♂Walter de Grey

Walter de Grey (died before 5 January 1268) was an English landholder of Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire and a nephew of Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York^W. His uncle gave him lands at Rotherfield and married him to an heiress who was the archbishop’s own ward. He was the twenty-first great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) by two separate lines of descent, both through his son Robert de Grey (died 1295).

Lands from his uncle

Walter was the son of Robert de Grey, the archbishop’s brother. The archbishop seems to have bought land and passed it first to Robert and then to Walter. In 1245 Walter is said to have received a grant of the archbishop’s gifts at Cogges in Oxfordshire and at Somerton, with knights’ fees tied to the guard of Dover Castle and land at Hardwick that the archbishop had from the Prior of Sées in Normandy. On 1 May 1246 a royal charter granted him lands in Rotherfield, Badgemore, Cornwell and Leigh, the gift of his uncle the archbishop.

Marriage and death

Walter married Isabel de Duston. William de Duston, a Northamptonshire landholder, died leaving three daughters under age as his heirs. Their wardship passed to the archbishop, who arranged the marriages of all three, and Isabel, the eldest, was married to his nephew Walter. Their son Robert succeeded to his father’s lands.

Walter died before 5 January 1268, when Robert is said to have done homage for his father’s lands. Isabel outlived him by at least eight years.

Lines of descent

Both lines run through his son Robert de Grey and his grandson John de Grey (1266–1311). One comes down through Thomas Dudley^W (1576–1653), later governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to Nathaniel Dudley (1763–1844); the other reaches Nathaniel’s wife, Anna Smith (1764–1825). The two lines meet again in their daughter Sarah Dudley (1795–1839).

Notes

Parentage and lands

A royal charter of 1 May 1246 granted Walter, as son of Robert de Grey and nephew of the archbishop, lands in Rotherfield, Badgemore, Cornwell and Leigh, of the gift of his uncle Walter, archbishop of York (Calendar of the Charter Rolls, vol. 1, p. 292). The Complete Peerage (2nd ed., vol. 6, Note at the end of the article on Grey of Rotherfield) gives the grant of 12 June 1245 to “Walter de Grey, s. of Robert de Grey, nephew of Walter, Archbishop of York”, of land in Cogges, Somerton and elsewhere, of knights’ fees “pertaining to the custody of the castle of Dover”, of the Arsic inheritance, and of land in Bristelmeston, Hardwick and Aylesford “which the Archbishop had of the gift of the Prior of Sées in Normandy”. The same note describes the 1246 lands as those “which the Archbishop gave to Robert, his brother, father of the said Walter”, and judges that “the Archbishop seems to have acquired land by purchase and passed it on to his brother Robert and subsequently to his nephew Walter”.

Marriage

The inquest on William de Duston, taken on 24 April 1271, found that “he had 3 daughters his heirs, who were under age when their father died”, that “Walter, sometime archbishop of York, who afterwards had the wardship of the heirs, married them”, and that “Isabel, the eldest daughter, who was married to Walter de Grey” was in seisin (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 1, no. 760). The Complete Peerage (vol. 6, p. 144) makes their son Robert “s. and h. of Sir Walter de Grey … by Isabel, eld. da. and coh. of William de Duston”.

Death

No date of death is known. The Complete Peerage (vol. 6, p. 144) gives Robert’s homage for his father’s lands on 5 January 1267/8, from the Fine Rolls; Walter was therefore dead by then. Isabel was still living in late 1276, when she held land at Wicken in Northamptonshire (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 2, no. 176).