Henry de Meriet

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹²⁸²
Henry de Meriet, in 1171--according to the Scutage Roll--gave to the Knights Templars a virgate of land in Meriet, which Walter de Meriet was holding at a rent of 3s. [Dugd. Mon. ii. 530]. He was dead in 1192 [A. S. Ellis in N. and Q. 5th S. xii. 362]. His father was named Nicholasvde Meriet as was his succeeding son.

~Genealogy of the Somersetshire Family of Meriet, pp. 7-8

• Background Information. ¹²⁷¹
At the time of the Conquest the later manor of Merriott formed two estates. The second estate, of five hides, occupied in 1066 by Godwin, had passed by 1086 to Harding son of Eadnoth the staller.

The manor evidently passed from Harding son of Eadnoth, or Harding de Meriet, to his son Nicholas FitzHarding (d. by 1171), followed by his grandson Henry de Meriet (d. by 1192). [Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. xxviii. 100-4.] Nicholas de Meriet (d. by 1229) inherited his father's lands in 1212, and in 1229 was succeeded by his son Hugh (d. c. 1236). [Pipe R. 1212 (P.R.S. n.s. xxx), 119, 223; Cal. Inq. p.m. i, p. 2] From Hugh's son Nicholas (d. c. 1258) the manor passed in turn to Nicholas's son John (d. 1285), and grandson, also John. The last succeeded as a minor and received his lands in 1297. [Cal. Inq. p.m. ii, pp. 341-2; Plac. Abbrev. (Rec. Com.), 293] On his death in 1308 he was followed successively by his sons John (d. by 1322) and George (d. 1328). [Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. xxviii. 104-24; Cal. Inq. p.m. vii, p. 119.] From George's son, Sir John de Meriet (d. 1369), the manor descended to his son Sir John (d. 1391), and subsequently to the latter's daughter Elizabeth, wife of Urry Seymour.[Cal. Inq. p.m. xii, pp. 376-7; Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. xxviii. 126-64] On Elizabeth's death without issue c. 1395 the estate was inherited jointly by her cousins Elizabeth and Margaret d'Aumale, granddaughters of George de Meriet (d. 1328) and wives of Sir Humphrey Stafford and Sir William Bonville (d. 1408) respectively. [Proc. Som. Arch. Soc. xxviii. 164-7]

~A History of the County of Somerset, Volume IV, p. 53-55