William Le Gras

Wikipedia erroneously calls him a nephew of William le Gros, Earl of Aumale. See the relevant discussion at soc.genealogy.medieval.

There, Douglas Richard quotes from John Hunt's book, Lordship and the Landscape (1994), which discusses the early history of the Somery family:

"William was a Gloucestershire knight who served the earl of Gloucester and was married to a sister of William Marshal I, earl of Pembroke (d. 1219). That this represents ...[part is missing here DR] .... The marriage of the future baron of Dudley is suggested by two documents surviving in the Brooksby cartulary. The first is the marriage contract itself, in which it is stated that William le Gros gave his land at Little Dalby to Ralph de Somery as part of the marriage agreement. The second is a confirmation charter, which may be dated to not earlier than c.1210, by which William Crassus, Margaret de Somery’s brother, confirmed his widowed sister’s grant of lands..."

He is named as a cousin (perhaps brother-in-law was mistranslated?) of William Marshall in this article from http://www.castlewales.com/mar_chld.html by Catherine Armstrong (1999):

"In spring of 1224 Hugh de Lacy, who had been aiding and abetting Llywelyn in his wars against Marshal, decided to attack Marshal’s and the king’s lands in Ireland. On May 2, 1224, William was appointed justiciar of Ireland and ordered to take into the king’s peace all but de Lacy and the other major rebellious barons. In July 1224, Marshal took William de Lacy’s castle of Trim and the crannog of O’Reilly and sent his cousin William le Gras to take Hugh’s castle of Carrickfergus. Hugh surrendered to the King in October 1224 and was sent to England. Marshal remained justiciar of Ireland until June 22, 1226, when he surrendered his office to the king at Winchester."

There, Douglas Richard quotes from John Hunt's book, Lordship and the Landscape (1994), which discusses the early history of the Somery family:

"William was a Gloucestershire knight who served the earl of Gloucester and was married to a sister of William Marshal I, earl of Pembroke (d. 1219). That this represents ...[part is missing here DR] .... The marriage of the future baron of Dudley is suggested by two documents surviving in the Brooksby cartulary. The first is the marriage contract itself, in which it is stated that William le Gros gave his land at Little Dalby to Ralph de Somery as part of the marriage agreement. The second is a confirmation charter, which may be dated to not earlier than c.1210, by which William Crassus, Margaret de Somery’s brother, confirmed his widowed sister’s grant of lands..."

He is named as a cousin (perhaps brother-in-law was mistranslated?) of William Marshall in this article from http://www.castlewales.com/mar_chld.html by Catherine Armstrong (1999):

"In spring of 1224 Hugh de Lacy, who had been aiding and abetting Llywelyn in his wars against Marshal, decided to attack Marshal’s and the king’s lands in Ireland. On May 2, 1224, William was appointed justiciar of Ireland and ordered to take into the king’s peace all but de Lacy and the other major rebellious barons. In July 1224, Marshal took William de Lacy’s castle of Trim and the crannog of O’Reilly and sent his cousin William le Gras to take Hugh’s castle of Carrickfergus. Hugh surrendered to the King in October 1224 and was sent to England. Marshal remained justiciar of Ireland until June 22, 1226, when he surrendered his office to the king at Winchester."

read more