among the most turbulent of the Scottish vassals, but the allegiance of their Lords seems to have been secured later, as we find both Roland and his son, Alan, in the Royal service.

John son of Walter de Berkeley is distinguished by being so described in two instances. In a charter by Alan, son of Walter the Steward of the King of Scotland, the name, par¬ tially obliterated “JOA . . . filio Walteri de Berkeley ” is followed by that of Robert de Berkeley, David, “ the King’s brother,” Gilbert, Earl of Stratherne, William de Morev(ille) the King’s Constable, and other highly placed witnesses.

Among those present “in curia regis” in Edinburgh (1189- 1196) we find “John, son of Walter de Berkeley.” His name also occurs in a grant made by his mother, the Lady Eva. It is evident that he predeceased his father.

Walter de Berkeley’s eldest daughter succeeded to his estates. Her name has not come down to us, but his “heiress” married Ingelram de Baliol of Barnard Castle in Durham. Her son Henry was, like his grandfather, Lord High Chamber- lain. It is said by Crawfurd, the historian, that the family of de Baliol, one of whom afterwards became King of Scotland, gained their first footing in that country by the marriage with the heiress of Sir Walter de Berkeley, Lord of Redcastle.

His younger daughter, Margaret, married Sir Alexander de Seton and was ancestress of the Earls of Eglinton and Winton. Sir Alexander de Seton witnesses a donation for Saher de Quincey, Earl of Winchester, to the Abbey of Dunfermline before 1223. He had one son, Secher de Seton.

Sir Walter de Berkeley’s wife, the Lady Eva, survived him and married his old friend and co-witness to many documents, Robert de Quincey, a Northamptonshire Baron. Robert de Quincey had been previously married to Orabilis, daughter of William of Ness, who brought him vast estates in Scotland ; by her he had one son, Saher de Quincey, after¬ wards Earl of Winchester. The date of his second marriage cannot be ascertained. He was Justiciar c. 1175 and went to Jerusalem 1191, when King William remitted part of a debt due by him to Aaron the Jew of Lincoln. Mr. Lindsay was of opinion that he never returned from the Holy Land, but the Northamptonshire Pipe Rolls for 1198 show that he was in England in that year. He was also one of the wit¬ nesses to the foundation charter of Inchaffray.

His wife, the Lady Eva, was once more a widow before the close of the reign of William the Lion, in 1214, as is shown by the following grant, which is of peculiar interest as giving the names of both her husbands, her son, her brother and sister. “ To all the sons of Holy Mother Church present and to come, Eva sometime spouse of Robert de Quinci wisheth greeting. Know ye all that I in almsgiving have bought 25 acres of arable land lying adjacent to the Grange of Edmonstone, and give by this my charter and confirm the same in pure and perpetual alms to God and St. Mary of Melros and the Monks there serving God, for the Safety of my Lord King William King of Scotland my own soul and the souls of my father and mother and of my Lords Robert de Quinci and Walter de Berkeley and Roland my brother and John my son and Christian my sister and all the faithful and I have specially assigned the alms for the use of the convent in terms of the per¬ mission of the Abbot and whole convent.”

The name of Walter de Berkeley first appears in a petition of Robert de Eskedale to King William the Lion for the confirmation of gifts of certain lands bestowed by him upon the church of St. Mary of Melrose under charter from King Malcolm. In this petition the terms of the original charter are quoted in extenso.

“ And of these my gifts, and the charter made in the time of my Lord King Malcolm.

These are the witnesses . . .

Richard Bishop of St. Andrews, Engelram Bishop of Glasgow, Gregory Bishop of Dunkeld, Nicholas Chancellor, Robert de Quincey, Richard Cumin, Robert de Berkeley, Walter de Berkeley and many others.”

The original charter must have been granted in the last year of the reign of Malcolm the Maiden, as Engelram, his Chancellor, was not made Bishop of Glasgow until 1164. It will be noted that Nicholas is described as “Chancellor,” though Crawfurd states that he did not assume that office until the accession of King William in 1165, when Walter de Berkeley succeeded him as Chamberlain. It is suggested that the scribe in entering his name gave him the title which he held at the time of the petition.

Another early charter to which Walter de Berkeley is witness is a deed in which William King of Scotland grants to Orm, son of Hugh (of Abernethy), Inverarichthin (Inverarity) in fee. It is one of the many grants witnessed by Walter de Berkeley at Forfar, where he owned land. A grant to the Abbey of Arbroath by Hugh, the Chancellor, of a toft in the borough of Forfar describes it as near the toft of Walter de Berkeley.

It was while he was Chamberlain that Walter de Berkeley received from the King a grant of Newton, afterwards to be known as Chamberlain Newton, to hold by the service of half a knight.

King William the Lion founded the Abbey of Arbroath in 1178, and his Chamberlain bestowed upon that foundation a considerable benefaction, namely the church of St. Macconoc of Inverkileder. He granted to the said church and Master Henry, the parson, “the King’s clerk and mine,” the “grescanum” and all the service which the land of the said church and the men dwelling on the said land were wont to do to the thanes of Inverkileder and “afterwards to me” : Henry and the men dwelling on the said lands to be quit of all “canum” and rent belonging to us or to any other lay person, and they were to have common of pasture “ with me and all my men in all my land of Inverkileder.”

A renewal of this benefaction is found later, when Ingelram de Baliol, then Lord of Redcastle and Inverkileder, through his wife, the daughter of Walter de Berkeley, adds to it the “ Tithes of my Mill,” in those days a valuable addition.

In the Cartulary of Arbroath we find a particularly interest¬ ing document. It is a grant of William the Lion of one carucate of land in Monethin to the Abbey, signed at Perth 1178-80, and among the witnesses it bears the names of Roger de Berkeley and Walter de Berkeley “Camerario.” Charles Wright Barclay, writer of the first part of this history, was of the opinion that this record referred to the head of the Gloucestershire line, Roger IV of Dursley, at that time paying a visit to his Scottish kinsman, the Chamberlain.

This is the only reference to a Roger de Berkeley in this generation in Scotland, though the name appears some years later.

The charters witnessed by Sir Walter de Berkeley are too numerous to mention in detail. They are to be found in the Cartularies of Kelso (1177-82), Melrose (1171-77), Arbroath (1177-82), Glasgow (1182-90), Dunfermline (1182 or later) and others.

The isolated instance which appears in the Cartulary of Cupar Abbey of “William de Berkeley, Chamberlain,” points to a clerical error, Walter de Berkeley being intended. Craw- furd, in his Lives of the Officers of the Crown , does not allude to him, and in the Preface to the extracts of the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, by John Stewart and George Burnett, they state that they do not believe that William de Berkeley, Chamberlain, ever existed.

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The origin of the Berkeley/Barclay family in Scotland is disputed. Some believe they are a branch of the Anglo-Norman Berkeley family of Gloucestershire, while others have various theories as to their origins. See below for various excerpts and quotes about this family, which contribute to the confusion about Walter's ancestry.

Source <http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-02/moa-07a.html>: "... John de Berkeley had an eldest son, Sir Walter de Berkeley, who m Eva, dtr of Ughtred of Galloway by Gunnilda of Allerdale (granddaughter of Gospatrick, Earl of Northumberland). His dtr Margaret m Sir Alexander de Seton. At this time there appear to be several Berkeleys well established, all of which would be either brothers, sons or nephews of John de Berkeley. Various charters give their names as Walter, William, Humphrey, Robert, Theobald and Richard, and the first two of these held the office of Great Chamberlain of Scotland.

While the continuity of the family is illustrated by the succession of their estates, and of their arms, the exact link between the John de Berkeley who went north with Maud, and the succeeding Chiefs of the Name of Barclay, is yet to be determined with certainty."

Source: Davidson, John, Rev., Inverurie and The Earldom of the Garioch: A Topographical and Historical Account of the Garioch from Earliest times to the Revolution Settlement; A. Brown & Co., Aberdeen 1878. Page 64.

The Barclays date in Scotland from about 1110 and four families were prominent in the time of William the Lion - two of the surnames having held the office of Great Chamberlain. The ancient race came to Aberdeenshire in the same Saxon emigration which brought the Leslies, Gordons, and others, in the time of Princess Margaret. The first was John de Berkely, a younger son of Roger de Berkely, Lord of Berkley Castle [DOUBTFUL], in the time of the Conqueror. From John, the barons of Gartley or Gartentully in the parish so named in Strathbogy (acquired by marriage) and the Barclays de Tolly both descended. The first Castle of Tolly had, it is said, the inscription "Sir Alexander Barclay of Tolly, fundator, decessit, AD 1136.

__________________________________ Source <Caledonia, or an account, historical and topographic, of North ..., Volume 1> Par George Chalmers: "The Berkeleys settled, in Scotland, during the twelfth century : and they were a branch of the great family of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire [INCORRECT]. Robert de Berkeley obtained the manor of Mackiston, about the middle of the twelfth century, by marrying Cecilia, who enjoyed it, as the heiress. They appear to have been succeeded, in the manor of Mackiston, before the year 1200, by Hugh de Normanville, and Alicia, his wife, who was doubtless the heiress of Robert, and Cecilia.

Walter de Berkeley, who was doubtless the brother of Robert, was appointed chamberlain of Scotland, in 1165, when Nicolas, his predecessor, was made chancellor.

Walter obtained from William a grant of the extensive manor of lnverkeilor, in Forfarshire; whereon he built Red-Castle, on an eminence, near the mouth of Lunan-water.; and he was from it sometimes called, the lord of Red-Castle. He granted the church of Inverkeilor, with other privileges to the monks of Arbroth. He had the honour to be one of the hostages, for enforcing the treaty, which restored his master, William, to his people.

Walter held some lands, in Galloway, under Roland, the son of Uchtred: he granted those lands to the monks of Holm-Cultram, which grant was confirmed by Roland, the Lord of Galloway.

When Walter died is uncertain: he was alive, at the end of the twelfth, and died, at the beginning of the thirteenth century; as we may learn from the chartularies. He left an heiress, who married Ingelram de Baliol, who was the first of this family, that settled, in Scotland. Another branch of the Berkeleys took root in the Merns, during the twelfth century; and became the progenitors of Barclay of Mathers, of Barclay of Urie, and of other families, in those northern districts. Humphry de Berkeley, who obtained estates, in the Mems, from William, the lion, was probably ta brother of Walter, the chamberlain. He married Agatha, who witnessed one of his charters. Humphry granted Balfech to the monks of Arbroth. ..." __________________________________ Source <Revue anglo-française: destinée à recueillir toutes les données historiques ...> Par La Fontenelle de Vaudoré: "Sur ces entrefaites, Roger de Mowbray, ayant laissé en garde à ses deux fils aînés sa terre, ses châteaux et ses autres domaines, qu'ils étaient en état de défendre, se joignit au roi d'Écosse, dont il releva le courage. Ils passèrent la nuit à tenir conseil, et décidèrent que , le lendemain matin, ils se mettraient en route pour Carlisle afin d'en faire le siége. Arrivé devant les murs de la ville , Guillaume manda auprès de lui Roger de Mowhray, Adam de Port, qui était venu le trouver à la tête d'une suite nombreuse de chevaliers, et Walter de Berkeley; il les chargea de sommer Robert de Vaux, gouverneur de Carlisle, de lui rendre la place incontinent, s'il ne voulait perdre la tète et causer la mort de ses enfants , de sa famille et de ses amis. Les nobles messagers se rendirent auprès de Robert de Vaux, qui, vêtu d'un haubert et appuyé contre un créneau, jouait avec une épée tranchante qu'il tenait à la main; ils lui firent part de leur commission. Celui-ci leur répondit avec calme qu'il s'inquiétait peu de leurs menaces ; que Carlisle était défendu par une bonne et fidèle garnison ..."

_______________________________ Source <The Scottish Nation: Or, The Surnames, Families, Literature ..., Partie 1> Par William Anderson: "BARCLAY, the same name as the English Berkeley, the Scottish Barclays being originally descended from Roger de Berkeley [INCORRECT], who is said to have come into England with William the Conqueror, and according to the custom of the time, assumed his surname from Berkeley castle in Gloucestershire, the place of his residence and possessions. During the twelfth century a branch of the Berkeley family settled in Scotland, and in 1165 we find Walter do Berkeley chamberlain of the kingdom." _______________________________ Source <Wikipedia>: ... Uchtred had married Gunhilda of Dunbar> , and they were the parents of Lochlann and Eve of Galloway, wife of Walter de Berkeley." _______________________________ Source <Chronicle of the War Between the English and the Scots in 1173 and 1174> Par Jordan Fantosme: "Wautier de Berkelai. This baron is witness to two charters of William the Lion, published in Raine's History of North Durham, appendix, p. 8 and 9. The Berkeleys settled in Scotland in the twelfth century; they were a branch of the great family of this name, whose seat was in Gloucestershire (Dugdale's Baronage, vol. I, p. 349. col. 2). Walter de Berkeley was created chamberlain of Scotland in 1165, when Nicholas, his predecessor, was made chancellor."

Barclay-Berkeley Notes

from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genealogyquest/be...

Source: English Genealogy by Anthony Richard Wagner 2nd ed Oxford, 1972

Page 51 So far as I know, the ancestry of two extant English families only, Arden and Berkeley, can be carried back to pre-Conquest Englishmen.

Page 52-53 ii - Berkeley One other English family can show a probable descent from a pre-Conquest Englishman, though one link in the chain is open to doubt and the suggested identification of the first ancestor is no more than a conjecture. Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, the scene of the murder of King Edward II, both for historical and architectural interest stands in the first rank of English houses, but its unique distinction is that the Berkeley family has held it for eight centuries, since Henry of Anjou (afterwards King Henry II) gave it to their ancestor Robert FitzHarding in 1153 or 1154.

This Robert was a rich merchant of Bristol and the identity of Harding and his father has long been a subject of conjecture and dispute. He is now, however, generally held to have been the same Harding, son of Eadnoth, who held Merriott in Somerset in 1086 and was ancestor through his eldest son Nicholas FitzHarding of the family of Meriet, which held and took its name from that place.

Eadnoth, the father of this Harding, was certainly a pre-Conquest Englishman, but a further theory has been put forward identifying him with a well known Eadnoth, a "staller" or household officer of Edward the Confessor, who was given a command by William the Conqueror and was killed in 1068 leading the men of Somerset against a raid by the sons of King Harold. The name Eadnoth is too common to let us regard this identification as more than an interesting possibility, but on any showing Mr. Robert Berkeley, now of Berkeley, is twenty-fourth in descent from Harding, whose father was probably a thane Eadnoth living before the Conquest. (1)

(1) Complete Peerage, ii. 124-5; Ancestor, viii. 73; Greenfield, Pedigree of Meriet; Freeman, Norman Conquest, vi. 760.

The later history of the Berkeleys cannot even be summarized here, but their long continued eminence in the mediaeval baronage and the modern peerage coupled with their romantic vicissitudes give it unique interest. (2)

(2) See H.P.R Finberg, Glocestershire Studies, 1957, pp 145-59.

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Source: Barrow, G. W. S., The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1973.

Page 332-334

There are surely more published histories of the Barclays than of any other Scottish family. The Barclays histories published in this century are worse than those published in the eighteenth, and those in turn are distinguished for the low level of their medieval scholarship. It has been assumed, on no concrete evidence, that the Scottish family of Barclay (de Berchelai, etc.), which first appears at the end of Malcolm IV’s reign in the persons of Robert and Walter de Berkeley* must be a branch of one or other of the two Anglo-Norman families of de Berkeley of Berkeley in Gloucestershire. Despite this assumption, it has never been possible to point to a single piece of evidence which would link the Scottish and English families. Is it extravagant to look for an alternative explanation? As with Lindsay and Ramsay, we have a Scottish family with an English place-name for surname and a strongly Norman flavour about the Christian names. Near Frome in Somerset there is a small village called Berkley (in 1086, Bercherei). In 1086 its overlordship belonged to a Norman named Roger Arundel, whose tenant in Berkley – that is, the actual lord of the manor – was a certain Robert. (Victoria History of the Counties of England, Somerset, i, 496; Sanders, English Baronies, 72). Roger Arundel’s manors in Somerset – part of a barony whose caput was Poorstock in Dorset – were interspersed among those held by the Fleming, Walter of Douai, father of the gluttonous Robert of Bampton, and they included Cary Fitzpaine (in Charlton Mackerell), not far from Castle Cary. (Victoria History of the Counties of England, Somerset, i, 495; and for the disposition of the Arundel and Douai estates, see the Domesday Map of Somerset contained in the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological Society, vol. xxxv). Cary Fitzpaine seems to have been held by the same tenant as Berkley. At the same time when Henry Lovel of Castle Cary first appears in Scotland, we have the equally unheralded appearance as witness to Scottish royal charters of Godfrey of Arundel (Regesta Regum Scottorum by GWS Barrow, Edinburgh vii, 1971, i, nos. 256, 292, and n) and Robert and Walter de Berkeley. There is surely a case for testing the possibility that the Scottish Barclays took their name from Berkeley in Somerset because their ancestors were tenants there of the Arundels.

This, however, is not the whole story. The Barclay historians not only ignore a possible connection with the Somerset Berkley, they ignore a fact of more fundamental importance. What has always been regarded as the main line of the Scottish Barclays is represented by the family of Barclay of Mathers and their descendants, a family renowned in more modern times for producing field-marshals, Quakers, and bankers. (Michael, Prince Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818), Minister of War under Tsar Alexander I, 1810-13, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army of the west, and in France; Robert Barclay of Urie (1648-90), author of the famous Apology for Quaker Christianity; and James, David and John Barclay, eighteenth-century founders of Barclay’s Bank; all belonged to this line of the family). This line has not in fact been ‘Barclay’ by male descent since before the end of the twelfth century. Some charters of William the Lion prove that the Barclay estates in Laurencekirk and Fordoun were granted by the king to a certain Humphrey, son of Theobald in right of his wide Agatha. (Regesta Regum Scottorum by GWS Barrow, Edinburgh vii, 1971, ii, nos. 344, 345). It was evidently Agatha who was a “de Berkeley’, and her husband and children adopted her surname. One of the charters luckily preserves the original surname of Humphrey, or at least that of his father Theobald, as a ‘de Adevil(l)e’ (Regesta Regum Scottorum by GWS Barrow, Edinburgh vii, 1971, ii, no. 423). I have searched thoroughly, but not exhaustively, for a place of this name in likely regions, and it seems that there is only one such place in the whole of Normandy. This is the hamlet and chapelry of Addeville in the commune of St. Côme-du-Mont, canton Carenton, arr. St Lô, d’ep Manche. Its chapel was in the patronage of the dukes of Normandy, and it had a minor proprietorial family, one of whom, Humphrey de Adeville, made grants to the abbeys of Montebourg and the Holy Trinity Caen (both of ducal foundations) in the early twelfth century. (Delisle-Berger, Recueil des actes de Henri II, ii, 203; RRAN, ii, no. 1684). It is a conjecture, but perhaps not a very wild one that Humphrey, son of Theobald de Adeville, given a rich heiress in marriage by William the Lion and enabled to found the ancient family of Barclay, was a grandson of Humphrey de Adeville who flourished in the time of Henry I.

  • [Regesta Regum Scottorum by GWS Barrow, Edinburgh vii, 1971, i, 283 No. 1). According to G. Crawfurd, History of the Shire of Renfew, 88 one Richard de Barclay was a witness to the foundation charter of the Abbey of Kilwinnig, Ayrshire. The charters are now lost…Richard may be an error for Robert; alternatively, he was another unrecorded member of the family of de Berleley]

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Source: Chalmers, George. Caledonia: or, a historical and topographical account of North Britain from the most ancient to the present times, with a dictionary of places, chorographical and philological. New Edition Vol. II. Paisley : Alexander Gardner, 1887.

Pg. 528

The Berkeleys settled in Scotland during the twelfth century; and they were a branch of the great family of Berkeley in Glocestershire (a). Robert de Berkeley obtained the manor Mackinston about the middle of the twelfth century, by marrying Cecilia, who enjoyed it as the heiress (b). They appear to have been succeeded in the manor of Mackinston, before the year 1200, by Hugh de Normanville, and Alicia his wife, who was doubtless the heiress

(a) Dug. Baron., v. i., p. 349.

(b) Robert and Cecilia, his spouse, granted to the monks of Melrose a carucate of land in the territory of Mackinston, with common of pasturage and other easements : they speak of David I., and Malcolm, as their late lords, and of their Lord William and David, his brother. Chart. Melrose, No. 27.

Pg. 529

of Robert and Cecilia (c). Walter de Berkeley, who was doubtless the brother of Robert, was appointed chamberlain of Scotland in 1165, when Nicholas, his predecessor, was made chancellor (d). Walter obtained from king William a grant of the extensive manor of Inverkeilor in Forfarshire, whereon he built Red-Castle, on an eminence near the mouth of Lunan-water ; and he was from it sometimes called the lord of Red-Castle. He granted the church of Inverkeilor, with other privledges, to the monks of Arbroath (e). He had the honour to be one of the hostages for enforcing the treaty which restored his master William to his people (f). Walter held some lands in Galloway under Roland, the son of Uchtred. He granted those lands to the monks of Holm-Cultrum, which grant was confirmed by Roland, the Lord of Galloway (g). When Walter died is uncertain ; he was alive at the end of the twelfth, and died at the beginning of the thirteenth centurym as we may learn from the chartularies. He left an heiress, who married Ingelram de Baliol, who was the first of this family that settled in Scotland (h). Another branch of the Berkeleys took root in the mearns during the twelfth century, and became the progenitors of Barclay of Mathers, of Barclay of Urie, and of other families in the northern districts. Humphry de Berkeley, who obtained estates in the Mearns from William the Lion, was probably a brother of Walter the chamberlain (i). He married Agatha, who witnessed one of his charters. Humphrey granted Balfech to the monks of Arbroath (k). He probably

(c) Ib., 29, 30. Robert de Berkeley was a witness to many grants of William the Lion, as we may see in the chartularies.

(d) Craw. Off. Of State, p. 253. Robert and Walter de Berkeley, appear as witnesses together in many charters. Chart. Arbroath, No. 84-86; Chart. Glasgow, 25-218; Chart. Cupar, No. 35-39; MS. Monast. Scotiae, 108. Robert witnessed the charters of Walter de Berkeley. Chaer. Arbroath, No. 83-85. There is a charter of Walter de Berkeley, the chamberlain, with his very curious seal appendant in the Diplom. Scotiae, pl. 77. It was witnessed by William de Moreville, the constable, who died in 1196.

(e) Chart. Arbroath, No. 83-4,85-8.

(f) Rymer’s Raed., v. i., p. 40.

(g) Dug. Monsat., vol. v., p. 286.

(h) Off. of State, 253; Ruddiman’s Index to the Diplom. Scotiae. Nisbet pretends that he left two daughters, but this loose intimation is contradicted by charters, which evinces that Ingelram de Baliol was the only person who was called upon to confirm the grants of Walter de Berkeley. Chart. Arbroath, No. 87. Monast. Angl., v., p. 286.

(i) Chart. Arbroath, No. 27. Humphrey de Berkeley withessed two charters of Gilchrist, Earl of Angus. Ib. No. 68-74. App. To Nisbet’s Heraldry, 246. From William, Humphrey obtained the manor of Conveth, which is now called Larencekirk, Monbodach, Balfech, Culbach, Kinkell, Glenferehar, and other lands in Fordun parish.

(k) Chart. Arbroath, No. 124 : as the same had been perambulated by Matthew the bishop of …. (see notes next page of book)

Pg. 530

did not survive his master William, who demised in 1214; and he left the greatest part of his lands to his heiress, Richenda, who married Warnebald, the ancestor of the Earls of Glencairns. As they had no issue they granted their estates in the Mearns to the monks of Arbroath, which were confirmed by Alexander II. (l). She outlived her husband, and during her widowhood confirmed her grant to the monks of Arbroath (c). There was one John Berkeley, whether a nephew or a bastard son of Humphry, who enjoyed a part of his estate, though Richenda was his heiress, and seems thus to have been looked as with envious eyes by Richenda and Warnebald, when they gave such estates to the monks. John de Berkeley disputed with those favoruite monks about some of those lands soon after the death of his father. This controversy was ended by an agreement, which was assented to by his son Robert de Berkeley, and was confirmed by Alexander II. about the year 1225 (m). John de Berkeley had some connection with Roger, the bishop of St. Andrews, who died in 1202, and whose charters he often witnessed (n). The Berkeleys enjoyed other high offices besides that of chamberlain. Walter de Berkeley acted as justiciary under William the Lion. Hugh de Berkeley was justiciary of Lothain between 1202 and 1214, the last twelve years of William (o). Another Hugh de Berkeley was justiciary of Lothain under Alexander III. (p). The brothers Hugh de Berkeley and Walter de Berkeley were among the Magnates Scotiae who entered into a treaty with the Welsh in 1258 (q). Sir David Berkeley obtained the lordship of Brechin by marrying Margaret, the heiress, at the beginning of the fourteenth century. This estate went afterwards to the Maules by another female heir of the Berkeleys (r).

(begin notes from last page) ….Aberdeen, and Gilbert the Earl of Strathearn, “Secundum assisam regni.” This grant was confirmed by K. William. Ib. No. 125. Humphrey was himself a perambulator of lands under the assize of the kingdom. Ib., p. 4.

(l) Chart. Arbroath, No. 20 and No. 21; this confirmation of Alexander was dated the 20th of March, 1243.

(c) Ib. No. 22. Her grant was confirmed by Alexander, 7th March, 1246.

(m) Chart. of Arbroath.

(n) Id.

(o) Chart. Newbotle : Fragments of Scottish History, 45.

(p) Diplom. Scotiae, 36 ; Chart. Soltre, No. 9 ; Chart. Kelso, No. 395. These charters show that Hugh was justiciary of Lothain on 1265, 1266, ad 1267.

(q) Rymer’s Faed., v. i., p. 653

(r) Dougl. Peerage, 87.

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http://www.clanbarclay.org/history/

Clan Barclay History

  • Arms – Azure, a chevron Or between three crosses pattee Argent
  • Badge - Within a strap, a chapeau Azure doubled Ermine, a hand holding a dagger Proper.
  • Motto – Aut agere aut mori – “Either action or death.”
  • Dress Tartan- Yellow and black with white overcheck.
  • Hunting Tartan – Blue and green with red overcheck.
  • Standard – Measuring 12 feet long, this standard was approved by the Lord Lyon’s Office and is for the Chief’s personal use. Azure, a St. Andrew’s Cross Argent in the hoist and of two tracts Azure and or, upon which is depicted the Crest three times along with the Motto ‘Aut agere aut mori’ in letters Gules upon two transverse bands Argent.
  • Pinsel - Authorized by our Chief to be flown by his Commissioner for North America at activities in the United States and Canada when the Chief is unable to be in attendance. Or, displaying the Crest within a strap Azure, inscribed in letters Or with the Motto ‘Aut agere aut mori’ all within a circlet Or, fimbriated Azure, ensigned of a chapeau Azure furred Ermine, inscribed with the title ‘Barclay of that Ilk’ in letters Azure, and in the fly an Escrol Azure bearing in the letters Or this slogan ‘Towie Barclay’ surmounting a stem of mayflower Proper.
  • Plant Badge – a stem of mayflower Proper.
  • Lands – Kincardinshire, Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Ayrshire
  • Origin of name – Place-name from Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England

This brief historical overview of the surname is the official history of the surname and is made available by Clan Barclay International. More information and details of family history can be obtained from: Barclay, Leslie. The History of the Scottish Barclays, reprinted with an index and glossary by Carolyn L. Barkley, FSA Scot ( Willow Bend Books, 1995) and Barclay, Hubert F., Charles W. Barclay and Alice W ilson-Fox. A History of the Barclay Family, 2 vol. (reprint, 1924-1933, Willow Bend Books, 2003).

Roger de Berchelai came to England with William the Conqueror and was granted Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. This early form of the name was believed to be the Anglo-Saxon version of ‘beau’ meaning beautiful, and ‘lee’, a meadow or field. Roger was mentioned in the Domesday Book as well as his son, John. In 1069 John de Berchelai accompanied Margaret (later St. Margaret) to Scotland. In gratitude for his service, King Malcolm (Canmore) granted him the lands of Towie, near Turriff, in Aberdeenshire, as well as the title, Barclay of that Ilk. 900 years of Barclay history in Scotland descend from John’s three sons, Walter, Alexander, and Richard.

In the early days of violence, there was a black day when a nunnery was plundered by the Towie Barclays. Following this event, Thomas the Rhymer wrote the following lines:

“Towie Barclay of the Glen, Happy to the maids, But never to the men.”

This curse was said to haunt the male-heir. It was a belief held so strongly that in 1755, it was given as a reason for the heir’s sale of Towie Barclay Castle, which then passed into the keeping of the Governors of Robert Gordon’s Hospital in Aberdeen. No Barclays have lived in the Castle since.

The Barclays formed important alliances and held land throughout the north-east of Scotland, principally Towie, Mathers, Gartley and Pierston in Aberdeenshire. They also settled in Banff, Collairnie in Fife, Brechin in Forfarshire and Stonehaven in Kincardineshire. One family line settled on the west coast in the Ardrossan and Kilbirnie areas in Ayrshire. Throughout Scotland, they played important roles in national affairs. Sir David Barclay was one of Robert the Bruce’s chief associates and was present at many of his battles. Sir Walter de Berkeley, Gartley III, Lord Redcastle and Inverkeillor, was Great Chamberlain of Scotland 1165-1189. Alexander de Berkeley, Gartley IX, became Mathers I in 1351 when he married Katherine Keith, sister of the Earl Marischal. Their son Alexander was the first to adopt the Barclay form of the surname. Sir George Barclay, Gartley XIX, was Steward of the household of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a later Sir George was second in command of James IV forces in the Highlands in the 1689.

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Children of Walter and Eva

  • a daughter married Ingelram de Balliol

Source <Scotland's historic heraldry> Par Bruce A. McAndrew:
"A third branch, the earliest and most Scottish of the Balliols, descends from Sir Ingelram (I) de Balliol (d ca 1244), brother of Hugh (I) and Henry, who, by marrying a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Walter de Berkeley, obtained the baronies of Redcastle (Inverkeilor) in Forfarshire and Urr in Galloway...."

Source <The History of Normandy and of England Volume IV>: "Bernard's descendants, without relinquishing England or renouncing English allegiance, learned gradually to consider Scotland as more fortunate and congenial to them: yet they must entirely be considered as an Anglo-Norman family, until the marriage of Ingelram de Balliol with the heiress of the great family of Berkeley: the only daughter of Walter de Berkeley, High Chamberlain of Scotland. The Berkeley's themselves being a junior branch of the great Gloucestershire Baronial family, this alliance connected them still more closely with Scotland. A generation later, still higher was the advance of the House of Balliol. ..."

Source <A genealogical account of the principal families in Ayrshire, more ...> Par George Robertson: "... Ingleram de Balliol of Barnard-Castle in the county of Durham. He married the heiress of Sir Walter Barclay of Redcastle in Angus,' by whom he had two sons; Hugh, of whom afterwards, and Henry de Balliol, who was Lord Chamberlain of Scotland in 1224, and might have been so, as Crawfurd thinks, before that time. He succeeded to his mother's lands of Redcastle. He died in 1246, and was buried in the church of Melrose, when Lora his wife did homage to Henry III. for lands he held in England. He left a daughter, Constance, who married a gentleman named Fishburn, and brought to him the lands of Redcastle and others -whose son, Henry Fishburn, possessed them in 1306. Ingleram de Balliol was succeeded by his eldest son, ...""

  • possibly Humphrey

Source <Caledonia, or an account, historical and topographic, of North ..., Volume 1> Par George Chalmers: Another branch of the Berkeleys took root in the Merns, during the twelfth century; and became the progenitors of Barclay of Mathers, of Barclay of Urie, and of other families, in those northern districts. Humphry de Berkeley, who obtained estates, in the Mems, from William, the lion, was probably ta brother of Walter, the chamberlain. He married Agatha, who witnessed one of his charters. Humphry granted Balfech to the monks of Arbroth. ..."


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Walter de Berkeley, Chamberlain of Scotland, Lord Red Castle and Inverkeillor's Timeline

1106
1106
Berkeley, near Frome, Somerset, England
1168
1168
Gartley, Banffshire, Scotland
1170
1170
Scotland
1170
1193
1193
Age 87
Scotland
1992
February 14, 1992
Age 87
May 28, 1992
Age 87
May 29, 1992
Age 87
????
Great Chamberlain