Marriage found in War of 1812 pension

 

When researching my paternal grandmother’s ancestry, I try to keep track of what events occurred during my ancestor’s lifetime.  For example, my 3^rd great-grandfather, Peter J. Skinner (born 17 January 1784 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and died on 23 July 1874 in Casco, Maine) was born after the Revolutionary War which his father participated in and Peter was too old during the Civil War in which several of his sons served as soldiers in the Union Army.  However, Peter Skinner was just the right age (30 years old) to serve in the War of 1812.  This representing three generations of men serving at a time of conflict.

Despite being called the War of 1812, it was a conflict between Great Britain and the United States which began in 1812 and did not end until 1815 officially.  Some of the basic reasons that began the conflict was due to British restrictions to impede trade by blockades between the States and France which Britian was at war with.  The impressment of American sailors into the British Royal Navy, claiming they were British deserters and Britain’s support of Native American resistance of American expansion further west since the Revolutionary war.  America had only gained its independence from Britian 36 years beforehand.  On June 1, 1812, President James Madison sent a declaration of War to Congress, and the War of 1812 began the day after Madison signed the measure into law on June 19, 1812.

 

President James Madison (Wikipedia)

Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a base for smuggling and illegal trade between the United States and the British. Until 1813, the region was generally quiet except for privateer actions near the coast. In September 1813, the United States Navy's brig Enterprise fought and captured the Royal Navy brig Boxer off Pemaquid Point. On July 11, 1814, Thomas Masterman Hardy took Eastport, Maine without a shot and the entire American garrison, 65 men of Fort Sullivan peacefully surrendered. The British temporarily renamed the captured fort "Fort Sherbrooke". 

In September 1814, John Coape Sherbrooke led 3,000 British troops from his base in Halifax in the "Penobscot Expedition".  In 26 days, he raided and looted Hampden, Bangor and Machias, Maine while also destroying 17 American ships.  He won the Battle of Hampden with the loss of two men and only one American. The British occupied the town of Castine, Maine for the rest of the war.  The Treaty of Ghent returned the territory the United States. (Source Wikipedia)

 

John C. Sherbrooke (from Wikipedia)

From the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia of the War of 1812, p. 210 we find Peter Skinner’s name as a soldier in Capt. E. Cobb’s Company and Lieut. Col. J. E. Foxcroft’s regiment with service from Sept. 10 to Sept. 24, 1814; raised at Gray, Maine and service at Portland, Maine during this time of the raids occurring further north in Maine by John Sherbrooke.

After the war, Peter married his 1^st wife, Susanna Mitchell, probably a cousin as his mother was Katherine Jordan and Susanna’s mother was Sarah Jordan about 1815.  They had one daughter, Catherine born in 1816 and Susanna died in 1820.  Peter then married Sarah (Sally) Meserve.  No record of Peter’s marriage had been found in the town of Raymond, Maine where he lived or in Cumberland County marriage records.  As his first child was born in 1822, it was reasonable to assume he was married about 1821.  Peter and Sally Skinner had 11 children born in Raymond, Maine where Peter was a farmer.  The area of Raymond which they resided in was annexed to form the town of Casco, Maine which was his residence afterwards.

Vital Records of Raymond, Maine, book 1, p. 64

Fold3 has been a website where Military records for soldiers can be located.  For many years, the only record for Peter Skinner was a card showing his widow, Sally’s pension number for her husband’s service in the War of 1812.  

However, Fold3 has been adding the War of 1812 pension records to its site over the past few years.  Now the Widow’s Pension of Sally Skinner is available. 

Although I knew the dates and company that Peter had served in, it was his date of marriage to his wife, Sally that was the true gem of the record.  Sally had to show that she was Peter’s widow and entitled to a pension by proving she married him and witnesses to state she was his widow and had not remarried after his death.  The Widow’s Pension provided the marriage date of January 27, 1822, in Raymond, Maine, with eight months to spare before their first child was born.

 

The witnesses she provided were her daughter-in-law, Ellen (Gay) Skinner and Ellen’s brother, Albert R. Gay and their mother Mary Gay.  The Gay family had been the closest neighbors to Peter and Sally Skinner.  Her petition for a pension was approved in 1879.  Sally died on 20 October 1889 in Casco, Maine.  Most of the information in the pension was already known from the above published lists of soldiers of the War of 1812.  Sally included that Peter Skinner had married before their marriage in 1822, but no date which would have been another gem to have.  

Both Peter and Sally and several of their children are buried in Murch Cemetery, Casco, Maine.  Peter's first wife and daughter are buried in Skinner Cemetery, Raymond, Maine.

The Mount Desert Ferry Accident family connection

 

There has always been a connection between my paternal Great-Grandmothers, Emmie (Mower) Smith and Edna (Southard) Skinner with a marriage between families in the early 1800s.  But a tragedy in 1899 at Mount Desert in Maine tied the families together with another connection.

On August 6, 1899, what is called the Mt Desert Ferry Accident saw both sides lose a family member.  Their names were Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower.

                                                                Ellen (Horn) Billings

Ellen or Elizabeth Horn was born in Ripley, Maine on 16 April 1831, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Tucker) Horn.  Although Ellen’s family resided in Ripley, they were active in the Dexter, Maine Baptist Church where they were founding members.  Her mother, Sarah Tucker was the daughter of John Tucker, the 2^nd settler of Dexter, Maine.  Ellen married Albert Holland Billings on 21 July 1853 in Dexter, Maine, a widower with a young daughter.  They would have 4 more children together.  On the 1860 census of Dexter, Maine, Albert H. Billings was listed as a Universalist clergyman.  Not sure what issues this may have caused Ellen to break with her father’s church while he was still living.  However, by 1870, Albert was a dealer in wool and woolen products while living in Dexter with his wife and children.   By 1880, Albert and his family had moved to Bangor, Maine where he was listed as a canvasser.  He died in Bangor 25 April 1896 and buried in Dexter, Maine.  His widow, Ellen took up the occupation of a hairdresser.

Obituary for Mary T (Horn) Mower

Ellen’s older sister was Mary Tucker Horn.  She was born on 28 January 1810 in Ripley, Maine, 20 years older than Ellen.  She married Dan Mower on 18 April 1828 in St. Albans, Maine.  Dan was from Greene, Maine and followed his brothers to the Dexter area.  Dan and his wife settled first in Ripley, Maine where he lived on the 1830 census.  He then moved to Sangerville, Maine and then to Bangor, Maine after 1845.  He died on 21 June 1849 in Bangor, Maine leaving his widow with six children.  On the 1850 census of Bangor, Mary Mower, age 38 had no occupation and was probably living off wages from her son, Amos Mower, who was a tin plater.  Mary made the decision to move herself and daughters to California by sailing down the east coast of the states and South America around the Horn and back up the west coast to San Francisco.  Her eldest daughter, Sarah Jane Mower, had a talent for cooking and the gold miners paid good money for her meals. Eventually the family moved to Gold City, Nevada where even more wealth was gained.  Mary returned to Napa, California where she appears in Directories and census records.  She died 16 October 1890 in Napa City, California.

                                                                    Amos Horn Mower

Mary’s eldest son, Amos Horn Mower who was born 26 Jul 1830 in Ripley, Maine would eventually follow his family to California.  After his father’s death in 1850, he became the main supporter of his mother and siblings as a tin plater in Bangor, Maine.  His mother appeared to have sold any remaining property in Maine in 1851 and headed west to California when Amos moved to Boston, Massachusetts to continue his occupation.  He married Margery Kenniston on 1 May 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts.  She was born in Kenduskeag, Maine in 1832.  They had 7 children, two in Massachusetts and the rest in San Francisco where he became a wealthy tinsmith. However, on the 1880 census, his occupation was a plumber.  Amos died on 4 October 1882 in San Francisco.

Margery (Kenniston) Mower

It was in August 1899 that Bar Harbor, Maine was the location that several of the war ships from the Spanish American War were going to be stationed.  These ships had stopped in Portland, Maine harbor where tours were given.  Many people from Maine were excited to make the trip by train from Bangor to the ferry at Mount Desert to Bar Harbor that August of 1899.  Among them were Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower.  Ellen and Margery were aunt and niece by marriage, but the same age and may have been friends despite the distance between Maine and California.  Margery would have had family in Maine to visit and kept an acquaintance with her in-laws.  It would be strange to think the two women went alone to see the warships and not have known the other.   It was never stated in any papers that two women were together, but with both being widows and different surnames, it may not have been known to the press.

                                                The Commercial, 3 August 189

On August 6, 1899, the women took the train from Bangor to Mount Desert where they and almost 200 other people quickly departed the train to walk across a slip to the ferry. 

                                                        Plan of the exit from Trains to the Ferry

According to numerous newspaper accounts, the slip was poorly made of wood and collapsed under the weight of the people trying to board the ferry.  The center gave way, plunging all into the ocean water fifteen feet below.  Many were rescued, some clung to the boards still connected to the ferry by chains.  Some individuals were assisted by ropes to exit the water, while others who were able to swim reached safety independently However, for those who could not swim or pushed under by the many who fell on top of them in the water ultimately drowned.   When it was over, 20 people drowned.  

Among the dead were Ellen Billings and Margery Mower.  Sadly, Margery was one of the last to be identified as her niece had drowned and no other relative accompanied her.  One of Amos Mower’s cousins, Mr. H.G. Mower of Dexter, Maine came to identify her body. 

An investigation called the tragedy an accident and the coroner’s report blamed it on the poor construction of the slip that boarded people on the ferry. 

                                    The Commercial, 8 August 1899

 Ellen and Margery funerals were held together, but each were buried with their husbands in Maine and California.

       

 Funeral Notices from the Commercial 8 August 1899.

The local papers still continued to print that the trains to Mount Desert and Bar Harbor were still running the next day to ensure people could continue to see the warships in the Harbor.

                        

One another note, when I googled Spanish American warships in Maine.  My search yielded nothing.  In fact, an automated reply stated there was no evidence that the warship ever went to Maine. However, several papers carried articles on the ships in Portland and Rockland as well.

    My Family connection to both Ellen (Horn) Billings and Margery (Kenniston) Mower

                        Ebenezer Mower                        Thomas Horn=Sally Tucker

                        /          \                                    /                      /          \

    John Mower          Dan Mower=Mary Horn            Ellen Horn    Sabrina (Horn) Moore

            ׀                                   ׀                                                                       ׀

Penn Mower           Amos Mower=Margery Kenniston      Georgetta (Moore) Southard

            ׀                                                                                                           ׀

Emmie (Mower) Smith                                                                 Edna (Southard) Skinner

                        ׀                                                                                               ׀

            Donald C. Smith                           married                        Ethelyn V. Skinner

                                                                        ׀

                                                            Glenn S. Smith

                                                                        ׀

                                                            Peter M. Smith

Not Charmed: Three sisters accused of witchcraft in 1692

I have always been drawn to certain events in history, The Tudors of England, King Philips War, The Revolutionary War, Civil War and the Salem Witch Trials. I have written about my ancestor Mary (Perkins) Bradbury who was accused, tried and found guilty of witchcraft. Recently I found I had an even stronger connection to this event in history with my ancestor, Mary (Towne) Estey and her sisters on my paternal grandfather’s side. The trials would see three of the Towne sisters accused and convicted of witchcraft. They were Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Mary (Towne) Estey and Sarah (Towne) Cloyce. The hysteria began after several young girls became claiming their were being tormented by other members of the community through witchcraft and spectres.

Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, the daughter of William and Joanne (Blessing) Towne was baptized on 21 February 1621 in Great Yarmouth, co. Norfolk, England. She was one of eight children and came with her parents to Massachusetts in 1635, settling at Salem, Massachusetts (now Danvers, Massachusetts). She married Francis Nurse around 1644 and had eight children. He was a tray maker by occupation. He was a Constable of Salem, and Rebecca was known as a pious woman in the community. 

On 23 Mar 1692, a warrant was issued for the arrest of 71 year old Rebecca Nurse based on accusations of Edward and John Putnam. Upon her arrest, she stated said, "I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that He should lay such an affliction on me in my old age." Another accusation came from Sarah Holton, a neighbor who claimed that Rebecca upset about their pigs trespassing on their property cursed her husband, Benjamin Holton. The night of the quarrel, Benjamin began having convulsions and died several weeks later. Despite this claim, Sarah spoke out against the injustice of the trials. 

Drawing of Rebecca Nurses's trial

 At her trial on 30 June 1692, she was not allowed to have a lawyer and the “afflicted girls” often claimed Rebecca was tormenting them and their spectral evidence was allowed. Many people spoke on her behalf and she was found not guilty. However, due to the public outcry and the torment of the young girls, the jury asked for a second chance of deliberation. She was asked to explain a remark she made about Deliverance Hobbs “being of her company.” Rebecca who was hard of hearing thought they were referring to Deliverance being another accused witch. She was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging on 19 July 1692. 

Sarah (Towne) Cloyce was born 7 January 1637 in Salem, Massachusetts. She married John Bridges and had several children before his death. She remarried to Peter Cloyce/Cloyse, a widower and had three more children. On 27 March 1692, after Rev. Parris spoke of the evil afflicting his family and congregation. After reading a passage, Sarah Cloyce got up and left the sermon slamming the door behind, which some felt was in solidarity with her sister Rebecca Nurse.

Darwing of the accused at public Interrogation

On 11 April 1692, the 50-year-old, Sarah was interrogated and maintained she was innocent. She was jailed without bail and taken to a prison in Boston. Returning later in June to a prison in Ipswich. It was after the deaths of her sisters that Governor William Phips dissolved the court in October 1692. A new Superior Court was formed in December 1692 and in January 1693, the new court dismissed the charges against. However, Sarah and her husband still had to pay her prison fees. They immediately petitioned to be released from church and moved their membership to Framingham, Massachusetts where they settled.

Mary (Towne) Eastey was baptized on 24 August 1634 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.  After her arrival in Salem, Massachsuetts, she married Isaac Eastey, a farmer and barrell maker in 1655. They had eleven children. Like her sister Rebecca Nurse, Mary was a pious and respected citizen of Salem, and her accusation came as a surprise. 

During the examination on 22 April 1692, when Eastey clasped her hands together, Mercy Lewis, one of the afflicted, imitated the gesture and claimed to be unable to release her hands until Mary released her own. Again, when Mary inclined her head, the afflicted girls accused her of trying to break their necks. Mercy claimed that Mary’s spectre had climbed into her bed and laid her hand upon her breasts. In the face of such public hysteria, Mary Eastey defended herself with remarkable eloquence: when she was asked by the magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin how far she had complied with Satan, she replied, "Sir, I never complied with Satan but prayed against him all my days, I have no compliance with Satan, in this ... I will say it, if it is my last time, I am clear of this sin." Hathorne, showing a momentary doubt about her guilt, went so far as to ask the girls if they were quite sure that Mary Eastey was the woman who afflicted them. 

Spectre Evidence at Witchtrials

Mary Eastey was released from prison on 18 May 1692 after two months. However, on 20 May, Mercy Lewis claimed that Eastey's spectre was afflicting her, a claim which other girls supported. A second warrant was issued that night for Eastey's arrest. She was taken from her bed and returned to the prison; Lewis ceased her fits after Eastey was chained. Eastey was tried and condemned to death on 9 September and hung to death on 22 September 1692. 

In the aftermath of the trials with only one sister who survived she spent her time trying to clear her sisters’ names. The Eastey family received 20 pounds compensation for her wrongful death in 1711. In the decades following the trials, survivors and family members (and their supporters) sought to establish the innocence of the individuals who were convicted and to gain compensation. In the following centuries, the descendants of those unjustly accused and condemned sought to honor their memories. Events in Salem and Danvers in 1992 were used to commemorate the trials. In November 2001, years after the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the trials, the Massachusetts legislature passed an act exonerating all who had been convicted and naming each of the innocent. The trials have figured in American culture and been explored in numerous works of art, literature and film.

Photos and source material atken from Wikipedia

Framlingham Castle: The Howard Family and beyond

 

The Howard Family

John Howard succeeded to a portion of the Mowbray estates.  He was created the 1^st Duke of Norfolk.  Between1483-1485, John Howard probably began the sequence of improvements to the castle.   Under the Howards, the castle was extensively modernized; fashionable brick was used to improve parts of the castle; ornamental chimneys were added; the battlements were reduced in size to exaggerate the apparent height of the walls, and the Howard coat of arms was added to the gatehouse.  The Great Chamber was probably built across the Inner Court at this time, linking the Great Hall with the chapel and chambers on the east side of the castle, and by 1524 there were at least 29 different rooms in the castle.  On 22 August 1485, John Howard killed at Bosworth Field during the War of the Roses between the Yorkist, which side Johnn Howard chose and the Lancastrians, and his estates passed to his son.

Sir Thomas Howard (b. 1443) became the 2^nd Duke of Norfolk, who commissioned a hanging or 
tapestry depicting Hercules for the Great Chamber. Thomas married Lady Elizabeth Tilney, (ancestor, thru her 1^st marriage).  In 1487 upon the Lancastrian Victory, Sir Thomas Howard was attained and forfeited his lands and titles and placed in the Tower of London.  King Henry VII then gave the castle to John de Vere.  In 1513, Thomas Howard gained favor with King Hery VIII. after fighting at the victory of Flodden.  Framlingham was returned to Thomas and the Duke spent his retirement there; he decorated his table at the castle with gold and silver plate that he had seized from the Scots at Flodden.  The castle was expensively decorated in a lavish style during this period, including tapestries, velvet and silver chapel fittings and luxury bed linen.   A hundred suits of armor were stored in the castle and over thirty horses kept in the stables. Thomas and Elizabeth Howard were the grandparents of Queen Catherine Howard and Queen Anne Boleyn, wives of King Henry VIII.  Sir Thomas Howard died on 21 May 1524 at Framlingham Castle and his estates passed to his eldest son,

Sir Thomas Howard, 3^rd Duke of Norfolk (b. 1473).  Thomas made little use of the castle.  He married Anne Plantagenet, a daughter of King Edward IV in 1495.  In 1547, Sir Thomas Howard was attained, out of fears from his rivals lead by Edward Seymour that the Howards aspired to claim the crown.  All his honors were forfeited, and he was ordered to be executed.  However, King Henry VIII died the day before Thomas was to be executed.  King Henry VIII’s son, King Edward VI kept Thomas imprisoned at the Tower and gave Framlingham castle to his half-sister, Mary, who would become the 1^st Queen of England.

1553 Queen Mary gathered her supporters at Framlingham Castle to protest the claim to the throne by 
Lady Jane Grey and led a successful march on London and proclaimed Queen of England. Mary returned the castle to Thomas Howard for his loyalty.  Thomas did not return to Framlingham and the castle was leased out.  In 1558 Queen Mary of England died and she was succeeded by her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I.  In 1572, Thomas Howard was executed for treason by Queen Elizabeth I of England. Repairs to the castle appear to have been minimal from the 1540s onwards, and after Queen Mary left Framlingham, the castle went into a fast decline.  A survey in 1589 noted that the stonework, timber and brickwork all needed urgent maintenance, at a potential cost of £100.   The Great Park was turned into fields in 1580.  As religious laws against Catholics increased, the castle became used as a prison from 1580 onwards; by 1600 the castle prison contained 40 prisoners, priests and recusants.  

In 1613, King James I returned the castle to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, but the castle was now derelict.  His son, Theophilus Howard sold the castle for £14,000 to Robert Hitcham in 1635, who died a year later leaving the castle to Pembroke College with the proviso that the inner buildings be destroyed and a workhouse be built inside. Over the following centuries the castle was used as an isolation ward for victims of the plague in 1666, storehouse during the Napoleonic Wars, later as a local jail.

The castle workhouse

In 1913, an act by Parliament to secure ancient monuments and buildings resulted in Pembroke College giving guardianship of the castle to the Commissioner of Works.  Today the castle is managed by English Heritage as a tourist attraction.

Panoramic View of the interior

Here ends the history of Framlingham castle and any connection my family had with the castle.

Framlingham Castle: The Mowbray Family

 

The Mowbray Family

Ancestors of my grandfather, Donald Smith

Thomas de Mowbray (Born 1366) was created the1^st Duke of Norfolk on 39 September 1397.  His mother being Lady Elizabeth Seagrave, 5^th Baroness Seagrave (b 1338) who married Lord John de Mowbray, 4^th Baron Mowbray. The Mowbrays seem to have used Framlingham Castle as their main seat of power for most of the 15th century. Thomas de Mowbray had a daughter, Isabel Mowbray (b. 1400), who was my direct ancestor.  Thomas was accused of treason which led to his banishment and his land was confiscated in 1398. He was allowed £1000 a year to support himself in exile.  In October 1398, he left for a trip to the Holy Land. On his return trip, he died of pestilence in Venice, Italy on 22 September 1399.  The creation of the dukedom was annulled by Parliament on 6 October 1399.  Reducing his widow's tilte to Countess of Norfolk.

Thomas’ eldest son Sir Thomas Mowbray, (born in 1385), Earl of Norfolk.  Thomas was involved in the Scrope conspiracy in 1405 (a plot to murder King Henry V by Lord Henry Scrope).  Thomas was executed without trial on 8 June 1405.  His brother was his heir.

Sir John de Mowbray was born on 3 August 1390 and succeeded his brother as heir to Framlingham Castle from his great-grandmother's estate.  The title of Duke of Norfolk was restored to him 30 April 1425.  He served as Earl Marshal at the coronation of King Henry VI. In 1432, Sir John Mowbray died, and the castle passed to his son.

Framlingham Castle, Mowbray family seat

Sir John de Mowbray (b, 1415) was the 3^rd Duke of Norfolk and inherited Framlingham Castle.  He was appointed Ambassador to France in 1439.  He served as Earl Marshal at the coronation of King Edward IV in 1461.  Sir John Mowbray died on 6 November 1461.

Sir John Mowbray (b. 1444) succeeded his father as 4^th Duke of Norfolk and to Framlingham Castle and died there on 16 or 17 January 1476. 

His daughter, Lady Anne Mowbray, (b. 1472) was betrothed to Richard, Duke of York, which they became Duke and Duchess of York and Norfolk as children. Lady Anne Mowbray died in 1481, and Richard died in 1483, ending the dukedom of Norfolk.  Anne was co-heir with a cousin, John Howard (b1425), a descendant of her great-grandfather’s sister, Margaret de Mowbray (b 1388-d. 1459).  The castle would again change family hands.

Framlingham Castle: The Plantagent Family

 

The Plantagenet Family 

Ancestors of Donald Smith & Ethelyn Skinner

King Edward I

    Upon the death of  Roger Le Bigod, 7th Earl of Norfolk in            1306, Framlingham Castle reverted to the Crown, under the        King  Edward I.  There is no information if any of the royal            family resided there at any time after the Bigod's death. 

King Edward II

When King Edward I died in 1307 and his son, King Edward II succeeded him to throne of England.  Again the Crown retained control of Framlingham Castle.  King Edward held the castle until 1310.

 

Lord Thomas of Brotherton

   King Edward gave the castle in 1310 to his half-brother, Thomas     of Brotherton (b. 1 June 1300), the son of King Edward I and his     2^nd wife, Marguerite of France.  He was granted the Earldom and     became the Earl of Norfolk.   Records show that Framlingham was     only partially furnished around this time, although it is unclear if        this was because it was in limited use, or because fittings and            furnishings were moved from castle to castle with the owner as he     traveled, or if the castle was simply being refurnished. The castle        complex continued to thrive. On 23 August 1338, Lord Thomas of     Brotherton, died at Framlingham Castle. The castle then passed to     his widow, Lady Mary de Brewes.  She died on 11 June 1362. 

King Edward III

King Edward II died in 1327 and his son, King Edward III became the King of England.  Upon the death of Lady Mary, Countess of Norfolk. King Edward III then granted the castle to William de Ufford, 2^nd Earl of Suffolk (b. 1338; d. 1382).  It appears it was still within the Royal Family's properties for KIng Edward to grant it to another Royal descendant.

Image of William in stained galsss

    William de Ufford had married Joan de Montagu, the                           granddaughter of Lord Thomas of Brotherton and daughter of            Alice of Norfolk (King Edward III’s first cousin).   William de            Ufford’s sisters, Cecily and Margaret de Ufford are direct                ancestors of my grandfather, Donald Smith.  Although William de     Ufford and his wife Joan had five children, none of them survived     childhood.  

Upon his death in 1382, the castle was returned to his wife’s family, passing to Margaret of Norfolk (b. c1322), Countess of Norfolk, daughter of Thomas de Botherton and Joan de Montagu’s aunt. She had been born at Framlingham Castle and spent her childhood there. Margaret married John Segrave, the 4th Baron Segrave in 1335 and had four children.  

Framlingham Castle, Margaret's residence

In 1350, she sought an annulment of her marriage claiming she was bethrothed to her husband at an early age and never agreed to live with him.  King Edward III wanted to keep her children legitimate. If her marriage was annulled then her children would be considered illegitimate and ruin his plans to marry her children into other royal Plantagent families.  In 1349, King Edward arranged for a double marriage between two of the Segrave children to two of the Mowbray children.  Two years later in 1351, King Edward III charged Margaret of violating his prohibition of trvaeling to France.  An inquistion revealed she had gone to France unlawfully by crossing the channel with servant of a man who would become her 2nd husband, Sir Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny. The servant broke hi latern so she would go unnoticed and traveled with her in France.  Before Margaret could receive her annulment, her husband John Segave died in 1253 and she married Sir Walter Manny in 1254 without affected the birth staus of her children.  In 1297, she was created Duchess of Norfolk for life.  Margaret of Norfolk died on 24 March 1399 and her estate passed to her grandson.

Framlingham Castle: The Bigod Family

 

I watched a show on Public Television called “Lucy Worsley investigates Bloody Mary” which the noted British historian reviewed the reign of England’s ruling 1^st Queen Mary I.   At one point, Lucy

Worsley interviews an expert on Mary’s gathering of her supporters to take the throne from the Nine-day Queen, Lady Jane Grey.  They were conducting the interview at Framlingham Castle where her supporters joined her.  I recognized the name of the castle from tracing my English nobility ancestors who at one point owned the castle.   However, doing a Wikipedia check, I realized that several generations of my ancestors had owned and resided in the castle on different family lines of nobility.   I also discovered that my ancestral families lost or gained the castle depending on their support or opposition of the ruling monarch (also my ancestors).  This is an attempt to trace one castle through my family ancestors over many generations.

I soon realized that tracing the castle through various ancestral families over several generations and hundreds of years was more of a daunting task than I thought.   I am breaking up the ownership of the castle by the different families that resided there through the centuries.  As most of my cousins are also descendants of these ancestors, I will include where we diverge from ownership at various times in history.  Direct ancestors will be in bold type.   The information on the history of the castle came from Wikipedia.  My ancestors biuographies came from Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson, [2013] 5 vols.

Wiliam the Conqueror
Ancestor of my grandparents
Donald Smith, Ethelyn Skinner, Harold Strout & Myrtle Multon

I will begin with my ancestor, William the Conquer of England.  William invaded England in 1066 and seized the crown to become King of England.  After his conquest, William granted his Norman supporters titles and vast lands in England.  Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, a Norman noble (and my direct ancestor of my grandfather Donald Smith) provided 60 ships to William to sail his army to England.  Richard is said to have married Emma de Conteville, a half-sister to William the Conqueror.  He was father to Margaret le Goz (where my Smith ancestral line diverges).  Richard le Goz died in 1082.  His son Hugh d”Avranches, Earl of Chester (b. 1047) inherited estates and property of his father.  Hugh was the half-nephew to William the Conqueror.

The Bigod Family
Ancestors of all four of my grandparents 

In 1086, William the Conqueror granted 117 out of 629 manors in Suffolk County that his half-nephew Hugh, controlled to Roger le Bigod, who became the 1^st Earl of Norfolk in 1074.   Roger was born in 1047 and arrived with William during his conquest. 

Around 1100, a ringwork or motte and bailey castle was first built on the present site of the castle .  In 1107, Roger Le Bigod died, his estates and title passed to his son, William Le Bigod, 2^nd Earl of Norfolk.  William drowned on 25 November 1120 in the famous White ship disaster in which almost 300 nobles drowned.    

William’s brother, Hugh le Bigod, born in 1095, became the 3^rd Earl of Norfolk as he inherited the family estates and titles.  Between 1123-1154, Hugh le Bigod was one of a group of dissenting barons during the Anarchy in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154).   In 1148 is the first mention of a castle at Framlingham completed by Hugh le Bigod.  In 1157, after coming to power King Henry II of England (reigned 1154-1189) attempted to re-establish royal influence across the region. As part of this effort, Henry confiscated the four Bigod castles from Hugh.  During this time, the crown-controlled Framlingham Castle. 

In 1165, King Henry II returned both Framlingham and Bungay Castles to Hugh le Bigod, on payment of a large fine of £666.  During the 1160s, the first set of stone buildings, including the first hall, were built within the castle.  In 1173, Hugh le Bigod joined the revolt by King Henry II’s sons to overthrow him but failed.  As punishment the King ordered several Bigod castles, including Framlingham, to be destroyed or slighted (the deliberate act of damaging high-status structures to reduce their value). The King's engineer, Alnoth, destroyed the fortifications and filled the moat at Framlingham between 1174 and 1176 at a total cost of £16 11s 12d, although he probably shored up, rather than destroyed, the internal stone buildings.  It was one of at least twenty castles belonging to the rebels to be slighted in the aftermath of the war.

In 1177, Hugh le Bigod died, his son, Roger le Bigod (born 1144), became 4^th Earl of Norfolk, as his heir.  Roger was out of favor with King Henry II, who initially denied him the family earldom and estates such as Framlingham because of his father’s support of his sons who sought to overthrow him. Between 1189-1213, Roger finally regained royal favor when King Richard I succeeded to the throne in 1189 to 1199. Roger then set about building a new castle on the Framlingham site – the work was conducted relatively quickly, and the castle was completed by 1213. 

The plan for Framlingham Castle

The new castle comprised the Inner Court, defended with 13 mural towers: an adjacent Lower Court with smaller stone walls and towers, and a larger Bailey with timber defenses.   By this time, a castle-guard system was in place at Framlingham, in which lands were granted to local lords in return for their providing knights or soldiers to guard the castle.  In 1199, King John I inherited the throne from his brother, King Richard I.  During his reign, he lost most of his ancestral lands in France to King Philip II.  The money King John needed was raised by taxing the nobles which Roger le Bigod opposed.  In “The First Baron’s war” began between King John I and rebel barons who opposed to his rule including Roger le Bigod in 1215.  On 12 March 1216, King John’s army arrives and surrounded the land of Roger.  King John arrived the next day.  Messages were sent on the 14^th and Roger, knowing the outcome of other castles being besieged, agreed to surrender without a fight and King John moved on to other rebel nobles.  On 19 October 1216, King John died, and his son became King Henry III of England.

In 1221, Roger le Bigod died, and his estates and title passed to his son, Hugh le Bigod (born 1182) and became the 5^th Earl of Norfolk.  He is father of Isabel le Bigod (b. 1211) and where my ancestral line ends with this family.  In 1225, Hugh le Bigod died, and the castle passed to his son, Roger.

Framlingham Castle, The Bigods main seat

Roger le Bigod (b. 1209), was now the 6^th Earl of Norfolk.  A large park, called The Great Park, was created around the castle; this park is first noted in 1270, although it may have been constructed somewhat earlier. The Great Park is enclosed 600 acres, stretching 1.9 miles to the north of the castle and was characterized by possessing bank-and-ditch boundaries, common elsewhere in England but very unusual in Suffolk. The park had a lodge built in it, which later had a recreational garden built around it. Like other parks of the period, the Great Park was not just used for hunting but was exploited for its wider resources.  In 1270, Roger le Bigod died without children and the castle passed to his nephew, Roger le Bigod.

Roger le Bigod, (b. 1245), 7^th Earl of Norfolk, was the son of Hugh le Bigod (b.1211-d.1266).  In 1270, Roger undertook extensive renovations there whilst living in considerable luxury and style.  Although still extremely wealthy, Roger was now having to borrow increasing sums from first the Jewish Community at Bungay, England.  In 1272, King Henry III died and his son, King Edward I inherited the throne of England.  King Edward I in 1290 issued an edict of the expulsion of the Jews and Italian merchants by the end of the century. Roger then became heavily in debt to King Edward I.  As a result, Roger led the baronial opposition to Edward's request for additional taxes and support for his French Wars.  

Roger is considered the hero of an disagreement between King Edward I and himself when the King commanded him to serve against the King of France in 1297.  Roger asserted he was only compelled to serve over seas in the company of the King himself.  Upon King Edward responded "By God, Earl, you shall either go or hang!"  Roger replied "By the same oath, O King, I will neither go or hang."

King Edward I threatening Bigod to go to France

Edward responded by seizing Roger's lands and only releasing them on the condition that Roger granted them to the Crown after his death. Roger agreed.  In 1306, Roger le Bigod died without heirs and Framlingham Castle passed to the Crown of England.  This ended the Bigod's family connection to the castle.