William de Taillebois - Ancestry

Ancestry

William's father was named Gilbert, and his mother was Godith. They are both mentioned clearly in a benefaction of William to St Mary de Pré and William was often referred to as William the son of Gilbert (fitz Gilbert).

William was also said to have descended from both Ivo de Taillebois and Eldred of Workington, who were contemporaries of William Rufus. But the exact nature of the relationship is unclear and indeed controversial. Most likely, the connection is through daughters or illegitimate sons of these two men. A discussion of the three main proposals follows:-

Theory 1. Taillebois and Workington both the male line. Once the most widespread account, that Ivo was simply the father Eldred, and Eldred the father (or grandfather) of Gilbert, now seems to be wrong, or at least has gone out of favor. The two authorities for a direct line of father-son descent from Ivo to Eldred to Ketel to Gilbert to William de Lancaster were records made much later in Cockersand Abbey and St Mary's Abbey in Yorkshire.

Theory 2. Taillebois through his father. A connection to the Taillebois family, if it was indeed one family, is mainly based upon a record in the Coucher Book of Furness Abbey, concord number CCVI, wherein Helewise, granddaughter and heir of William is party. In the genealogical notice it is claimed that William had been known as William de Tailboys, before receiving the right to be called "Willelmum de Lancastre, Baronem de Kendale". This is the only relatively contemporary evidence for this assertion however, and the facts in this document are also questioned by Farrer and Curwen, as discussed above, because they say that William was probably not Baron of Kendal, but rather an under-lord there.

There was a Tailboys family present in Westmorland during the 12th century, for example in Cliburn, and these were presumably relatives of William de Lancaster. This family used the personal name Ivo at least once.

Theory 3. Workington through his mother. Concerning the connection to Eldred, in a Curia Regis Roll item dated 1212, R., 55, m. 6, Helewise and her husband Gilbert Fitz Reinfrid make claims based upon the fact that "Ketel filius Eutret" was an "antecessor" of Helewise. This could mean he was an ancestor, but it could also perhaps merely mean he was a predecessor more generally.

More definitively one charter to St Leonard's York William refers to Ketel, the son of Elred, as his avunculus, which would literally mean "maternal uncle" (but the word was not always used precisely, the more general meaning of uncle might have been intended). A 1357 charter printed by Reverend F. W. Ragg in 1910 repeats the claim that Ketel son of Aldred was the avunculus of William son of Gilbert.

Therefore Godith may have been a daughter of Elred of Workington, while Gilbert may have been a relative of Ivo de Taillebois, either through illegitimate sons, or perhaps one of his apparent brothers.