Early Life
William FitzWilliam was probably born in the 1260s. William's father was probably
William FitzThomas;
Baildon4 gives his mother as
Agnes Metham and says that he was executor of his father's will in 1294, which is evidence that his father was William FitzThomas (because the latter died in that year). However, a number of other sources insert more generations between this William and William Fitzthomas. Specifically,
Burke's Peerage3,
Burke's Extinct Peerage2 and
Stemmata Robertson5 have William being the son of William Fitzwilliam (executed 1322) and Agnes Grey. I am sticking to the line indicated in
Baildon4 as
Stemmata Robertson seems utterly unreliable and the two Burke's works may be derived from it (or vice-versa). A mention of Agnes Grey marrying William Fitzwilliam (NB, not FitzThomas) can be found in
Burke's Extinct Peerage (ref below) page 248.
Family Life
William's wife or wives are slightly unclear. Some sources suggest he married Maud or Isabel Deincourt, others suggest that Maud ____ and Isabel Deincourt were two different people. This latter interpretation is the one I follow; his first wife
Maud ___ would have died by 1324 and he then married Isobel Deincourt; the latter was dead by 1348. Specifically, this is the line taken by
Baildon4. William's eldest surviving son,
John, would have been most likely the son of
Maud ____.
William's eldest son, also called
William, was taken prisoner at
Boroughbridge and hanged at
Pontefract on the 22
nd of March 1322, in his father's lifetime.
Other
From
Burke's Peerage3:
Summoned as Baron in the 1st Edward III to the Muster of Arms, but never afterwards as Baron or to Parliament as such.
Executor of father's will in 1294
1.
From
The Complete Peerage1:
Sir William Fitz William, of Emley and Sprotborough, co. York, was sum[moned] for Military Service against the Scots, 5 Apr 1327 I Edw. III, by writ directed Willelmo filio Willelmi. Dugdale, mistaking the nature of this writ, states that he "had summons to Parl. in I Edw. III, but never after" but he was never, at any time, so summoned. He was living 11 April 1340 and was dead in 1342.
Apparently, on the 11
th of April 1340 he was exempted from going beyond seas or elswhere on the King's service as he was too old and infirm to serve; John his son having to serve in his stead as the King should order
1.
Footnotes
[1]
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant (2nd Edition, 1926); GE Cockayne; Volume 5, pages 518-520
[2]
A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New Edition), by Sir John Bernard Burke, London, 1866. Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton (page 216)
[3]
Burke's Peerage, 99th Edition (1949), Fitzwilliam (pages 769-770)
[4]
Baildon and the Baildons, a History of a Yorkshire Manor and Family, by W Paley Baildon, Volume 1, page 353
[5]
Stemmata Robertson et Durdin, by Herbert Robertson, London 1893-95, page 156
Abt 1265 - 1342 (~ 75 years)
