Family:Whitney, Robert de (1318-c1380)
Robert de Whitney (Eustace, Eustace, Robert, ...), son of Eustace de Whitney,[1] was born 1318, Whitney, Herefordshire,[2] and died about 1380, Whitney, Herefordshire.[3]
Nothing is known of his wife.
In 1353 Robert de Whytene presented Baldwyn de Whytene to the church of Pencomb. Robert Whitney was also sheriff of Herefordshire 1 Richard II [1377-1378].[4] While this Baldwin de Whitney, a priest, must have been a relative, it is not at all clear how. This is the only known reference to him. Perhaps he was a younger brother.[5]
Feb 1, 1356, "Licence, for 100s. to be paid to the king by John son of Edward de Penebrugge, for him to enfeoff Robert Whiteney and Thomas de Hampton of the manors of Bouthrede and Eton, co. Hereford, held of the king in chief, and for them to grant the same to him and Elizabeth, his wife, and his heirs."[6]
In 1358, Robert de Whitney purchased land in Boughrood & Eton.[7]
On 12 Feb 1368, Robert de Whiteneye named Baldwin de Whitneye, clerk and Richard de Hortesleye, clerk to look over his affairs as he attended the marriage of the Duke of Clarence in Milan.
- "A.D. 1368 - Robertus de Whiteneye, qui in Obsequium Regis, in Comitiva Leonelli Ducis Clarenciae, ad partes Melaniae prosecturus est, habet Literas Regis de Generali Attornatu, sub Nominibus Baldewini de Whiteneye Clerici & Ricardi de Hortesleye Clerici, sub alternatione, ad lucrandum &c. in quibuscumque Curiis Anglie, per unum Annum Duraturas. Praesentibus &c. Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium decimo die Februarii." - Foedera, conventiones, literae et cujuscunque generis acta publica inter.
He was of Whitney, etc., Knight. One of 200 gentlemen who in 1368 went to Milan in the retinue of the Duke of Clarence on the occastion of the latter's marriage. Member of Parliament for Herefordshire in 1376, 1379, and 1380; Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1377.[8]
The following document, dated 1378, describes petitioners, including Sir Robert de Whyteney, complaining of incursions of the Welsh and resulting damages to person and property in Herefordshire.[9]
Children of Robert and ----- (-----) de Whitney:
i. Robert Whitney,[10] b. 1348;[11] m. Joan Trussell and Maud Cromwell.[12] ii. (son) Whitney,[13] d. about 1402, probably at the Battle of Pilleth.[14]
References
1.^ "Robert de Wyteney, son and heir of Sir Eustace de Wyteney, Kt.", Whitney and Clifford Manuscripts, item #2.
2.^ Source of birth information for Robert de Whitney.
3.^ Source of death information for Robert de Whitney.
4.^ Henry Austin Whitney, The First Known Use of Whitney as a Surname: Its Probable Signification, and Other Data (Boston, MA: Henry Austin Whitney, 1875), p. viii.
5.^ Supposition.
6.^ Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, vol. 10, p. 344.
7.^ Morgan George Watkins, Collections towards the history and antiquities of the county of Hereford. In continuation of Duncumb’s history. Hundred of Huntington ... (Hereford: 1898), pp. 77-95.
8.^ Melville, Henry, A.M., LL.B., The Ancestry of John Whitney: Who, with His Wife Elinor, and Sons John, Richard, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Jonathan, Emigrated from London, England, in the Year 1635, and Settled in Watertown, Massachusetts; the First of the Name in America, and the One from Whom a Great Majority of the Whitneys Now Living in the United States Are Descended (New York, NY: The De Vinne Press, 1896), p. 216.
9.^ PRO Special Collections: Ancient Petitions, Petitions to the King; to the King and Council; to the Council; to the Parliament; and the like, SC 8/107/5303 - "[1378] - Petitioners: Walter Devereux; John Clifford; Robert de Whyteney, sheriff of Herefordshire. Addressees: King and Council in Parliament. Places mentioned: Wales; Herefordshire; Hereford, [Herefordshire] Nature of request: The petitioners complain of incursions of the Welsh and resulting damages to person and property in Herefordshire. Note: Datable by reference to Whyteney as sheriff of Herefordshire (November 1377-November 1378): see Rees, Petitions Relating to Wales, pp. 166-7. Devereux was knight of the shire for Herefordshire in the parliament of October 1378."
10.^ Source for relationship between Robert and Robert Whitney.
11.^ Source for birth information for Robert Whitney.
12.^ Source for marriage information for Robert Whitney.
13.^ This sons existence is known only from the following "... the father of Robert Whitney esquire and his Uncle and a great part of his relatives have been killed in Our service at the capture of Edmund Mortimer...," Patent Roll 5 Henry IV., 1st Part, No. 372 (1404).
14.^ Patent Roll 5 Henry IV., 1st Part, No. 372 (1404).
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