Christopher FitzRandolph, II

The Fitz Randolph Coat-of-Arms

Coat-of-Arms: Argent a Chief indented Azure.

Crest: On a chapeau or, turned up azure, a wyvern of the last.

Motto: "Jamais Arriere" (Never behind).

A Coat-of-Arms is the whole heraldic achievement. shield, helmet, mantling and crest.

The Crest is an object worn on the helmet and attached to it by the wreath.

The Chief is the upper part of the shield divided by a horizontal line.

The Motto is used to express a principle, goal or ideal.

Argent = Silver, which represents nobility, peace and serenity.

Azure = Blue, which signifies loyalty, fidelity and truth.

Or = Gold, the most excellent metal that exceeds all others in value.

Wyvern = Most valiant of horned creatures, with a keen sense of sight which affords him the ability to guard riches and treasures.

The Arms were used to identify one man from another. They came into use in the conflicts and battles of the 11th and 12th centuries. The use of armory grew up to meet a practical need, and was not under centralized control until a later period. Some took arms of their own accord. Some were granted by the rulers in recognition of deeds of valor or service.

In England, the "College of Arms" was founded in 1484, and although not a government department, accumulated a great quantity of heraldic and genealogical information. Starting in 1530 during the reign of Henry VIII, "Visitations" by emissaries of the Crown were made to record all coats-of-arms and to determine if those bearing the arms were entitled to do so. Visitations continued until 1688.

In the United States, arms in social life are used to indicate family name relationships.

The Fitz Randolph Coat-of-Arms was registered as the ancestral arms of Edward Fitz Randolph (the immigrant of 1630) and was approved 13 June 1972 by the Committee on Heraldry, New England Historic Genealogical Society, and is listed as number 625 in the Roll of Arms.

                                                                     * * * * * * * 

Christopher of Hucknall under Huthwaite, Parish of Sutton-in-Ashfield,

Co. Nottingham, England.

He is mentioned in his mother's will, July 1573, Proved April 1574.

His Will (Dated 20 June 1588, proved 01 April 1589) mentioned inheritance of his wife (not named) and the names of 4 sons. Witnesses: Thomas Fitzrandall and Richard Stout. (Source: Peculiar Court of the Manor of Mansfield).

1630 - Came to America with his son, Edward. (Source: "Nathaniel Fitz Randolph Records"). Hugh D. Vail's Manuscripts say that Edward came to America with his widowed mother.

Information Sources:

1. New England Hist and Gen. Register, Vol XCVII. p. 295-298.

2. Abstract of Will dated 20 June 1588 - Proved 01 April 1589.

3. Proceedings of The New Jersey Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. II, 1897, p.355.

1840. Christopher Fitz-Randolph, born 1530 in Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashford, Nottinghamshire, England; died June 28, 1588 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England. He was the son of 3680. Christopher Fitz-Randolph and 3681. Jane or Joane Langton. He married 1841. Ann Wood.

1841. Ann Wood, born Abt. 1550 in Normantown, Darby, England; died Aft. 1588.

Child of Christopher Fitz-Randolph and Ann Wood is:

920 i. Edward Fitz-Randolph, born 1565 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England; died October 27, 1647 in Kneesall, Nottinghamshire, England; married Frances Howe December 17, 1605 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England.

Christopher Fitz Randolph of Hucknall under Huthwaite, Parish of Sutton-in-Ashfield in the County of Nottingham. Mentioned in the will of his mother, 1573 and proved April 1574. Buried at Sutton-inAshfield, June 28, 1588. Christo-pher's will dated 20 June 1588 and proved 1 April 1589 mentioned inheritance of wife and four sons. (James, Anthony, Ed-ward and Christopher). Witnesses, Thomas Fitzrandall and Richard Stought. Christopher is the s/o of Christohper FitzRandolph. (Randolph 1980 p-588)

Edward is thes/o Christopher Fitz Randolph and and Ann Wood. (Randolph 1980 p-588)

Spouse: Ann WOOD. Christopher FITZRANDOLPH and Ann WOOD were married. Children were: Edward FITZRANDOLPH.

920 i. Edward Fitz-Randolph, born 1565 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England; died October 27, 1647 in Kneesall, Nottinghamshire, England; married Frances Howe December 17, 1605 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England.

Christopher Fitz Randolph of Hucknall under Huthwaite, Parish of Sutton-in-Ashfield in the County of Nottingham. Mentioned in the will of his mother, 1573 and proved April 1574. Buried at Sutton-inAshfield, June 28, 1588. Christo-pher's will dated 20 June 1588 and proved 1 April 1589 mentioned inheritance of wife and four sons. (James, Anthony, Ed-ward and Christopher). Witnesses, Thomas Fitzrandall and Richard Stought. Christopher is the s/o of Christohper FitzRandolph. (Randolph 1980 p-588)

Edward is thes/o Christopher Fitz Randolph and and Ann Wood. (Randolph 1980 p-588) -------------------- Christopher FITZRANDOLPH was born in 1530 in Sutton-In-Ashfield, Notts England. He died on 28 Jun 1588 in Sutton-In-Ashfield, Notts England. Parents: Christopher FITZRANDOLPH and Jane Joan LANGTON.

Spouse: Ann WOOD. Christopher FITZRANDOLPH and Ann WOOD were married. Children were: Edward FITZRANDOLPH.

COAT-OF-ARMS. Argent a Chief indented azure. CHREST. On a chapeau or, turned up azure, a wyvern of the last. MOTTO. Jamais Arriere - Never behind Coat-of-Arms. The whole heraldic achievement, shield, helmet, mantling and crest. Crest. Object worn on helmet and attached to it by the wreath. Chief. Upper part of the shield divided by a horizontal line. Motto. Used to express a principle, goal or ideal. argent. Silver - represents, nobility, peace, and serenity. or Gold - Most excellent metal and exceeds all others in value. Wyvern. Most valiant of horned creatures with a keen sense of sight which affords him the ability to guard riches and treasures..

This Coat-of-Arms registered as the ancestral arms of Edward Fitz Randolph the immigrant of 1630 was approved 13 June 1972 by the Committee on Heraldry, New England Historic Genealogical Society and is listed as number 625 in the Roll of Arms.

Burke's General Armory, 1884 gives this discription, "Fitz-Randolf (Langton Hall, Co. Notts, 1614, and Chesterfield Co Derby, Edward Fitz Randolph. Visit Nots, 1614). "Ar. a chief indented az Crest - on a chapeau or, turned up az, a wyvern of the last.. This gives a description of identified with the Fitz Randolphs of Nottinghamshire and Spennithorne.

Ranulf Fitz Robert, 4th Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, b. 1251, bore the arms of his grandfather Glanville, "argent, a chief indented azure. Crest, on a chapeau or turned up a wiverne of the last". His second son (our line) Ranulf bore the Arms of his grandfather Glanville. Ranulf's descendants in the male line contiued at Spennithorne until the early part of the 16th Century.

Ranulf de Glanville, Judiciary of Henry II 1181-85, took prisoner the Scotch King William the Lion at Alnwick in 1174 and thus for the first time Scotland and the Scottish church was brought under subjection to England.

According to the family history, compiled by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Obama is a 10th-generation grandson of Edward FitzRandolph, a 17th century farmer who arrived in Barnstable from Scituate in 1639, after having journeyed from England, according to “Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families,” a book of historical Barnstable families, published in 1979.

“He is called in deeds a yeoman, or farmer, and does not appear to have been employed in any official station,” the book reads of FitzRandolph, who is believed to have fathered four children in Barnstable. “He had received a good education for those times and … he probably belonged to a good family.”

After 30 years in Barnstable, Edward FitzRandolph and his family moved on to Piscataway, N.J., where the family became involved in politics and helped found Princeton University. A gate bearing the FitzRandolph name still stands on the Princeton campus.

The FitzRandolph connection to the Obama bloodline launched centuries later when Edward FitzRandolph’s great-granddaughter Prudence married a man named Shubael Smith, whose daughter Mary married Jonathan Dunham, joining the FitzRandolphs with the Dunham clan. Five generations later, Jonathan Dunham’s great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Ann Dunham, gave birth to Obama.

The Family in Early English Times and Its Descent THROUGH Lines of Nobility and Royalty

In his old age Ribald entered the convent or abbey of St. Mary's, York,* and died about 1131, leavii^ three sons, namely, Ralph, or Randolph (his heir), Hervey and Henry. Randolph married Agatha, daughter of Robert De Bruis. His son, Robert, commonly known as Lord Robert Fitz Randolph, commenced to build the castle at Middleham, A.D. 1190.

Robert had three sons, the second of whom was called Randolph Fitz Robert or Randolph Fitz Randolph. Robert's wife was Helewisa, daughter of Ralph de Glen- ville. She, after Robert's death, founded Coverham Abbey.

Ralph (or Randolph) Fitz Randolph married Margery, the daughter of Robert Bigot, Duke of Norfolk, leader among the great barons who forced the Magna Charta from King John. Randolph died in 125 1 and was buried in Coverham Abbey. His son, Ralph (or Randolph) Fitz Randolph (whose wife was Anastasia, daughter of Will- iam, Lord Percy) founded the Grey Friars at Richmond, Yorkshire, and died in 1270, leaving three daughters.

According to Gale, Ribald's childless brother Bodin went with him into monastic retirement.

It is known that the Castle of Middleham, built by Robert Htz Randolph, passed into the possession of Robert Neville, who married Mary, eldest of the three daughters* of the last-mentioned Randolph Fitz Ran- dolph ; and the descendants of Robert Neville and Mary Fitz Randolph have filled the foremost places in English history. Their blood has come down to our day in the veins of all the Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart and Guelph sovereigns of England (always excepting Henry VII, the first Tudor king, who seized the crown on a pretense), and the same Fitz Randolph blood is commingled in nearly all the important royal families of Continental Europe. Entering through Richard Plantagenet (who married the great, great, great granddaughter of Mary Fitz Randolph of Middleham) the lineage includes Edward IV, Richard III, Edward V and his sister Elizabeth, the queen of Henry Vll. A few details are given below, including a review of a few facts already mentioned. These are gathered from various historical authoriti.es — including Green's History of England, Hume's History of England, Gairdner's House of Lancaster, British Cyclopedia, Vol. 14, page 257, J. P. Pritchett's "Works of the Nevilles" and "Account of Middleham Castle and Church," and the works of Dug- dale, Banks and other writers.

'Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England by T. C Banks, London, 1807, Vol. I, page 165. Also see Baronage of England in Saxon Time to Norman Conquest by Wm. Dugdale, London, 1675, Tome 1. Bnlwer Lytton says in "The Last of the Barons"— "Middleham Castle was built by Robert Fitz Ranulph, grandson of Ribald, younger brother of the Earl of Bretagne and Richmond, nephew to the Conaueror." The novelist here follows (in remd to the Kinship of Alan to William) the lines of Dugdale and Banks, differing somewhat from Gale's carefully drawn genealoji;ical statements. The writer of this book brings forward the opinion entertained by Dugdale, Banks and Bulwer in exhibiting the quaint picture from Drake's Eboracum, but he inclines to Gale's opinion as probably more accurate.

Robert Fitz Randolph built the Castle of Middleham, A.D. 1190. His wife was Helewisa de Glanville.

Their son Randolph* Fitz Randolph (sometimes called Ralph Fitz Robert) married Margery, the daughter of Robert Bigot, the Ehike of Norfolk. This was an im- portant alliance. Roger Bigot (or Bigod) was Con- stable of Norwich Castle, one of the founders of Nor- wich Cathedral, and one of the first great leaders to pro- test against absolute Papal domination in England. His seal and that of his son are found on the exemplification of Magna Charta, which he was largely instrumental in obtaining for the English people from King John; and both he and his son were numbered among the twenty- five barons who then controlled the sovereignty of England.

The son of Randolph and Margery was Ralph (or Randolph) Fitz Randolph who married Anastasia, daugh- ter of William, Lord Percy,t and died about 1269.

Their daughter, Mary Fitz Randoph, married (about 1260) Robert Neville, Lord of Raby, lineally descended from Uchtred, the great Saxon Earl of Northumberland 'Randolph, or Ranulphus. or Ralph. He and others of this name are mentioned in various recoras and histories, sometimes under one style and again under another. As Henry and Harry and Hal are substantially one name, so are the various forms of the name Randolph, and they are so used in this book, the writer more frequently using the name Randolph as the admitted solvent and equivalent of others. In Gale's Latin "Kegis- trum,'* on which great reliance is placed, the forms used in the records of the Fitz Randolphs, Nevilles and Westmorelands are Ranulphus and Radulphus.

tThe Fitz Randolph blood has received a double injection of the blood of the great Percy family. Earls of Northumberland and Worcester. We have here the fact that the mother of Mary Fitz Randolph of Middleham was a Percy, and we shall see later that her great grandson joined in wedlock with one of this illustrious family. These two lines ox kinship were much united in fortune and in feeling. Thev fought and fell together at Towton in the fifteenth century, and in the sixteenth they together essayed — ^bravely though fruitlessly — to withstand Tudor aggression.

and his wife, Elfgiva, daughter of King Ethelred II. Robert Neville died in 1271. His wife died in 1320.

Their only son was Ralph (or Randolph) the first Lord Neville, who was summoned to the House of Lords by Edward I in the famous Parliament of Lincoln called in the year 1301. He died in the fifth year of Edward HI, that is A.D. 1332. His first wife was Euphemia, daughter of John Qavering. Their only child, Robert, died childless in 1318. His first wife having died also, he married Margery, daughter of Marmaduke Thweng, and they had one son, Ralph or Randolph, who was the hero of the Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. This Ran- dolph enlarged the Castle of Middleham in 1400. He died in the forty-first year of Edward III, that is A.D. 1368. His wife was Alicia, daughter of Hugo de Au- dley, and their only son was John (de Neville) who par- ticipated with his father in the glory and the gain of Neville's Cross, conducting the negotiation by which the Scottish King David, captured at that battle, was ran- somed for a large sum. John married for his first wife Mathilde de Percy,* and for his second wife Elizabeth daughter and heir of Lord Latimer, of Danby. He died A.D. 1389. The posterity of the second wife's children appears to have come to an end in the next generation. By the first wife John had a son, Randolph, who was by Richard II in the year 1397 created Earl of Westmore- land. Randolph of Westmoreland was a vigorous, able man who lived until the year 1435. He had two wives

• Here the blood of the Percies, Dukes of Northumberland and of Worcester again mingles with the Fitz Randolph blood — continuing so to do through subsequent generations and until our day. The father of Matilda (a descendant of William. Lord Percy, namely Lord Henry Percy) defended and protected John Wycliffe against the Archbishop of Canterbury.

by whom he had about an even score of children, nearly all of whom became titled and powerful. His large es- tates were principally divided between the eldest son by the first marriage (who, of course, became Earl of West- moreland) and the eldest son by the second marriage, who became the great Earl of Salisbury and Warwick (whose more famous son, the Earl of Warwick, was known as "Warwick the King-maker"), having the York- shire estates of Middleham and Sheriff-Hutton.

The first of the two wives of Ralph or Randolph de Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, was Margaret, Lady Stafford, a descendant of King Edward I, and the second wife was Joan of Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, who was a son of Edward III.

For the moment we defer specific attention to the line descending from Randolph, Duke of Westmoreland, by his first wife. Lady Stafford, and proceed with the nota- ble line of descent from Randolph and his second wife, Joan of Beaufort. By this wife he had amongst other children, a daughter named Cicely, who was called "The Rose of Raby,"* who married Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who was slain at the battle of Wakefield in 1460.

In view of the fact that the line of Nevil, or Westmore- land, enters so largely into the warp and woof of this narrative, we interrupt here the genealogical details above commenced to insert a few lines from the 283d and 284th pages of the second volume of Hume's History of England touching the character and record of Richard Pritchctt remarks, "Nearly every royal family in Europe can trace its descent from the same noble and beautiful lady, called 'The Rose of Raby.' "

the Nevil* family :

"Richard was a man of valor and abilities, of a pru- dent conduct and mild disposition : he enjoyed an oppor- tunity of displaying these virtues in the government of France ; and though recalled from that command by the intrigues and superior interest of the Duke of Somerset, he had been sent to suppress a rebellion in Ireland, had succeeded much better in that enterprise than his rival in the defence of Normandy, and had even been able to attach to his person and family the whole Irish nation whom he was sent to subdue. In the right of his father he bore the rank first of prince of the blood; and by this station he gave lustre to his title derived from the family of Mortimer, which, though of great nobility, was equalled by other families in the kingdom, and had been eclipsed by the royal descent of the house of Lancaster. He possessed an immense fortune from the union of so many successions, those of Cambridge and York on the one hand, and those of Mortimer on the other; which last inheritance had before been augmented by a union of the estates of Qarence and Ulster with the patrimonial pos- sessions of the family of March. The alliances, too, of Richard, by his marrying the daughter of Ralph NevU, Earl of Westmoreland, had widely extended his interest among the nobility, and had procured him many con- nections in that formidable order,

"The family of Nevil was, perhaps, at this time the most potent, both from their opulent possessions and from the characters of the men, that has appeared in England. For, besides the Earl of Westmoreland and the Lords Latimer, Fauconberg, and Abergavenny, the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick were of that family, and were of themselves, on many accounts, the greatest noblemen of the kingdom. The Earl of Salisbury, brother-in-law to the Duke of York, was the eldest son, by a second marriage, of the Earl of Westmoreland, and inherited (by his wife, daughter and heir of Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, killed before Orleans) the possessions and title of that great family. His eldest son, Richard, had mar- ried Anne, the daughter and heir of Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who died Governor of France ; and by this alli- ance he enjoyed the possessions, and had acquired the title of that other family, one of the most opulent, most ancient, and most illustrious in England. The personal qualities also of these two earls, especially of Warwick, enhanced the splendor of their nobility and increased their influence over the people. This latter nobleman, commonly known, from the subsequent events, by the appellation of the King-maker, had distinguished himself by his gallantry in the field, by the hospitality of his table, by the magnificence, and still more by the generosity, of his expense, and by the spirited and bold manner which attended him in all his actions. The undesigning frank- ness and openness of his character rendered his conquests over men's aflfections the more certain and infallible ; his presents were regarded as sure testimonies of esteem and friendship, and his professions as the overflowings of his genuine sentiments. No less than thirty thousand per- sons are said to have daily lived at his board in the different manors and castles which he possessed in England; the military men, allured by his munificence and hospi- tality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his interests; the people in general bore him an un- limited affection; his numerous retainers were more de- voted to his will than to the prince or to the laws ; and he was the greatest, as well as the last, of those mighty barons who formerly overawed the crown and rendered the people incapable of any regular system of civil gov- ernment."

Richard and Cicely had six children, namely. King Edward IV; Edmund, Earl of Rutland (who, with his father was slain at Wakefield) ; George, Duke of Clarence (who married Isabelle Neville, daughter of Warwick, the King-maker) ; King Richard III (who married his cousin, Ann Neville, second daughter of the great Warwick) ; Elizabeth (who married John de la Pole, Duke of Suf- folk) ; and Margaret who married Charles, Duke of Bur- gundy.

The first of the above six children, Edward IV, had four children, namely: Edward V; Richard, Duke of York; Elizabeth (who married Henry VII) ; and Cath- erine, who married Sir William Courtenay.

Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth, just mentioned, had (in the male line) Henry VIII, who had (by his wives Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour) children named Mary and Elizabeth and Edward, who all reigned and died without issue. Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth also had daughters, Margaret and Mary. Mary's granddaughter. Lady Jane Grey, was beheaded in 1554. Margaret married for her first husband James IV, King of Scots, and for her second husband, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus. The son of James IV was James V, whose daughter was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. The daughter of Margaret and Archibald Doug- las was Margaret Douglas, who married Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lenox. Their first child was Henry Stuart, Lord Damly, who married Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of James V, as above, and their son was James I of Eng- land, who was also James VI of Scotland.

James I of England was the father of Charles I (bom 1600, beheaded 1649, married Henrietta of France) and of Elizabeth (bom 1596, died 1662), whose husband was Frederick, Elector of Palatine.

Charles I was the father of Charles II, and also of James II and of Mary, who married William, Prince of Ocange. Mary and William were the parents of William III, who married his cousin Mary, — ^first daughter of James II and his first wife, Ann Hyde.

Elizabeth, daughter of James I, had a daughter Sophia, who married Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover. Their son was George I, King of England (born 1660, died 1727), who married Sophia Dorothea Zell.

Their son was George II (bora 1683, died 1760), who married Caroline of Brandenburg-Anspach. Their son was Frederick, Prince of Wales, born 1707, died 1751. His son was George III, bom 1738, died 1820, married Charlotte, of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

George and Charlotte had four children: George IV, William IV, Edward, Duke of Kent, and Emest Augus- tus, King of Hanover. The line of English royalty has descended through Edward, Duke of Kent, and through Victoria, who was born in 1819, and who married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Thus Edward VII, now King of England (son of Victoria), and all the English sovereigns reigning before him from Edward IV downward (excepting only Henry VII), have carried in their veins the blood of the Fitz Randolphs, all of them being descended from Robert Fitz Randolph, Lord of Middleham.

We have thus followed to some extent the descent of Ralph or Randolph (sometimes also called Ranulph), son of Robert Fitz Randolph, Lord of Middleham. Later on we shall see that Robert had three sons, only one of whom was childless, and two of whom had long lines of descent, and that the family of one of these dwelt long at Spennithorne near Middleham.

It has been seen that Ralph, or Randolph, son of Ribald and father of Robert Fitz Randolph, Lord of Middleham, married Agatha, daughter of Robert de Bruis (or de Bruce). This last-named Robert was the first Robert de Bruce, father of the distinguished line of eight Robert Bruces, and it is not amiss here to quote the resume of this line as given in the Encyclopaedia Bri- tannica by Dr. Aeneas J. G. Mackay — ^this resume ending with King Robert, the hero and victor of Bannockbum.

'The first Robert de Bruce, a follower of William the Conqueror, was rewarded by the gift of many manors, chiefly in Yorkshire, of which Skelton was the principal. His son, the second Robert, received from David I, his comrade at the court of Henry I, a grant of the Lordship of Annandale ; and his grandson, the third Robert, siding with David against Stephen at the battle of The Standard/ became a Scottish instead of an English baron. The fourth Robert married Isobel, natural daughter of William the Lion, and their son, the fifth Robert, married Isabella, second daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, niece of the same Scottish king."

"Robert, called The Bruce (1274-1329), King of Scot- land, was the son of the seventh Robert de Bruce, Lord of Annandale in his own right, and Earl of Carrick in right of his wife Marjery. . . . His grandfather, the sixth Robert de Bruce, claimed the crown of Scotland as son of Isabella, second daughter of David, Earl of Hunt- ingdon ; but Baliol, grandson of Margaret, eldest daugh- ter, was preferred."

At Bannockbum, June 24, 1314, Bruce routed the army of Edward II, secured the independence of Scotland and cc^^rmed his own title to the throne.

• i'he chief author of Scottish independence [King Rol>irt, the Bruce] barely survived his work. His last years had been spent chiefly at the Castle of Cardross; . . . and the conduct of war, as well as the negotiations for peace, had been left to the young leaders, Randolph and Douglas, whose training was one of Bruce's services to his country."

It will be seen that Robert Fitz Randolph, Lord of Middleham, was grandson to the renowned head of the Bruce family, and that, not only in the veins of the British royal family, but also in the veins of the Fitz Randolphs of New Jersey (descendants of Robert Fitz Randolph of Middleham) still flows the blood of the Bruces.

It is proposed to trace the detailed record of the Eng- liidi Fitz Randolph family, which removed to the New World about the year 1630, and to dwell somewhat on c^tain pivotal facts which occurred in Nottinghamshire Bboat a hundred years earlier than tiie Pilgrimage. I am informed that an American gentleman, who has spent much effort in tracing the history of this Fitz Randolph family, of which he himself is a member, has ascertained to his own complete satisfaction that the American and Nottinghamshire line came down directly and distinctly from Lord Robert Fitz Randolph, the builder of the Castle of Middleham. I have not had access to his doc- uments, or proofs; but in pursuing an independent and somewhat painstakmg line of research I have been irre- iHstibly led to a like conclusion. As to the reasonableness of this conclusion the reader i^ invited to judge.

Our American forebears, adopting cordially the broad doctrine of human equality, have made small insistence on descent from noble families — whose claims and views would have disallowed the democratic faith of their pos- terity. Moreover, the conditions of life into which the Pilgrim of the seventeenth century came were hard and engrossing. He and those who came after him for a cen- tury or more took scant interest in recurring to themes no longer practical and hardly congenial. Yet through all this, and adown the Fitz Randolph generations, ran a sentiment and a tradition going back to Langton Hall and to the Castle of Middleham, and to the ancient lead- ers of Normandy and Brittany. Occasionally as public journalism progressed, a printed article would appear bearing along this tradition. It has been an agreeable diversion to the writer, after half a century of struggling with practical and imminent duties, to trace this tradition to its early sources.

I am convinced that the family which lived in Notting- hamshire in the sixteenth century and in the early part of the seventeenth century, and which then emigrated to Massachusetts, and almost forty years later settled at Pis- cataway near the eastern coast of New Jersey, had its origin in* the kinship associated with the great Earl Alan and his brothers whom I have mentioned (sons of Eudo of Brittany), and may. in common with many great fam- ilies in Europe claim as their ancestor the redoubtable Lord of Middleham. ,.\

The possibilities of the precise lines of descent from Alan's brothers, sons of Eudo, at first appear somewhat various. The name Fitz Randolph, used every now and then as a family name for successive generations, appears amongst ancient writings and registers in various though not in many placeSjjknd always apparently derived from, and having reference to, this particular group.

• ____________________

'The Magna Charta sureties, 1215: the barons named in the Magna Charta, 1215 ... By Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William

• http://books.google.com/books?id=59XcwoRK9jkC&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq...
• Pg. 193-196
• 1. ROGER BIGOD (3-1), 2nd Earl of Norfolk, Magna Charta Surety, 1215, b. c. 1150, d. 1221; m. Ida. (CP IX, 586-589).
• 2. MARY BIGOD, heiress of Menethorpe, co. York; prob. m. Ranulf fitz Robert, lord of Middleham, co. York, to which he succeeded by 1206, d. bef. 7 Dec. 1252, bur. at Coverham Abbey, co. York; held 6 knights' fees in the honour of Richmond, co. York, and 6 in Norfolk, the latter acquired presumably from the Bigods. (Clay, Early Yorkshire Charters, V:303; The Genealogist, n.s. 3:33; Feudal Aids 6: 156; VCH, North Riding of York, 1: 254).
• 3. RANULF fitz RANULF, lord of Spennithorne, co. York, b. c. 1220/5, d. bef. 1294; m. Bertrama, widow of Sir Roger de Ingoldsby. (VCH cit. 1: 258).
• 4. RALPH fitz RANULF, lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1250/60, d. bef. 1316; m. Theophania (or Tiffany) de Lascelles, dau. and coheiress of Sir Roger de Lascelles (IV) of Kirkby-under-Knowle, co. York, who is now considered by legal fiction to have been 1st Baron Lascelles. (VCH cit. 1: 258; Clay, Early Yorkshire Charters, "Lascelle Fee", V 182-186; CP VII, 446-449)
• 5. RANULF fitz RALPH, lord of Spennithorne, sometimes called Ranulf de Lascelles, b. c. 1300, d. aft. 1343; m. Isabel. (VCH cit., 1: 258; Feet of Fines for co. of York, 1327-1347, p.166).
• 6. JOHN fitz RANULF, lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1325, d. bef. 1369; m. by Oct. 1343, Maud "de Campania," who m. (2) Robert de Hilton, lord of Swine. (VCH Cit., 1: 259; Feet of Fines for co. of York, loc. cit.: Yorks Archaeol. Journal, 25: 174).
• 7. RANDALL (or RANULF) fitz JOHN, lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1345, d. aft. 1388. (VCH cit. 1: 259).
• 8. SIR JOHN RANDALL (or FITZ RANDOLPH), KNT., lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1374, beheaded, 1405 for taking part in the rebellion of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, and other northern magnates. (VCH cit. 1: 259; C.W.C. Oman, Political History of England, 1377-1485, pp. 194-198; see Close Rolls, 17 Feb. 1407, for lands of which Sir John was seised at time of his death).
• 9. SIR RALPH FITZ RANDALL (or FITZ RANDOLPH), KNT., lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1398, under age in 1407, will dated 20 Jan. 1457/8, pr. ult. Jan. 1457/8; m. Elizabeth. (VCH cit. 1: 259; Sir Ralph's Will is printed in Surtees Soc. Publ., 26: 4).
• 10. JOHN FITZ RANDOLPH (or FITZ RANDOLPH), ESQ., lord of Spennithorne, b. c. 1420, d. 5 Mar. 1474/5; m. Joan Conyers, eldest dau. of Sir Christopher Conyers, Knt., of Hornby Castle, co. York. b. c. 1380. d. aft. 1462, m. (1) bef. Sept. 1415 Ellen, b. c. 1399, d. 6 Aug. 1444, dau. of Thomas Rolleston of Mablethorp, co. Lincoln, Esq., by Beatrice Haulay his wife, heiress of Ingleton, co. York. (VCH cit. 1: 259: J.W. Clay, Extinct & Dormant Peerages of the Northern Counties of England, 32-33; Yorks Arch. Soc. Record Series, 59: 105, Inq.p.m. of Thomas Rolleston).
• 11. JOHN FITZ RANDOLPH, b. perhaps 1455/60, prob. d. bef. 1514, presumed to have been third or fourth son of John Fitz Randolph and Joan Conyers, and brother of Sir Ralph Fitz Randolph of Spennithorne (c. 1444-1517) and of Christopher Fitz Randolph, parson of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, co. Nottingham (d 1516). See note to this pedigree; Fitz Randolph pedigree in British Museum Add. Mss. 6705, f58b, begins with this John).
• 12. CHRISTOPHER FITZ RANDOLPH, b. c. 1495, d. sh. bef. 26 Apr. 1670 (adminstration granted on that date to his widow Jane and eldest son Thomas); doubtless came to Kirkby-in-Ashfield, co Nottingham, because of his uncle Christopher Fitz Randolph, parson of that place, who d. 1516 leaving a will dated 1 Jun 1516 of which the nephew Christopher was named as one of the executors; m. by contract dated 1514 to Jane (or Joan) Langton, dau. and heiress of Cuthbert Langton of Langton Hall in the parish of Kirkby-in-Ashfield. Jane was b. c. 1499, d. betw. 30 July 1573 (date of will) and 2 Apr. 1574 (probate). (NEHGR, 97: 296, 99: 335-336; Brit. Museum Add. Mss. 6705: f58b; Add. Mss. 6707: v1O2; Harl. Mss. 1400: 58, 58b; Thoroton, Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, 2: 296; Harl. Soc. Publ., 4: 187. L.V.F. Randolph, FitzRandolph Traditions, mentions Christopher Fitz Randolph and Jane Langton many times, but this book regrettably contains many errors; Whitaker, Richmondshire II, p. 46).
• '13. CHRISTOPHER FITZ RANDOLPH, b. c. 1530, bur. at Sutton-in-Ashfield, co. Nottingham, 28 June 1588 (this is the correct date of burial from original paper Parish Register of Sutton-in-Ashfield. The date was incorrectly copied as "7 Jun 1589" in late parchment copy of original Register, and wrong date from copy was unfortunately printed in the NEHGR, 97: 298). Christopher was his parents' fourth son, and was named in his mother's will, dated 30 July 1573. His own will, dated 20 June 1588, was proved 1 Apr. 1589 in the Peculiar Court of the Manor of Mansfield (Notts. County Record Office, D.D.P. 17/69). Christopher's wife, who predeceased him, was not named in his will. He had four sons, James, Anthony, Edward and Christopher, named in the will.
• 14. EDWARD FITZ RANDOLPH, b. c. 1565, d. betw. 13 Aug. 1647 (dated of will) and 27 Oct. 1647 (probate). He was prob. b. at Hucknall-under-Huthwaite in the parish of Sutton-in-Ashfield, co. Nottingham, and moved aft. 1621 to Kirsall in the Parish of Kneesall, co. Nottingham, where he died. He was the 3rd son named in his father's will, and was prob. the nephew Edward named in the will of his uncle Thomas Fitz Randolph, 21 May 1600. (NEHGR, 97: 297). He m. (1) at Sutton-in-Ashfield, 16 Nov. 1589, Alice Tompson, bur. there 27 Dec. 1604. He m. (2) at Sutton-in-Ashfield, 17 Dec. 1605, Frances Howls, apparently a native of the parish of Kneesall, co. Nottingham, bur. at Kneesall 7 June 1631 (NEHGR 97: 298; Transcript of the Parish Registers of Kneesall; original will of Edward Fitz Randolph at York Probate Registry, in which he bequeathed ten pounds sterling to his son Edward "if he cum to demand it.")
• 15. EDWARD FITZ RANDOLPH (son of the 2nd marriage), the emigrant to New England and eventual settler in New Jersey, bp. at Sutton-in-Ashfield, co. Nottingham, 5 July 1607, emigrated 1630 to Scituate, Mass., then moved to Barnstable, Cape Cod, and finally to Piscataway, N.J., where he d. c. 1684/5. He m. at Scituate, 10 May 1637, Elizabeth Blossom, b. at Leyden, Netherlands, 1620, d. at Piscataway, c. 1713, having remarried, 30 June 1685, Capt. John Pike. (NEHGR 97: 275-276, 298; 99: 335-336; Louise Aymar Christian and Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph, Fitz Randolph Genealogy, 5).
  • Note: Although this line is probably sound, attention should be drawn to other evidences. C.T. Clay, Early Yorkshire Charters, 5: 303, say that Ranulf Fitz Robert "is said to have married Mary daughter of Roger Bigod earl of Norfolk" (see above, Generation 2). Mary definitely brought the lands of Menethorpe, co York, to her husband in gift of frank-marriage, which lands had previously been held by Roger Bigod (ibid., footnote 4 and authorities there cited). Moreover, the careful pedigree in the Genealogist, n.s., 3: 33, gives Mary as daughter of Roger Bigod.
  • The weakest link is that which connects Generations 10 and 11 (above). John Fitz Randolph (Generation 10) was succeeded at Spennithorne by his eldest son Sir Ralph Fitz Randolph (b.c. 1444, d. 1517) who married Elizabeth Scrope, daughter of Sir Thomas Scrope, 5th Lord Scrope of Masham. They had a son John Fitz Randolph (who d. in 1517 shortly after his father, and was the last of the Fitz Randolphs of Spennithorne), and five daughters, Elizabeth, Alice, Mary, Dorothy, and Agnes, who were coheiresses of their brother John at his death in 1517 (Surtees Soc. Publ., 133: 24). In 1514 Christopher Fitz Randolph (Generation 12) was married by contract to Jane Langton. Two of the feoffees of the marriage contract were John Fitz Randolph, heir of Spennithorne, mentioned above, and his brother-in-law Sir Nicholas Strelley of Linby, co. Nottingham, husband of Elizabeth Fitz Randolph, the eldest of the five Spennithorne coheiresses. It is presumed that John Fitz Randolph and Strelley were feoffees because the bride-groom, Christopher Fitz Randolph, was John's first cousin and Strelley's first-cousin-in-law (see discussion by Anthony R. Wagner, Richmond Herald, in NEHGR 99: 335-336).
  • We also know that Christopher Fitz Randolph (Generation 12) had an uncle, Christopher Fitz Randolph, parson of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, co. Nottingham, who was presented to that living 3 Mar. 1489/90 by Sir John Conyers, Knt., of Hornby Castle, co. York, who had acquired the advowson. Christopher Fitz Randolph, the parson made a will dated 1 June 1516, proved 17 July 1516, of which his nephew Christopher (Generation 12) was one of the executors. Christopher the parson unfortunately did not mention his kinsmen of the Spennithorne line in this will.
  • We further know that John Fitz Randolph (Generation 10) married Joan Conyers, eldest daughter of Sir Christopher Conyers, Knt., lord of Hornby Castle, co. York (Raine, Testamenta Eboracenses, 3: 228; Conyers pedigree in J.W. Clay, Extinct and Dormant Peerages of the Northern Counties of England, 32-33). Joan (Conyers) Fitz Randolph was living, a widow, 22 June 1483, when she was named in the will of that date of her brother Christopher Conyers, Rector of Rudby, co. York (Raine, Test. Ebor., 3: 287). We think (but cannot prove) that John Fitz Randolph (Generation 10) and his wife Joan Conyers had, in addition to their eldest son and heir Sir Ralph, younger sons named Richard, John, and Christopher, and a daughter Margery who married John Burgh of East Hawkswell, co. York (for the Burghs, see Whitaker, Richmondshilre, 347). Of the above-named three younger sons, we suppose that John was the John Fitz Randolph (Generation 11), while Christopher was the parson of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, named for his grandfather and uncle, each named Christopher Conyers. If this connection be correct, as we believe, it would explain why Sir John Conyers of Hornby (eldest son of Sir Christopher and brother of Joan (Conyers) Fitz Randolph) acquired the advowson of Kirkby-in-Ashfield and presented Christopher Fitz Randolph (whom we believe to have been Sir John's nephew) to that living. It may be noted in passing that the given name Christopher entered the Fitz Randolph family through the marriage to Joan Conyers in the fifteenth century and continued as a given name in that family for over two centuries. Edward[1] Fitz Randolph's (Generation 15) eldest surviving son Nathaniel[2] had an eldest son John[3] who had an eldest son Christopher[4], b. at Woodbridge, N.J., 23 Feb. 1682 (L.A. Christian and H.S.F. Randolph, FitzRandolph Genealogy, 9).
  • Bearing in mind the possibilities that Mary Bigod (Generation 2) may not have been the wife of Randulf fitz Robert, and that John Fitz Randolph Generation 11) may not have been a younger son of John Fitz Randolph (Generation 10), even though we think that those connections are correct, we have presented the above pedigree.
  • John Insley Coddington
• _______________

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http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=shannon50...

ID: I07191 Name: Christopher Fitz Randolph 1 Sex: M Birth: 1530 in Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire England Death: 28 JUN 1588 in Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire England

Father: Christopher FitzRandolph b: 1495 in Kirby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, England Mother: Jane Langton b: 1499 in Kirby-In-Ashfield, Warwick, Middleham, England

Marriage 1 Ann Wood b: 1550 in Normantown, Darby, England Children Has Children Edward Fitz Randolph b: 1565 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Engl Has No Children James Fitz Randolph Has No Children Anthony Fitz Randolph Has No Children Christopher Fitz Randolph

Sources: Title: http://www.public.asu.edu/~bgertz/family/d0017/g0000065.html#I226 Text: 1530 - 28 Jun 1588 BIRTH: 1530, Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashford, Nottinghamshire, England DEATH: 28 Jun 1588, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England Father: Christopher FITZ RANDOLPH Mother: Jane or Joane LANGTON

Family 1 : Ann WOOD +Edward FITZ RANDOLPH James FITZ RANDOLPH Anthony FITZ RANDOLPH Christopher FITZ RANDOLPH

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186330069/christopher-fitz_rand...

He was born circa 1530 at Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England, died June 28, 1588 (54-62)
Hucknall, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England
Place of Burial: in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Immediate Family:
Son of Christopher FitzRandolph and Jane Langton
Husband of Ann FitzRandolph
Father of Christopher Fitzrandolph; James Fitzrandolph; Anthony Fitzrandolph; Edward Fitzrandolph; George Fitzrandolph; and Jane Fitzrandolph,and brother of John Fitzrandolph; Thomas Fitzrandolph; Isabel Fitzrandolph; Edward Fitzrandolph and Margaret Fitzrandolph

References

1. George William Marshall. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the Years 1569 and 1614. London, England. 1871. Page 187. < Archive.Org >
2. The Magna Charta Sureties, page 128 < HathiTrust >
3. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/FitzRandolph-87