♀Mary (surname unknown)

Mary (living in 1283) was the wife of Sir Ralph de Tony, Baron of Flamstead in Hertfordshire and lord of Painscastle in Radnorshire, and the mother of his heir. She was the nineteenth great-grandmother of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006), through her daughter Alice de Tony (died 1325).

Marriage

Ralph de Tony had been a ward since boyhood, and on 8 August 1265 his marriage was granted to Sir Richard de Brus of Writtle in Essex, a younger son of Robert de Brus, lord of Annandale^W. Ralph married Mary before 1276, and she may have been a sister of his guardian. Their son and heir, Robert, was born on 4 April 1276, and a court record of 1297 places his birth in Scotland, at “Thornby”. Mary was still living in 1283. Her husband died on campaign in Gascony on 27 May 1295.

The family

Ralph and Mary had a son, Robert, and two daughters, Alice and a daughter whose name is not known. Robert de Tony^W died shortly before 28 November 1309, and his sister Alice was his heir.

Lines of descent

From Alice the line runs down through several generations, and it probably reaches Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) through John Washburn (died 1547), whom the pedigrees make a son of Joan Mitton. The reasons for accepting that John as Joan’s son are set out in the Notes.

Notes

Sources

Mary’s marriage, her son’s birth and the fact that she was living in 1283 are given by Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry (2005), in the Tony chapter, with the account of her son Robert. Robert’s birth at “Thornby” rests on a plea roll of 1297 (Placita Coram Domino Rege), and Richardson takes “Thornby” to be Turnberry Castle, the home of Richard’s elder brother, Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick. Alice’s inheritance from her brother Robert in 1309 is given by Richardson in his Beauchamp chapter.

Her parentage

Richardson suggests that Mary was a daughter of Robert de Brus, lord of Annandale, and so a sister of Ralph’s guardian, Richard, from the wardship, from her son’s name and from his birth at the Brus castle of Turnberry, but he adds that “Conclusive evidence of Mary’s parentage, however, is lacking.” Her surname is left blank here.

The descent through John Washburn

That the John whom the pedigrees give as a son of Joyce Botetourt’s great-granddaughter Joan Mitton was John Washburn of Bengeworth, who died in 1547, is the identification of the Washbournes’ historian, James Davenport, not a record’s, so the descent through him is given here as probable.