Sir William Strickland Knight

  General Notes:

~Weis' Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition, 41:28, given as husband of Elizabeth d’Enycourt. heiress of Sizergh, and son of Sir Robert de Strickland of Great Stricland, Westmorland. Elizabeth and William are given as parents of Sir Walter de Strickland and Joan de Strickland who married Robert de Washington who is believed to be ancestors of George Washington. ¹⁶⁰

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ⁸⁸¹
William de Stirkland, knight, son of Robert, in 4 Edward I, was the under sheriff of the county. In 6 Edward I, "William de Strikland" was in possession of a third part of the manor and advowsome of the church of Lowther. By a deed without a date, John son of Thomas de Levens grants to William de Strikland, Knight and son of Robert de Strikland, Knight, lands in the Howes, which lands he had from his mother Alice del Howes. Witnesses were Roger de Burton, Richard de Preston, knights; William de Winshover, Matthew de Redman, John and Benedict Garnet, John de Chambre and others.

William de Strikland married Elizabether, sister and heir of Ralph d'Aincourt. In 20 Edward I, William sent a letter of attorney to deliver sesin to Walter, his son, of lands that had been his mother's and other lands at Howes and Brigsteer.

~History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, Vol. I, p. 89, 90

• Records and Notes. ⁸⁵⁹
1288 William de Stirkelaund, son of Sir Robert de Stirkelaund, releases to Walter de Stirkelaund, his son and heir, the manor of Sithiserg, 104s. 10d. worth of land in Nateland, which William reserved on the day when he enfeoffed Walter of the vill of Natelaund, with the wood of Staynton, reserving only his right of inheritance which the grantor holds by the courtesy of England. Witnesses: Roger de Burton, Richard de Preston, William de Wyndishouer, Gilbert de Bronolhisheved, Benedict Gernet. Given at Kirkby in Kendale on the feast of Holy Trinity, A.D. 1292 [Orig. at Sizergh].

1292 John son of Thomas de Levenis grants to Sir William, son and heir of Sir Robert de Stirkeland, his land in Le Houwes, which the grantor had by the gift of Alice his mother. Witnesses: Robert de Burton, Richard de Preston, knights; William de Wyndesouere, Matthew de Redeman, John Gernet. Benedict Gernet, John de Forstewayt, John de Camera [Orig. at Sizergh].

1292 William de Strikelande, by his attorney, Baudewin de Schepesevede, renders to Walter his son lands of his inheritance, and Le Howes, and land in Brigester. Given at Appelby, on the feast of St. Leonard, 20 Edward I [Orig. at Sizergh].

1303 A coroner to be elected in place of William de Stirkeland, who is incapacitated by infirmity [ib., 1303, p. 113].

1303 By inquest taken at Heversham on Sunday before St. Lawrence 31 Edward I (4 August, 1303) it was found that William de Stirkeland held a messuage and 30 a. land in Helsington before the alienation of the inheritance of Elizabeth his wife, the reversion whereof belongs to Walter de Stirkeland, as her son and heir, to Adam Warde in fee by the said William, who enfeoffed Adam thereof before the statute of Gloucester, to hold of William and the heirs of the said Elizabeth by homage and 1d. rent. The tenements are in the king's hands for Adam's felony, in killing Henry de Mouner, and were seized by Roger de Coquina, coroner and serjeant of the king, on Thursday before St. George, 29 Edward I; they are worth 10s. yearly. Inquest at Haversham on Sunday after St. James; the said William held the tenements by the courtesy of England of the inheritance of Elizabeth daughter of Ralph de Aynecourt, his late wife. [Miscel. Inquis., i, 520].

~Records relating to the Barony of Kendale: Volume I, pp. 130-166.

• Background Information. ⁹¹⁰
Sir William de Strickland succeeded his father, Sir Robert de Strickland in 1278. Arrangements for his marriage to Elizabeth d'Eyncourt took place in 1239, when Sir William was scarcely more than nine or ten years old. Sir William appears in records again in 1265, when he recived letters of protection (17 Sep 1239) as being one of the followers of Roger de Clifford [Cal. Patent Rolls, 1265, p.452]. The first time Sir William appears in records as a knight is in a charter of 1281. [Sizergh MSS.] A Coram Rege Roll of 4 Edward I proves that Sir William's eldest son by Elizabeth was still under age as late as 1276. William son of Sir William de Strickland appears in Court as a minor, "de qua suscitauit Willelmum filum suum, sinequo non potest respondere, qui visus {est) in Curia et esta infra etate." The record also states "Sir William de Strickland's only daughter, Joan - the sister of the you William de Strikland of 1276 - did not marry until 1292, while another son, Sir John de Strickland, survived until 1352." Consequently, Sir William de Strickland's children by Elizabeth d'Eyncourt cannot have been born before 1256 at the earliest.

Elizabeth d'Eyncourt died between 1272-1276, having succeeed in or before 1271 to the manors of Sizergh, Natland, Stainton, Routhworth, and Tristermont, with lands at Lowther, Hackthorpe, Barton, Sockbridge, Windergh, Whelpside and Yanwath, co. Westmorland, half the manor or Blencarn and property at Drigg, co. Cumberland, and half the manor Carnforth in Warton, co. Lancashire. Her husband, Sir William de Strickland, outlived her for over thirty years, and was still alive on 1 May 1305, when he entered into a covenant regarding waste and destruction in the lands of his late wife's inheritance at Barton, Hackthorpe and Heversham [Hornyold Stircklad, op.cit., p. 19].

Along with his cousin, Sir Richard de Preston, Sir William de Strickland represented Westmorland in the Easter Paliament of July 1290. He acted as deputy-sheriff of Westmorland in 1275 and cornoner until 25 Nov 1303, at which date he was removed from office as incapacited by age and infirmity. [Cal.Close Roll, 1303, p.113]

The Early History of the Stricklands of Sizergh, pp. 38-40

William married Elizabeth d’Eyncourt, daughter of Sir Ralph d’Eyncourt Knight and Alice, in Jun 1239 in Great Strickland, Westmorland, England ¹⁶⁰.^,910 (Elizabeth d’Eyncourt died in 1272/4 in Westmorland, England ¹⁶⁰.)