Laird Freskin "The Fleming" Sutherland, 1st Lord of Duffus

Burke's Peerage

FRESKIN, allegedly of Flemish origins, granted large estates by DAVID I, including
Strabrock, W Lothian, and Duffus, Moray; confirmed in these by roy charter 1166– 71; diedby 1172, leaving:

• WILLIAM; of age by 1160; seems to have died in or after 1204, having had, with two younger sons

• (William de Moravia (i.e., ‘of Moray') living 1195, died by 1226, alleged ancestor of the MORAYs OF BOTHWELL;
  
• Andrew, Parson Duffus 1203):
  
• HUGH FRESKIN or MORAY, feudal Lord of Duffus; had large estates in Sutherland by 1211; granted Skelbo and other lands to St Gilbert Moray (possibly his nephew), Archdeacon Moray and from 1223 Bp Caithness; died between 1214 and 1222, having had, with two younger sons
  

• (Walter, feudal Lord of Duffus, married Eupheme, daughter of Ferquhard Mac Taggart, 1st Earl of Ross, and died 1263, having had issue;
  

• Andrew, Bp Moray 1222, died 1242):
  

• WILLIAM MORAY later (between 1229 and 1232) SUTHERLAND, 1st Earl of Sutherland, so cr c1235; died allegedly 1248, leaving
  

• WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, 2nd Earl of Sutherland; supporter of EDWARD I's overlordship of Scotland; died probably by 7 July 1307,
  

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See -

The Murray, Sutherland and Douglas families: were they related and were they Flemish?

Freskin was in Pembroke Wales in 1130, probably born there year 1100. Ollec was probably a child in 1066 during Norman invasion. Freskin's grandfather was arguably the original Flemish warrior attached to retinue of William the Conqueror and wife Matilda of Flanders. - see above essay

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A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry ; or, Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland by John Burke, supports that Freskin had only one son:

Freskine, a Fleming, who settled in Scotland during the reign of David I., and acquired from that monarch the lands of Strathbrock, in the county of Linlithgow. "Soon after the insurrection of the Moray- men in 1130," says Chalmers, " Freskine, who probably contributed by his skill and bravery to the subduement of those ancient people, obtained from the same prince some of the most fertile districts of the Lowlands of Moray," including Duffus, Inshkiel, Rosile, &c., and erected a fortalice at Duffies, where he resided, and where the massy ruins of the castle are still to be seen. Freskine was s. in 1168, by his only son.
William de Moravia, as appears from a charter, granted under the great seal, by William the Lion, " Willielmo, filio Freskini, scilicet terras qnas Freskine, pater suus, teiiuit, tempore regis David avi mei."

He left two sons, namely, William, his heir.

Hugh, wlio obtained from his father the lands of Dufliis.

Other references

Among those early Moray records was mentioned one Freskin, son of Ollec being given the lands of Moray. Oral tradition tells us that Freskin and his son William married into the ancient royal house of the Moray Mormaerdom to ensure the reins of power were grasped firmly. This from http://www.cranntara.org.uk/moray.htm

http://archive.org/stream/genealogicalhera01inburk#page/618/mode/2up Page 619 also claims 3 sons.

From https://sites.google.com/site/fivegateways/alphabetical-index-s/sut...

Freskin, a person of unknown descent, but who is believed to be of Flemish origin, upon whom King David I., in pursuance, it is said, of a colonising policy, bestowed wide landed possessions. These included Strabrock (Uphall and Broxburn), in West Lothian, and the lands of Duffus, Roseisle, Inchkeil, Macher, and Kintray, forming the larger part of the parish of Duffus and a portion of the modern parish of Spynie, between Elgin and the Moray Firth. At least Freskin is said to have held these lands of King David I., for Freskin himself is named only once, in a charter granted to his son William, between 1166 and 1171, by King William the Lion, which confirms the lands named as having been held by Freskin.[1] Freskin therefore must have died before 1166. According to the editor of the Registrum Moraviense, followed by Sir William Fraser in his Sutherland Book, he had three sons, Hugh, who was the ancestor of the Sutherland family, William of Duffus, and Andrew, a churchman. But Hugh, son of Freskin, is only named once, in a writ dated between 1147 and 1150, and that in such circumstances as to make the evidence untrustworthy,[2] while Andrew is clearly identical with a namesake of a later date. The weight of testimony rather points to the probability that Freskin had only one son, a view already adopted by Lord Hailes and George Chalmers.[3] Shaw, in his History of Moray, also assigns to Freskin only one son, William.

Whereas http://www26.us.archive.org/stream/heraldryofmurray00john#page/n21/... suggests the three.

See Reference - http://www26.us.archive.org/stream/heraldryofmurray00john#page/n21/... Page 3 #(1)

(1) Freskin died before 1171

• 1(a) William (2 below)
• 1(b) Hugh (13 below)
• 1(c) Andrew - probably Bishop of Moray 1184-85

Freskin (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Duffus Castle, possibly begun by Freskin.Freskin was a minor nobleman active in the reign of King David I of Scotland. His name appears only in a charter by King William to Freskin's son, William, granting Strathbrock in West Lothian and Duffus, Kintrae, and other lands in Moray, "which his father held in the time of King David". The name Freskin is Flemish, and in the words of Geoffrey Barrow "it is virtually certain that Freskin belonged to a large group of Flemish settlers who came to Scotland in the middle decades of the 12th century and were chiefly to be found in West Lothian and the valley of the Clyde". controlled Bo'ness in West Lothian, granting him the lands of Innes and "Nether Urquhart" [=Etherurecard] in the "province of Elgin"; notably, one of the three witnesses to the charter which granted "Berowald Flandrensis" these lands, was "Wilhelmus filius Frisgin", William, Freskin's son.[6] Freskin appears to be the progenitor of the "de Moravia" or "Murray" family who were lords of Duffus in the later 12th century and early 13th century and who rose to become the earls of Sutherland (southern Caithness), although it was not until the 13th century that we can be certain they took the surname "de Moravia".

The Murray Clan name originates from the Moray area of Northern Scotland. The founder of the Clan, Freskin, is said to have been given lands by King David I of Scotland in Moray and the Lothians. At the time, Moray included parts of what later became Inverness-shire, Nairn, and Ross-shire. Freskin's grandson added to the clanlands by obtaining parts of Lanark, including Bothwell. The Morays were Lords of Bothwell during the 13th and first half ofthe 14th centuries. William de Moravia, Lord of Bothwell, was co-Regent of Scotland while King Alexander III (1249-1286) was still a minor. The third Lord of Bothwell died in the Tower of London while a prisoner of King Edward I (Longshanks) of England.

Sir Andrew de Moray was a leader of the 1297 rebellion against English rule, and was co-commander (with Sir William Wallace) of Scottish army at the Battle of Sterling Bridge, and died of wound recieved at battle thereafter.

Th 4th Lord of Bothwell, Andrew Moray, was Regent of Scotland during the early years of King David II. Branches of Moray Clan gained lands in Abercairney and Tullibardine in Perthshire, and in time became Dukes of Atoll. Other Tullibardine Murrays founded seperate branches in Perthshire, including Stormont and Ochtertyre, and with the name being adopted by tenants, it became one of the top dozon surnames in Scotland.

The castle Duffus, was built in the mid 12th century by Freskin, Lord of Strathbrock, a Flemish knight, whose descenants took the title 'de Moravia' (of Moray). Freskin was given the land at Duffus by King David 1 , and by 1151 the castle was complete enough to accommodate the King while he supervised the construction of nearby Kinlosss Abbey.

Taken from GEN Circles - The Murray Family by Deborah Sielberg

Aidan's Family

by Whitney A. Huddleston
Freskin le FLEMING Laird of Duffus 13 SmartMatches

Birth: About 1107 in , Flanders, BEL, NLD

Death: Before 1172 in Duffus Castle, Duffus, Moray, SCT

Sex: M

Father: Robert FLEMING II, Count of Flanders b. 1065 in , Flanders, BEL,

Mother: Ida de NAMUR Duchess of Lower Lorraine b. 1073 in Chiny, LUX

Title: Duffus Castle, Duffus, Moray,

Marriage: Abt 1131 in Duffus, Moray, SCT 30 May 2005 16:44

Title: "Online Genealogical Database Collection"

Author: MyFamily.Com Inc.

Publication: 13 Jul 2002

Page: Contact: Jim Weber

Quality: 3

Title: "Genealogical Research of Kirk Larson"

Author: Larson, Kirk

Publication: Personal Research Works including Bethune & Hohenlohe Descendants,1981-2001, Kirk Larson, Private Library

De Moravia

The Morays are a family of Flemish descent, who settled in the northern district of Moray during the reign of David I. They can trace their origins in north-eastern Scotland to Freskin, a man of Flemish origins, who was granted lands by the king in Duffus, Moray, where he built a motte and bailey castle on the shore of Loch Spyine. Freskin, and the other families of French and Norman descent granted lands, were used to establish royal authority in the outlying Gaelic districts, which in the past had enjoyed their own semi-independent traditions. In this regard they occupied the same military, political and administrative role as the Old English along the Gaelic frontiers of Ireland; and like the Old English time wore away any cultural and linguistic difference between them and the native peoples.

From Stirnet's "Murray01" page (membership required to view without interruption): "it is sometimes suggested that the following Richard <should be this Freskin?> was connected to the early Mormaers of Moray <membership required to view without interruption>. However, TSP <The Scots Peerage> (Sutherland) reports that he was 'a person of unknown descent, but who is believed to be of Flemish origin, upon whom King Davd I., in pursuance, it is said, of a colonising policy, bestowed wide landed possessions.'"

alive in 1130

Date of death might be circa 1158 or before 1158.

links

• http://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/mm4fz/murray01.php#top (membership required to view without interruption)
• http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/getperson.php?personID=I137405&tr...