William de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath, I

WILLIAM OF SOMERVILLE OF LINTON AND CARNWATH

According to Sir William C. Lawrie, writing in his collection of early Scottish charters, William of Somerville, here treated, is the second son of Walter of Somerville, who held land at Whitchnour in Staffordshire and Somerville Aston in Gloucestershire. His elder brother, another Walter of Somerville, inherited his father's estates in England, and William attached himself to David I, King of Scots, 1124-53. Lawrie Charters: Notes LIV p. 49. William de Sumerville

England

William of Somerville was a landowner in England, CDS I: 54 where he held land at Kiddal in Yorkshire of Henry de Lacy. EYC III: 1650 His name is also noticed in the Yorkshire Pipe Roll for the years 1158-60, where the exchequer clerk recorded an unpaid debt of twenty marks of silver and noted "but he remains in the land of the K. of Scotland in Lothian". CDS I: 54

Scotland

William of Somerville is noticed frequently in the witness lists of charters issued by David I, King of Scots, 1124-53, and by his son, Henry, Earl of Northumberland, and Earl of Huntingdon. Lawrie Charters: p. 49 et seq. It was probably King David I who gave him Linton in Peebleshire. Glasgow Registrum I: 16 and Carnwath in Lanarkshire. Glasgow Registrum I: 52

Evidence from Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland

                   1

1153 X 1165: Charter issued by Malcolm IV, King of Scots, 1153-65,=. Witnessed by William de Sumervill and others. CDS I: 1985 No, 10

                   2

1158 [Pipe 4. Hen. II. Rot. 5] Yorkshire: - Bertran de Bulemer renders his account. William de Sumervill owes 20 marks of silver, but he remains in the land of the K. of Scotland in Lothian (Loeneis). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland I: number 54

                   3

1159 [Pipe 5, Hen. II Rot. 5] Yorkshire: - Bertran de Bulemer renders his account; William de Sumervill owes 20 marks, but he remains in the land of the K. of Scotland. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland I: number 66

                   4

1160 [Pipe 5, Hen. II Rot. 5] Yorkshire: - Bertran de Bulemer renders his account; William de Sumervill owes 20 marks, but he remains in the land of the K. of Scotland. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland I: number 68

Evidence from Early Yorkshire Charters

c. 1150-1170: Early Yorkshire Charters III: charter number 1650 and note on pp. 306-7

Evidence from the Register of the Bishop of Glasgow

                   1

1160 X 1163: Charter by which William of Somerville confirms that he has given three acres of land at Linton in Peenleshire to the church of St. Kentigern of Glasgow. The charter is undated but the principal witness is Ernald, bishop of St. Andrews, 1160-62. Glasgow Registrum I: charter number 16

                   2

1174 X 1199: Charter by which William of Somerville confirms possession of the church of Carnwath and one half carucate of land there to the church of Glasgow and, Jocelin, the bishop of Glasgow, 1174-99. The gift was originally made by his father during the time of Ingram, bishop of Glasgow. 1164-74. Glasgow Registrum I: charter number 52

Evidence from the National Records of Scotland

1162: Charter by Malcolm, King of Scots, granting to Newbattle Abbey the lands of Dumpeleder with Metherauch and Maiueth and Glarnephin as far as Duniduffes eastwards as Gillepatric Mackerin formerly held the same and as he was seized therein at the King's command after perambulation of the marches of said lands between Lothian and Clydesdale by Baldewin, sheriff of Lanarc [Lanark], Galfrid, sheriff of Edinburgh, Fergus McFercher, Donald Eweinson [Ewanson], Uctred, sheriff of Lillidchu and others (not named). Witnesses: Ernald, bishop of St. Andrews; Herbert, abbot of Galsgu [?Glasgow]; John, abbot of Kelchow [Kelso]; William abbot of Melros [Melrose]; Osbert, abbot of Jeddewurthe [Jedburgh]; William and David, brothers of the King; Countess Ada, mother of the King; Ingelram, chancellor; Walter Fitzallan, steward; Richard de Morevill, constable; Nicholas, chamberlain; Earl Cospatric; Earl Duncan; Gilbert de Umfravill; William de Sumervill [Somerville]; Philp de Colevill [Colville]; Hugh Ridel. At Edinburgh (castellum puellarum). (Seal appended, imperfect.) Undated, ?1162. [Newbattle Collection. GD40/1/5] National Records of Scotland, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire writs, reference GD1/194/2/1

Secondary Source Evidence

1. Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London. Edited by Joseph Bain. Vol. I. A.D. 1108-1272. (H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh, 1881), 676 pp. including index
2. Early Yorkshire charters; being a collection of documents anterior to the thirteenth century made from the public records, monastic chartularies, Roger Dodsworth's manuscripts and other available sources, In Six Volumes. Volume III. Edited by William Farrer. (Ballantyne, Hanson & Co,m Edinburgh, 1816), 501 pp.
3. Early Scottish charters prior to A.D. 1153 : collected with notes and an index by Sir Archibald C. Lawrie (James MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow, 1905), 516 pp. including index
4. Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis. Munimenta ecclesie metropolitane Glasguensis a sede restaurata seculo ineunte XII ad reformatam religionem. Volume I (Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, M.DCCC.XLIII), 303 pp.
5. Feet of Fines for the County of York, from 1218 to 1231. Edited by John Parker, CB., FSA. (The Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1921), 216 pp. including index

Genealogy

1. The Scots Peerage VIII: pp. 1-45 for the family of Somerville, Lord Somerville
2. The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History. The Ford Lectures Delivered in the University of Oxford in Hilary Term 1977. By G. W. S. Barrow, FBA., (Oxford University Press, 1980), 231 pp. including indexes. See pp. 193-5 for the Family of de Somerville.
3. Memorie of the Somervilles; being a history of the baronial house of Somerville. By James, eleventh Lord Somerville. Edited by Sir Walter Scott. In Two Volumes. Col. I. (Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1815), 495 pp.
4. Memorie of the Somervilles; being a history of the baronial house of Somerville. By James, eleventh Lord Somerville. Edited by Sir Walter Scott. In Two Volumes. Vol II. (Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1815), 487 pp. plus Errata