| Notes |
- BARON OF ARKLOW
LORD MESTON LANMCHSHIRE
SEE DICT NAT BIOG. ANTE 11 P 447/8 SUB BUTLER
CAMDEN BRITANNIA P 426
R A P 58
C P 111 60, X 116, APP D
IRISH PED 11 P 47-83
ANC LINES P 169
"BARONY" of ARKLOW
The existence of the Barony of Arklow as an Irish Peerage, thoughbelieved in by some, can hardly be maintained. In the elaborate accountof the Butler family give (1754 and 1789) by John Lodge, in his Peerageof Ireland, the title of "Baron of Arklow" is not even mentioned. WilliamLynch, however (who may be considered as an authority on FeudalInstitutions in Ireland), classes it as "an ancient fuedal Barony"descending (in accordance with his views on these "prescriptive or feudaldignities") to the heir male. He contends that the first holder of this"Barony" was Theobald Walter, the first "Butler" (who was possessed,possibly in 1177, but certainly in 1205, of the Lordship of Arklow), andthat from him it has descended to his heirs male, thereby vesting in eachsuccessive Earl of Ormonde of the house of Butler. In support of thisassertion he urges that "it continued to be enjoyed by the heir male ofthe Butler family, even when, under Henry VII, the heir male had ceasedto hold the Earldom", and that it was "so enjoyed by the successive heirsmale who became Earls". [Complete Peerage I:213-4] Note: CP does notrecognize the "Barony" of Arklow.
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BUTLER FAMILY HISTORY
Hubert's eldest brother was christened Theobald, presumably after hismaternal grandfather, Theobald de Valognes. Theobald Walter was thefirst of the family to migrate to Ireland where, by 1185, he had beencreated Chief Butler. He and his descendants, who bred like rabbitsimmune from myxomatosis, took their surname from the office of Butler ofIreland, as the royal house of Stuart took their surname from the officeof Steward of Scotland. The Chief Butler was one of the hereditary greatofficers of state, like the Steward, the Constable, the Marshal or theChamberlain. For what it is now worth, the Chief Butlerage of Ireland isthe most ancient hereditary dignity still enjoyed by the heirs male ofany family in the British Isles, if not in Europe. The right to theoffice was admitted to reside in Lord Ormonde at the coronation of GeorgeIV in 1821--the last coronation at which there was an official coronationbanquet. William IV did away with the feast once and for all, so thathis coronation was dubbed by the wits "the half-crownation."
The prisage of wines was another matter: it involved the right to aboutone tenth of the cargo of any wine ship that broke bulk in Ireland. Thisright was granted to Theobald Walter and continued in his descendantsuntil it was restored to the Crown by Act of Parliament in 1810.
Going from father to son, each of the first five Chief Butlers was calledTheobald which invites confusion and each, as was the wont of feudalmagnates, feared God, fought hard, married well and, except for the firstButler, died young.
Out of his vast estates in Ireland and England, the first Butler foundedthe Abbey of Wotheney, Co. Limerick, where he was buried, and themonastery of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, where the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Butlers wereburied, as well as the abbeys of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and of Cockersandin Lancashire.
The 1st Butler married Maud Vavassour of that Yorkshire family which wasreputed never to have married an heiress and never to have had to bury awife! [Butler Family History]
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The following was provided by Curt Hofemann, curt_hofemann AT yahoo.com,in a post-em:
King Henry II of England appointed his youngest son John as Lord ofIreland. John came to view his acquisition in 1185 and initiated a policyof granting lands, hitherto uncolonised, to members of his entourage.Almost all of the area now comprising the administrative county calledTipperary North Riding - which includes the baronies of Upper and LowerOrmond - was part of the grant made by John to Theobald, eldest son ofHervey Walter of Lancashire, England. Theobald was subsequently appointedPincerna Hiberniae or Chief Butler of Ireland. By about 1250, title andsurname had become Le Botiller, later anglicised to Butler [Ref:http://homepage.tinet.ie/~marydan/nenagh.htm]
from the 1911 version of the Encyclopedia Britannica:
Between these two great statesmen Theobald Walter, the eldest brother ofthe archbishop, rose and flourished.’ Theobald is found in the LiberNiger (c. 1166) as holding Amounderness by the service of one knight. In1185 he went over sea to Waterford with John the king’s son, the freightof the harness sent after him being charged in the Pipe Roll. Clad inthat harness he led the men of Cork when Dermot MacCarthy, prince ofDesmond, was put to the sword, John rewarding his services with lands inLimerick and with the important fief of Arklow in the vale of Avoca,where he made his Irish seat and founded an abbey. Returning to Englandhe accompanied his uncle Randulf to France, both witnessing a charterdelivered by the king at Chinon when near to death. Soon afterwards,Theobald Walter was given by John that hereditary office of butler to thelord of Ireland, which makes a surname for his descendants, stylinghimself pincerna when he attests John’s charter to Dublin on the 15th ofMay 1192. J. Horace Round has pointed out that he also took a fresh seal,the inscription of which calls him Theobald Walter, Butler of Ireland,and henceforward he is sometimes surnamed Butler (le Botiller). When Johnwent abroad in 1192, Theobald was given the charge of Lancaster castle,but in 1194 he was forced to surrender to his brother Hubert, whosummoned it in King Richard’s name. Making his peace through Hubert’sinfluence, he was sheriff of Lancashire for King Richard, who regrantedto him all Amounderness. His fortunes turned with the king’s death. Thenew sovereign, treating his surrender of the castle as treachery, tookthe shrievalty from him, disseised him of Amounderness and sold hiscantreds of Limerick land to William de Braose. But the great archbishopsoon found means to bring his brother back to favour, and on the 2nd ofJanuary 1201-2 Amounderness, by writ of the king, is to be restored toTheobald Walter, dilecto et ff deli nostre. Within a year or two Theobaldleft England to end his days upon his Arklow fief, busying himself withreligious foundations at Wotheney in Limerick, at Arklow and at Nenagh.At Wotheney he is said to have been buried shortly before the 12th ofFebruary 1205-6, when an entry in the Close Roll is concerned with’ hiswidow. This widow, Maude, daughter of Robert Ie Vavasor of Denton, wasgiven up to her father, who, buying the right of marrying her at a priceof 1200 marks and two pall reys, gave her to Fulk fitz-Warine. Theobald,the son and heir of Theobald and Maude, a child of six years old, waslikewise taken into the keeping of his grandfather Robert, but lettersfrom the king, dated the 2nd of March 1205-6, told Robert, "as he lovedhis body," to surrender the heir at once to Gilbert fitz-Reinfrid, thebaron of Kendal. [Ref:http://media13.fastclick.net/w/safepop.cgi?mid=10317&sid=7450&id=136595&geo=0&len=9&u=http%3A%2F%2F51.1911encyclopedia.org%2FB%2FBU%2FBUTHROTUM.htm&c=56]
At this last source the data was scanned in via OCR so you need to checkfor OCR translation errors, but on the whole & very terrific website.
Regards,
Curt
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Bef 1156 - Aft 1206 (> 50 years)
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