Joan Dacre

Joan Gernet1
http://www.thepeerage.com/p33826.htm#i338255
F, #338255, d. 28 November 1324
Last Edited=24 Feb 2009
Joan Gernet was the daughter of Benet Gernet.1 She married Sir William de Dacre, son of Ralph de Dacre and Geva (?).1 She died on 28 November 1324.1
Child of Joan Gernet and Sir William de Dacre: Sir Randolf de Dacre, 1st Lord Dacre+1 b. c 1290, d. 1339

Citation: Charles Mosley, ed. (2003) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, US.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books), Vol. 1, p 1013.

Wikitree profile for Joan (Gernet) Dacre (abt. 1260-1324).
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From British History Online. The parish of Halton.

“Though the remains of an ancient cross in the churchyard have a special interest to the antiquary, (fn. 8) and though before the Conquest Halton was the head of a great lordship, the history of the place is uneventful. The chief foresters of Lancaster had it for their principal manor, but from about 1290, when the Gernet inheritance passed to the Dacre family, the lords of the place do not seem to have resided there. Their manor-house was burnt down in 1322 by the devastating Scots, and it is uncertain whether or not it was ever restored. The rectors, also, who in the absence of the Dacres would be the most influential men in the parish, were often perhaps non-resident, serving the church by curates. Thus the people had only the quiet existence of a rural district….

Benedict Gernet (fn. 22) in 1280 surrendered his tenement to Edmund lord of Lancaster in order that the tenure might be modified; thenceforward Halton and the other manors were to be held of the earl by the fourth part of a knight's fee and the rent of £5 yearly. (fn. 23) Soon afterwards, before 1292, (fn. 24) by the marriage of Joan daughter and heir of Benedict (fn. 25) to William de Dacre of Dacre Halton passed to this family, the said William in 1297 holding the fourth part of a fee in Halton and Fishwick. (fn. 26) He obtained a grant of free warren in 1303. (fn. 27) Though the Dacres and their heirs held Halton for about three centuries, (fn. 28) their history belongs to Cumberland and there is little trace of their interest in Lancashire. (fn. 29)...

"Though the remains of an ancient cross in the churchyard have a special interest to the antiquary, (fn. 8) and though before the Conquest Halton was the head of a great lordship, the history of the place is uneventful. The chief foresters of Lancaster had it for their principal manor, but from about 1290, when the Gernet inheritance passed to the Dacre family, the lords of the place do not seem to have resided there. Their manor-house was burnt down in 1322 by the devastating Scots, and it is uncertain whether or not it was ever restored. The rectors, also, who in the absence of the Dacres would be the most influential men in the parish, were often perhaps non-resident, serving the church by curates. Thus the people had only the quiet existence of a rural district....

"Benedict Gernet (fn. 22) in 1280 surrendered his tenement to Edmund lord of Lancaster in order that the tenure might be modified; thenceforward Halton and the other manors were to be held of the earl by the fourth part of a knight's fee and the rent of £5 yearly. (fn. 23) Soon afterwards, before 1292, (fn. 24) by the marriage of Joan daughter and heir of Benedict (fn. 25) to William de Dacre of Dacre Halton passed to this family, the said William in 1297 holding the fourth part of a fee in Halton and Fishwick. (fn. 26) He obtained a grant of free warren in 1303. (fn. 27) Though the Dacres and their heirs held Halton for about three centuries, (fn. 28) their history belongs to Cumberland and there is little trace of their interest in Lancashire. (fn. 29)

18. The earlier descents are uncertain. Various particulars of the family have been given in the accounts of Speke, Whiston, Halsall and other townships. Vivian Gernet, living in the time of Henry I, is the earliest holder of the fee known; he gave Whiston to Robert Travers; ibid. i, 8, 44. Roger Gernet occurs at Cropwell in 1170; Pipe R. Soc. 16 Hen. II, 83. He gave Speke to Richard de Molyneux. Adam Gernet gave land in Halton to Furness Abbey, and this grant was confirmed by his son Benedict about 1200; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 164. Benedict Gernet obtained from Henry II the privilege of being sued for any tenement held in demesne only before the king or chief justiciar, and this was confirmed by John in 1200; Cal. Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 79. In 1184–5 he had to pay 5 marks for an agreement unlawfully made; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 56, 60. In 1193–4, being involved in the rebellion of John Count of Mortain, he paid £20 for the king's goodwill, so that he might retain the lands and forest he held by inheritance; ibid. 77, 89. In the following years he was deputy sheriff; ibid. 88, 92. On the accession of John in 1199 he proffered 40 marks for having the serjeanty of the forest of the whole county with the king's favour; ibid. 106; Cal. Rot. Chart. loc. cit. He died in or before 1206, when his widow Cecily daughter of Roger de Hutton sought her dower; Farrer, op. cit. 204; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 48. She afterwards married Ellis de Stiveton; Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), i, 168–70. William Gernet, son of Benedict, in 1204–5 proffered 20 marks for a fine, perhaps on succeeding; Farrer, op. cit. 192, 202. In 1206–7 he had owed 100 marks and a palfrey for having the full bailiwick of the forest as his father Benedict had held it; while Roger Gernet his brother owed 60 marks for having the bailiwick his brother had had; ibid. 217, 224. Thus William Gernet held the serjeanty for a year or two only; Close (Rec. Com.), i, 91. His widow Cecily was afterwards married by Philip de Orreby to Hamon de Mascy; ibid, i, 96; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 119. In 1225 she was the wife of William le Villein and was living in 1252; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 46; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 188. William Gernet, apparently son (but not heir) of William, appears.
19. Ibid. 43. The fee included the following manors: In Lonsdale—Halton, Nether Burrow, Over Burrow and Leek; Amounderness—Fishwick; Leyland— Eccleston; West Derby—Speke, Whiston, Parr and Skelmersdale. Much had been granted out before 1212, but Halton, Fishwick and Eccleston remained to the lords.

20. Ibid. 121. Roger Gernet held one fee in Halton in 1236 for which he did no service to the king beyond keeping ward of the king's forest; ibid. 145.

21. Ibid. 186–8. His widow Quenilda died about the same time; ibid. 189. He had been married to her as early as 1235; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), i, 63. In 1253 the Halton part appears to have been reckoned the fiftieth part of a knight's fee; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 164. Alienations are recorded ibid. 178, but only three (18, 16 and 30 acres) were in Halton. Sir Roger Gernet released his right in the advowson of Eccleston to St. Martin's, Sées; Lanc. Ch. (Chet. Soc.), i, 28.
22. He paid 40 marks as relief on succeeding in 1252; Excerpta e Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.), ii, 133. Benedict as son and heir of Roger Gernet in 1253 made an agreement with the Abbot and monks of Furness as to the payment of 26s. a year demanded for their pasture land in Halton; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. 164. He was acting as forester in 1257; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 210. In 1268 he claimed the right to present to Eccleston Church; Lanc. Ch. i, 26.
23. Duchy of Lanc. Anct. D. (P.R.O.), L 1213. It was stated that his grandfather Benedict had held by the service of one knight's fee, which King John while Count of Mortain had changed to forestry. Benedict the grandson surrendered all his customs and liberties in the forests and woods. The seal bears a device resembling a horn, with the legend + s' benedicti gernet.
25. Dugdale, Baronage, ii, 22, citing Pipe R. of 15 Edw. II, Yorks. William was son and heir of Ranulf de Dacre, who died in 1286 holding manors and lands in Over Kellet, (Bare) and Heysham; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 263. The last-named manor descended independently. Joan widow of Ranulf de Dacre occurs in 1292; Assize R. 408, m. 39.
26. Lancs. Inq. and Extents, i, 298. In 1302 William de Dacre held a knight's fee of the earl (formerly of the king, for forestry) for the fourth part of a knight's fee; ibid. 317.
27. Chart. R. 97 (32 Edw. I), m. 4, no. 62; the grant was for his demesne lands of Halton. He and Joan his wife in 1311 made a settlement of the manors of Halton, Fishwick and Eccleston, the remainder being to the right heirs of Joan; Final Conc. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 7. Joan survived her husband and died in 1324 holding the three manors named, and leaving as heir a son Ranulf de Dacre, then thirty years of age. At Halton there was a capital messuage, worth nothing because it had been burnt by the Scots. There were 80 acres of arable land, worth 53s. 4d., and 12 acres of meadow, worth 12s.; two water-mills, farmed at £4 a year, and a fishery rendering 13s. 4d. The free tenants held 12 oxgangs of land, rendering 5s. for each; the total rent of the cottages was only 2s.; Inq. p.m. 18 Edw. II, no. 41. In 1328 Ranulf de Dacre and Margaret his wife settled the manors of Halton, Kellet, Fishwick and Eccleston, and land in Poulton, with remainders to their sons William, Thomas and Ranulf; Final Conc. ii, 67–9. The eldest son succeeded, and in 1346 Sir William de Dacre held three ploughlands in Halton and Aughton by the serjeanty of being forester and paying £6 9s. 4d., of which 3s. 4d. was for a pasture called Shiderorde, lately Roger Hexham's; Surv. of 1346 (Chet. Soc.), 62. Sir William died in July 1361, and his brother Ranulf, then rector of Prescot, succeeded; Inq. p.m. 35 Edw. III (pt. i), no. 63. His mother Margaret, widow of Ranulf, died in the following December, but had nothing in Halton; ibid. 36 Edw. III (pt. i), no. 62. Ranulf de Dacre, the heir, died in Aug. 1375 holding the manors of Halton and Fishwick and the moiety of Eccleston of the Duke of Lancaster by the rent of £6 9s. 4d. and other lands, &c. The heir was his brother Sir Hugh de Dacre, aged forty and more; ibid. 49 Edw. Ill (pt. i), no. 39. Ranulf de Dacre complained in 1368 that his trees at Halton had been felled, and in 1375 that his house there had been set on fire; De Banco R. 431, m. 273; 457, m. 10.
28. For an account of the family see G.E.C. Complete Peerage, iii, 1–9. The following is an outline of the descent: Ranulf de Dacre (of Gillesland, in right of his wife) summoned to Parliament as Lord Dacre in 1321; d. 1339 -s. William, d. 1361 -bro. Ranulf, d. 1375 -bro. Hugh, d. 1383 -s. William, d. 1398 -s. Thomas, d. 1458 -gd-da. Joan (da. of Sir Thomas) wife of Sir Richard Fiennes, summoned as Lord Dacre in 1458 and later; she d. 1486. The heir male claimed the estates and in Lancashire Halton was in 1473 allowed to him, while Fishwick and Eccleston went to Joan and her issue. Her descendants were the Lords Dacre of the South. See Cal. Pat. 1461–7, pp. 140, 534. Her uncle Ralph Dacre (son of Thomas, who d. 1458) was summoned to Parliament as Lord Dacre of Gillesland in 1459, but was killed at Towton in 1461 and was afterwards attainted. His brother Humphrey, attainted at the same time, was restored in 1473, and soon afterwards, as above stated, Halton was allowed to him, with the great bulk of the Dacre inheritance, on an arbitration by the king. He was summoned as Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and d. 1485 -s. Thomas, d. 1525 -s.William, d. 1563 -s. Thomas, d. 1566 -s. George, d. 1569. These were the Lords Dacre of the North. The heirs of George were his sisters—Anne, who married in 1571 Philip Howard Earl of Arundel; Mary, who married Thomas Howard; Elizabeth, who married William Howard. The husbands were sons of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, who was beheaded in 1572.
29. Hugh de Dacre lord of Gillesland in 1378–9 demised to Robert de Pleasington the manors of Halton and Eccleston; Close, 2 Ric. II, m. 17d. Sir Thomas Dacre Lord Dacre of Gillesland died (as above stated) in. 1458, having settled the manors of Fishwick and Bradley (in Eccleston) on his younger son Humphrey for life, with reversion to the heir male, and then to Thomas Clifford son of Joan daughter of Lord Dacre. The manor of Halton and lands in Aughton, Caton and Bare, with others in Highfield and Sidegarth in Aughton, a tenement called Shinbone place, lands by the Stub and the advowson of Halton Church, were to go to Ralph, another son of Lord Dacre, for life, with reversion to the heir male. This manor with its lands was held of the king as of his duchy in socage by a rent of £6 12s. 8d. Ralph (or Ranulf) was the heir male in 1458 and was thirty-five years of age; Lancs. Inq. p.m. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 65. For the Halton settlement referred to see Close, 18 Hen. VI, m. 30; also 17 Hen. VI, m. 16. The award in favour of Sir Humphrey Dacre in 1473 is in Parl. R. vi, 43. A previous grant (1462) was in favour of Joan and Sir Richard Fiennes; Cal. Pat. 1461–7, pp. 140, 534. The will of Mabel widow of Humphrey is in N. and Q. (Ser. 8), iv, 382. Thomas Lord Dacre was in 1498 called upon to prove his right to free warren in Halton; Pal. of Lanc. Writs, 13 Hen. VII. The manor and advowson of Halton, with lands in Aughton, Highfield, Haringhursr, Halton Park Green, Sidegarth and Stub, were in 1566 secured by Ellen Stanley, dowager Lady Mounteagle, and Lawrence Banastre against Thomas Lord Dacre of Gillesland; Pal. of Lanc. Feet of F. bdle. 28, m. 275.

83. B. Gernet attested, in the second place, an agreement with the chaplain of St, Michael-on-Wyre made between 1194 and 1199; Farrer, Lancs. Pipe R. 338. Benedict rector of Halton occurs in 1204 in one of the Brockholes of Claughton D. The seal of Benedict rector of Halton is affixed to a grant of 4 acres of meadow on the north side of Nithinghou by Benedict son of Adam Gernet to Furness Abbey, intended to secure the payment of 1 lb. of wax at Easter to Halton Church; Duchy of Lanc. Anct. D. (P.R.O.), L. 357. In 1296 it was alleged that Benedict Gernet, rector in the time of Richard I, had alienated certain church land to the abbey; De Banco R. 115, m. 176 d.