The Manor of Dyrham was a former manorial estate in the parish of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England.
Descent
FitzWido The Domesday Book of 1086 records the tenant-in-chief of Dyrham as William FitzWido (William son of Guy, Latinised as Willelmus Filius Widonis). In 1086 he held 7 hides in Dyrham, formerly the land of Aluric. He had formerly held also 3 hides of this manor which Durand de Pitres, Sheriff of Gloucester,Barlow, F. William Rufus, London, 1983. Lists sheriffs of Wm II and provides biog. details of the family of de Pitres had given to Pershore Abbey, by the King's command. These had apparently (according to Mr Alfred EllisBGAS op.cit.)been given to Turstin FitzRolf by "Earl William", presumably William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford.Transactions of Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (BGAS), 1879-80, vol.4, On the Landholders of Gloucestershire Named in Domesday Book, Chap. XXXV, p.133
Wynebald de Ballon The manor then passed into the extensive fiefdom of Wynebald de Ballon, a magnate from Maine, France, who supported King William Rufus, and appears to have arrived in England with his brother Hamelin de Ballon between 1086 and 1088. Virtually the whole of Wynebald's fiefdom had formerly been held by Turstin FitzRolf, standard bearer to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, who appears to have rebelled against William II and been banished.
Newmarch Dyrham passed with Wynebald's fiefdom, based at North Cadbury, Somerset, to his son-in-law de Newmarch who had married his daughter Mabilia. Wynebald's grandson Henry de Newmarch was raised to baronial status due to his holding of Wynebald's fiefdom per baroniam, and the resultant feudal barony is referred to as the Barony of North Cadbury, and the Newmarch holder of it as "Baron Newmarch".Sanders, I.J. English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960. North Cadbury, p.68
Russell
Henry de Newmarch's heir was his youngest son James who died leaving two daughters co-heiresses to the barony, Isabel the eldest and Hawise. The barony was split, with a moiety going to the husband of each daughter, to be held on her behalf. James de Newmarch had died in 1216 whilst his daughters were still legal infants, i.e. under 18 years old, and the marriage of Isabel, and possibly of Hawise also, was granted by King Henry III to Sir John Russell (died c. 1224) of Kingston Russell in Dorset.
Sir Ralph Russell (born 1204) Russell married off Isabel de Newmarch to his son Sir Ralph Russell(b.1204), and thus the moiety of the barony of Newmarch containing Dyrham came into the Russell family. The marriage of the other Newmarch heiress, Hawise, seemingly having been sold by Sir John Russell, was acquired by John Botterel, on whose death Hawise married secondly Sir Nicholas de Moels, to which family the other moiety of the barony descended.Wiffen, J.H. Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell from the Time of the Norman Conquest, 1883 The Russell family appear to have resided during the 13th and 14th centuries firstly at Kingston Russell and latterly at Yaverland in the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. Ralph and Isabel's daughter Maud(d.1288)Maud Russell d. 1288, per Cal.Genealogicum, (i), 194 quoted by Parsons, J.C. Eleanor of Castile, London, 1995, p.169 (also known as Matilda) married Robert Walerand(d.1273) of nearby Siston, a great magnate and Justiciar to King Henry III(1216–1272). Ralph gave Dyrham as Maud's dowry, but as the couple produced no children, Dyrham reverted to Ralph, as the following entry in the Close Rolls, dated 4 May 1273 at Westminster, shows:Calendar of Close Rolls, Ed I, 1272-1279, London, 1900. Membrane 8, 4th May 1273 at Westminster.
"To Master Richard de Cliff(ord), escheator this side Trent. Order to deliver the manor of Derham to Ralph Russell, together with everything received there from the time of its being taken into the king's hands, as the king learns by inquisition taken by the escheator that Ralph gave his said manor to Robert Waleraund with Matilda his daughter, whom Robert married, to hold to Robert and the heirs of their bodies, with reversion to Ralph in default of such heirs, and that Robert died without an heir of his body, wherefore the manor ought to revert to Ralph". Clearly the escheator had seized Dyrham believing it to be held by Walerand in his own right. Maud retained Dyrham as her dowry, along with the customary third share in many of Walerand's extensive manors elsewhere, until her death in 1288. By then her father Ralph was dead and the Russell lands had passed into the wardship of Queen Eleanor of Castile,Parsons, J.C. Eleanor of Castile, London, 1995, p.169 wife of King Edward I, during the minority of Ralph II Russell, son of her deceased brother James. Ralph II, who had married a certain Eleanor(d.1303),Re: Eleanor(d.1303) wife of Ralph Russell II: Victoria County History, Somerset, vol.7, 1999, Horsington, pp.119-131 died without issue in 1295 whereupon the lands passed to his uncle Robert, 2nd brother of James, who died shortly thereafter in 1298, again without issue, the lands then descending to William, the 3rd brother.
Sir William Russell(1257-1311)
Sir Ralph Russell's 3rd son and eventual heir was Sir William Russell(1257–1311) who married in about 1280Wiffen, pp.122-127: in 8 Ed I Sir William Russell was termed "Lord of Yaverland" in the Schedule of Liberties claimed by Isabel de Fortibus, Lady of the Island Katherine de Aula, heiress of the de Aula family of the Isle of Wight, who brought to the Russell family the manor of Yaverland, Isle of Wight. Sir William Russell was seated there for the remainder of his life and played a central role in the defence of the Island from the frequent attacks by the French. He was appointed as one of 3 Wardens of the Island and Constable of Carisbrooke Castle, the caput of the Island, from which all manors were held under feudal ties. In 1294 he received royal instructions for putting the Island into a proper posture to meet the threatened invasion by France of the southern coasts of England. In 1295, still as a younger son, his brothers being still alive, he was elected to parliament as burgess for Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, where the Russell family held the manor of Little Bedwyn.Victoria County History, Wiltshire, vol.16, (1999), Kinwardstone Hundred, Little Bedwyn, pp.50-69 In 1297 he was summoned by King Edward I to join with his barons to muster in London in preparation for a military expedition crossing over to Flanders. Sir William was summoned by royal writ to be at York on 25 May 1298 to oppose the Scotsman William Wallace. He fought at the Battle of Falkirk, where a great English victory was won. However, the Scottish forces regrouped and Russell was again summoned to join King Edward's army on 24 June 1300 at Carlisle.
He was present at the Siege of Caerlaverock later that year, during which his armourials were recorded in the famous eponymous roll of arms made then by the heralds. Russell was again summoned as "Sir William Russell of the Isle" to be ready at Carlisle in 1301, after which the army wintered with much hardship in Scotland. In 1302 he was appointed for a 2nd time a Warden of the Isle, with Sir John de Lisle. In 1307 Russell received another summons from King Edward I Hammer of the Scots to join the royal army at Carlisle within 15 days of 8 July, to counter the aggression of Robert the Bruce. Before the campaign commenced, the King determined on knighting his son, and was accorded by parliament the customary feudal aid, a form of taxation, to meet the costs of the splendid ceremony. Russell was appointed as collector of this feudal aid for the county of Southampton. On this occasion the royal army was spared any fighting since Bruce had in the meantime been defeated by the border barons acting independently. King Edward II, just knighted as Prince of Wales, succeeded his father later in the year 1307 and called his first parliament to meet at Northampton, to which Sir William Russell was summoned by writ for the county of Southampton. Russell thereupon relinquished his duties as Constable of Carisbrooke Castle to his successor Nicholas de Bois. In 1308 by letters patent Russell was appointed 1 of 3 justiciaries for the Channel Islands to make enquiry into encroachments to the royal revenues. In 1309 Russell was summoned by royal writ to be ready "with horse, arms, and all his lawful service (i.e. retinue)" at Newcastle upon Tyne, by 29 September., to punish the Scots for their non-observance of the truce recently entered into. By now Russell was elderly and being unable to meet the summons in person, he sent knights to serve in his stead. Sir William Russell died in 1311, leaving an only son, Theobald Russell, still a minor aged only 7.
Sir Theobald Russell
Sir Theobald, as his father, was not based at Dyrham but in the Isle of Wight. He died in 1349 leading local forces against a French invasion of the Isle. He had sub-enfeoffed Dyrham to Roger de Cantock(d.1349), who is recorded as holding the manor in 1347 in the records of the feudal aid of 20 Edward III (1347): "De Rogero Cantek pro uno foedo militis in Derham et Henton quod Willelmus Russel quondam tenuit ibidem, XX s" (Received from Roger de Cantock for one knight's fee in Dyrham and Hinton which William Russell once held the same, 20 shillings) A certain Roger de Cantock, possibly his father, was prepositor to the Sheriff of Bristol in 1260 and 1271.Barrett, William. History & Antiquities of Bristol, 18th century [www.davenapier.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk] "Cantock's Close" in Bristol, now occupied by buildings of the University, was apparently a field owned by his family. Cantock had been appointed by the Russell family as parson of the church in their manor of Hardwick, Buckinghamshire, a former Newmarch manor. In 1332 he was granted the manor of Hardwick itself for the term of his life, which ended in 1349.Victoria County History, Buckinghamshire, vol.3, 1925, Parishes: Hardwick with Weedon, pp.363-367, footnote 22. He was possibly related to Thomas Cantock, Bishop of Emly, who was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1306. Roger went to Ireland in 1309, possibly to visit this relative, as the following entry in the patent rolls of 2 Edward II (1309) shows: "Master Roger Cantok, parson of the Church of Herdewyk, going to Ireland, has letters nominating Nicholas de Langeton his attorney until Michaelmas, May 2, Westminster" Theobald Russell's grandson was Sir Maurice Russell(1356–1416), the first of the family to make his home at Dyrham.
Sir Maurice Russell