A Writer's Love

I added this page in order to clean up the rumors running around about my 1100AD grandfather that he either didn’t exist or that the genealogy is wrong and I’m not his kin. I’ve spent a year looking for him and like Alex Haley – Robert Lawrence, I’ve found you!! So here’s the info all nice and neat. Enjoy!!! And it seems the ‘pedigree’ is ‘important’ by some folks, so it’s at the end of the article. 

It all started a year ago with a white three ringed notebook with a cover page that entitled THE SMITH FAMILY TREE. My Uncle Larry, also known as Joe, had spent thirty years researching my family tree. He found knights and ladies, Lords, sheriffs, pastors, and farmers and of course, me resting in the annuals of time. But it was one name that stood out from the rest.


Sir Robert Lawrence of Ashton Hall circa 1190 AD.


Legend said that he was a crusader and rode along side King Richard the Lionhearted during the 1190 AD Third Crusade. Legend also claimed that he did a great deed in the name of the King and God and for this great feat, the King designated him a knight and granted him a coat of arms.

The deed differs depending upon the speaker, some claiming as the crusade neared St. Joan of Arce castle, Robert knowing the Muslim leader Saladin was nearing the castle, broke from the train of crusaders, grabbed the king’s flag and planted it on highest pinnacle, claiming the castle for Richard. Another legend states that the king was so impressed by Robert’s bravery that he gave him the grand duty of guarding the standard. Others say he, along with three other men, climbed the castle walls and opened the castle doors, allowing the crusaders to enter the fortress, thus destroying the enemy. Still another claims he was the first to raise the Christian flag outside Acre.


And yet others said Robert never existed and if he did, I was not of his family. His family seemed to have slipped through the fingers of time. Yet no one has stepped forward claiming to be his kin. As with all conspiracy theories, there are very large holes that can’t be filled, such as where are Robert’s descendents and why haven’t they stepped forward, claiming the current genealogy is wrong? Several people claim HG Somerby who documented the current genealogy lied about this family tree. Again, where is the original family? And why didn’t they step forward in the 1880’s or today? I have not found any documented proof either in newspaper articles or genealogical books that this genealogy is wrong. I have only found information on various private websites. Too many open holes for my writing bug.


Something deep inside told me he did exist and I needed to start my own crusade, a crusade for a knight. It all started with my writer’s intuition. Being a writer means you investigate everything for the sake of the story. An author writes lies based on the truth and it’s the truth that always leads the lie. Each lie must be supported by life’s tragedies and triumphs. Without these, the story dies and the characters perish. So I began with the names written on the papers of the three ringed notebook. Each name leading to a person who now lies in unmarked and marked graves. I started with Sir Robert of Ashton Hall or Grandpa Robert as I like to call him.


It was a punch into Google that I first saw the disappearance of my family. One website claimed that Grandpa Robert may not have existed or that I wasn’t of his tree. Another site claimed he came from a family named de Leicaster or de Lancaster. Yet Robert de Lancaster is a completely different person. Here is more info on him: De Lancaster Geneology

To add to the confusion, a couple of historians in Britain wrote the below article in the Victoria Historical Society in the 1900’s.


Here is the original quote from British-history UK

The second moiety was shared or inherited by the families of Stapleton (fn. 16) and Metham, (fn. 17) Thweng (fn. 18) and Pedwardine, (fn. 19) and appears to have been acquired by the Lawrences of Lancaster. Lawrence brother and heir of John son of Thomas son of Roger de Lancaster appears in 1292 putting forward a claim to land in Skerton. (fn. 20) Then in 1 317 Lawrence son of Thomas de Lancaster granted lands in Skerton, Ashton, Brantbreck, Grisehead, &c., to his son John Lawrence and Elizabeth his wife. (fn. 21) From this time Lawrence was used as the family name. John Lawrence in 1331 complained of trespass on his fishery at Ashton. (fn. 22) He in conjunction with Elizabeth his wife and Edmund their son held the Stapleton part of Ashton manor in 1338 for life. (fn. 23) The family then or a little later obtained, apparently by marriage, the estate of the Gentyl and Washington families in Carleton, Scotforth and elsewhere. (fn. 24)


Edmund Lawrence in 1357 made a feoffment of lands in Lancaster, Skerton, Ellel, Ashton and Preesall, (fn. 25) and in 1373 it was found that he held for life three plough-lands of Thomas de Stapleton by a rent of 20 marks. (fn. 26) He died at the end of 1381 (fn. 27) holding burgages in Lancaster and lands in Skerton and Overton, and left a son and heir named Robert, only ten years of age. (fn. 28) What holding was retained in Ashton is not clear, but in the reigns of Henry IV and Henry VI certain lands, in later times called ‘Lawrence lands,’ were demised to the family by the Methams. (fn. 29) Robert Lawrence, who was escheator of the county in 1404. and later, (fn. 30) complained of disseisin in 1407, (fn. 31) and it was alleged against him that Edmund had left no heir. (fn. 32) He was made a knight, (fn. 33) and had a son and heir of the same name who in 1429, having married Agnes daughter of Nicholas Croft of Dalton, received lands in Middleton, Heysham and Lancaster. (fn. 34) From: ‘Townships: Ashton with Stodday’, A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 8 (1914), pp. 50-56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53261&strquery=Ashton Hall, Lawrence Date accessed: 13 September 2011.

 

They even show a picture of Grandpa Robert’s Coat of Arms:

Yet they forgot to mention where this coat came from or that it is listed under Sir Robert Lawrence, 1191, in the College of Arms.

Burkes’ Heraldry
Lawrence : Argent, a cross naguly gules
No motto or crest


This is a very old and distinguished family whose ancestral
seat was Lancashire, England from a very early date.
This ancient English family is descended from Robert Lawrence , living
in Lancashire prior to the year 1200; therefore no motto or crest as
these had not come into use that early generally. Lawrence coat of arms

I found other evidence claiming Robert existed in a book published in 1910 by a man named Alfred Goodman. He began his search for his family tree in 1885. His information is the same as my Uncle’s and is the same on the other Lawrence research websites, starting with Robert Lawrence circa 1190 AD.


Memoirs of the Cross Family Now Mr. Goodman was documenting his family tree which has a branch to Robert.

ROBERT LAWRENCE, (evidently a combination of two Christian names). He was born at Lancashire. During the reign of Henry II, he arrived at manhood’s estate, and became a soldier. When Richard I. came to the throne he was about forty years old, followed his sovereign to the Holy Land. He distinguished himself at the siege of Acre, and was knighted by King Richard. Sir Robert Lawrence, of Ashton Hall. He wore across upon his shield to distinguish his family, “Ruguly, gules,” a rough cross hewn from a tree, and the branches tied in the shape of a cross.


Goodman, Alfred E. Memoirs of the Cross family (Kindle Locations 186-188). [Vancouver, B.C. : The Author.

Then I stumbled on this treasure that doesn’t follow the Sombry line. Mercy Hale wrote this in 1856.
Here is what Hale says about my family:A Genealogical Memoir of the Families of Lawrences
Mercy Hale. A Genealogical Memoir of the Families of Lawrences:

The descendants of Mr. John Lawrence, the first of the first of Watertown, Mass., have documentary evidence of descent in a direct male line, back to Sir Robert Lawrence, of Lancashire, a companion in arms with Richard Couer de Lion, who, in 1190, conferred on him a cross raguly Gules, for bravery in scaling the walls of Acre.


Mercy Hale. A Genealogical Memoir of the Families of Lawrences: With a Direct Male Line from Sir Robert ... (Kindle Locations 39-41). Printed for the author.

Mercy starts his genealogy at Sir Robert Lawrence (1399-1450) who married Amphilbis Longford. Nicholas was their third son. James is the eldest. Robert (surprised by the name?) is the middle child. I am related to James.


Hale’s genealogy deals only with Robert and Amphilbis’ third son, Nicholas, but links Sir Robert of 1399 to Sir Robert of 1190 AD.


Unfortunately, the Victoria Historical Society had very limited information on which to gather family histories, not what we have now. Others jumped on this bandwagon, claiming my family originated from the de Lancasters, yet no one could explain the coat of arms that the king granted to a Sir Robert Lawrence in 1190 AD or they claimed it was awarded to a Robert Lawrence, who was knighted in the 1400's. My records show that there was a Robert Lawrence (1350 - 1439), but I see no evidence that he was knighted in the 1400s. In fact, I see no evidence that he was knighted at all.


So the question now is who is right? Hale and Sombry or The Victoria County Historical Society? One has to be right and one has to be wrong.


So I dug deeper into the names, following whatever trail history offered me. That and many prayers to God, asking for His guidance and leadership through my self imposed obsessive compulsive quest.


The names led me to Sir Thomas Lawrence of 1539-1593 who claimed cadency over the coat of arms. Now according to the College of Arms, he had a coat of arms similar to grandpa’s, but it was made differently as was his rights, (Candency) not to mention it was the ‘in thing’ to do. He is listed in the Book of Knights by Metcalf, you can see it on Google books for free, page 33. In order for him to get his coat of arms, he had to prove that he was a descendent to the original owner. It was very time consuming and very, very pricey. Also folks guarded their coat of arms like gold and had the right to sue anyone who stepped over the line.

Sr. Thomas Laurance Quarterly – 1 and 4, Argent, a cross ragulee Gules, 2 and 3, Argent, two bars and in chief three mullets pierced Gules, Crest A lucie’s tail proper.

I contacted the College of Arms and asked them if they could clarify a few things regarding the coats. Wouldn’t a descendant have to take his grandfather’s coat of arms? According to English law, one could be sued for taking another’s coat without permission. And according to the Victoria County of History, 1914, my family came from the de Lancaster family. Here is their coat:


De Lancaster coat of arms


See the difference? Huge difference. According to Timothy Duke, a very nice English Harold at the College,

As you know, there is no such thing as a coat of arms for a surname. Arms and crests are the property of particular families and individuals. To establish a right to arms by inheritance for your great grandmother Effie Maude Lawrence, you must prove her descent in a direct and unbroken male line from an ancestor on record here as so entitled. The first step is a search under the name Lawrence in the official registers of arms and pedigrees, in association with whatever facts you can supply about the paternal ancestry of your great grandmother, going as far back as possible. This information is best set out in the form of a simple family tree, with your great grandmother at the base, giving full names and dates/places of birth, marriage and death, with occupations and places of residence where known. The identity of her emigrant ancestor is all important.

So in order for the family to use any coat of arms, it must be of the de Lancaster coat, not Lawrence. There is no way the college would have given him the Lawrence coat if we came from the de Lancaster’s. And Grandpa Robert would have had to have taken the de Lancaster coat of arms instead of having one of his own.


But still I longed for that one piece of proof, a bone to chew on, so to speak. I can’t tell you how I found this only that I did. Here is that nail in the proverbial coffin.

On 1 November, 1356, the mastership being vacant, Henry duke of Lancaster gave the hospital to the nuns of Seton in Cumberland to relieve their poverty. (fn. 37) His generosity is said to have been inspired by his servant, Sir Robert Lawrence, kt., (knight) of Ashton, near Lancaster, a kinsman of the prioress. (fn. 38) The grant was conditional on the consent of the burgesses of Lancaster and on the nuns finding at the priory a chantry of one chaplain to replace that at the hospital and agreeing to continue its alms and dues at Lancaster. (fn. 39) From: 'Hospitals: St Leonard, Lancaster', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2 (1908), pp. 165. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38361&strquery=lawrence Date accessed: 07 September 2011.

The only man knighted in the Lawrence family before 1356 was Grandpa Robert in 1190 AD. The other men after Robert were all squires, which meant they were gentlemen of some standing. Yet according to the Victoria County History, the only knight that came from the Lawrences was a Robert Lawrence circa 1400s. Big difference.


Here is another article for Henry’s donation:

Once again, on 1 April, 1357, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, discovering that the there were not enough fund to support the nuns, granted the nuns the vacant hospital of St. Leonard, Lancaster, with all its lands and possessions. http://monasticmatrix.org/monasticon/?function=detail&id=882#publishedPrimarySources

This was all I needed to prove Grandpa truly lived and was the first knight of Ashton Hall and that Sombry was right. (Sorry, conspiracy theorists. Go back to Area 51). Again, the folks at the Victoria Historical Society had very limited resources. They also complained there isn’t anything written about Grandpa in 1100 AD, no birth records, or fines, or land disputes, nothing. Folks seem to forget that 1100 AD was the end of the dark ages where no one thought it was necessary to document such silly things as fines, birth records, etc. These things were word of mouth. Most of the population couldn’t read or write, so documentation was a waste of resources. The only things documented were the monarchy, the more important nobles and the church.


So now that I had found my grandfather, I longed to know him. Yet how does one know a person who has been dead for over a thousand years? Easy, you look at what he left behind.


I started with his original coat of arms.

Now Richard would have given grandpa the above coat. The rest was added on by grandpa’s family such as the crest (the fish on the top), the helmet and any mottos.

So to break down each section tells me a little about him.


Grandpa’s wouldn’t have had the helmet and the fish. Those where added later by his children. Richard would have given Grandpa the first plain shield, but colored red and gray as the latter one.


But just so you know, here’s what the fish, laurel and helmet mean:


The gold mixed in the laurel leaves says he was generous and had a smart mind.
The fish on the top doesn’t mean he liked to eat at Red Lobster but that he had a true and generous mind; he was virtuous just because it was in his nature, not from his heritage.
The helmet, which the eye shield is closed, indicates whomever added this stuff to the crest was a squire. A knight would have had an open helmet eye shield. Robert’s kids were squires of Ashton, so they probably added this on to the coat. I’m guessing that maybe the kids meant to say Dad was virtuous, generous, ect. Or maybe they were virtuous.
Remember also Lawrence comes from the surname of Laurel. Notice the Laurel surrounding the first crest.


Now for Grandpa:
The silver, also called Argent, on the shield means he was peaceful and sincere.
The red also called Gules, said he was a warrior or a martyr and he had military strength and nobleness to him.
The Raguly (jagged) lines on the cross say he encountered many difficulties.
The cross means he was in a Holy War, the crusades.
Americancollegeofheraldry.org/


Remember, the crusades ended around 1300AD. Sir Thomas lived in 1500 AD. Sir Robert according to Victorian Historical society was knighted in 1400s. It doesn’t make sense that the King would have awarded either one of them a coat of arms that dictated a man fighting in the crusades.


Things are now starting to come together, right? Now this doesn’t mean he didn’t have any faults and stood next to God, it only means he was a man of integrity; he meant what he said and refused to back down in the face of danger as is seen in all the Lawrence men that come from his line.


Now that I know who he is and that he existed, I longed to know what he did ‘over there’ in the crusades. So I followed more information that is spread over the web.


I came across the book Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, or The Third Crusade of King Richard, a book written about the crusades. Rumor had it that my grandfather’s name was in that book. So I hunted down a translated version by Helen Nicholson (1997) as the original was in Latin. I read the book cover to cover.


Now this is again is where it gets a bit confusing as if it’s not already confusing. Apparently there are four versions of Itinerarium floating around Amazon.com. The only one I could find and actually read in English is the one translated by Helen. The rest are in Latin, old Spanish or no longer exist.


A huge rumor, as if there isn’t enough of them, is that Grandpa Robert is referred to as Robert de Lancaster or Leicester. This is NOT Robert Lawrence, but is actually Robert de Breteuil often referred to as Robert de Leicester, Third Earl of Lancaster. Confused? I would love to know how all these rumors started. So many of them. My family is more exciting then the Hollywood stars. Gesh!!


I didn’t find the name, Sir Robert Lawrence listed anywhere in this book, (who knows, maybe he in the other versions?) but what I did find gave me Goosebumps. I found his legend brought to life.


The first question is did he really truly go? Every man who was able to fight from a teenager to an old man longed to go to the crusades:

An enormous number of people of various nationalities, especially French and English, were roused into putting their devotion into practice, taking the sign of the Holy Cross and hastening to help the Holy Land with all their strength. Like David, they burned to punish the Philistines who taunted the labouring hosts of the God of Israel with their Goliaths [1 Samuel ch 17.]


The supreme Pontiff diligently urged them to do this to obtain mercy for all their sins. By the authority with which he was endowed he absolved anyone who immediately undertook this pious and necessary work from their guild for past sins they had committed, maintaining that those whose more fervent zeal them to undertake the journey without delay would merit more blessings. . . . Hence people eagerly ran to receive the cross from bishops, with lively zeal and pious competition. Already it was not a question of who was wearing the cross, but rather who was not yet girded with such a pious burden. Chronicle of the Third Crusade, Nicholson, page 139 and 142.

So Grandpa went with the other crusaders in the year 1190, sailing for Messina, Italy, then to march to Jerusalem. He was forty years old. Seventy in our time. Remember they didn’t live long. Forty was an old man. (Yeah, get over it.)


It is in Messina that I finally realize where all the strange stories came regarding my grandfather. It seems some of the citizens of Messina, called Lombards, were jealous of the English King to the point that a scuffle turned into a brawl, then into a battle. Richard and his men chased the Lombards to their castle. This is where I find the first story of my grandfather. Remember this one?


Others say he, along with three other men, climbed the castle walls and opened the castle doors, allowing the crusaders to enter the fortress, thus destroying the enemy.


The above is incorrect. It wasn’t four men, but several.

On the landward side the attack was pressed most fiercely where the king of England was. He was uniquely skilled in warfare. Part of his army attempted to cut the hinges of the [castle] gates, but when they were not successful they climbed a high hill next to the city and went to a postern gate [think backdoor] which the king of England thought that the citizens had overlooked. He had noticed it on the second day after his arrival when he and two companions were going around the city spying out the land as a precaution against future need. They boldly made a great charge through this gate and entered the city, broke down the city gates and let the rest of the army enter. They either captured or killed any citizen who stood in their way or resisted them, and invaded the city in a body. Many of the Lombards and our people fell in that conflict. Chronicle of the Third Crusade, 163.

I didn’t find any instance of men climbing the castle walls of Acre and opening the castle gates, only this version in Messina, Italy. There were men who scaled the walls of Acre, only to be killed.


Now the names of the men entered the city were never mentioned, but the two stories are so similar and since this legend has been passed down from generation to generation, I can only conclude that one of the men was my grandfather.


Another legend states:


The king was so impressed by Robert’s bravery that he gave him the grand duty of guarding the standard.


Well, guess what?

King Richard led the vanguard and held supreme command. The Normans guarded the standard. (Remember, Robert was originally a Norman.) . . . It was custom to assign a force of elite knights to protect this implement, especially in the field of battle, so that it may not be broken down by hostile attack or knocked down by some injury; because if it happened to be knocked down by some accident then the army would be thrown into confusion and scattered because there would not be any rallying point. . . . The Normans and the English attended the Standard. (Page 237)

Of course Robert guarded the standard. Not only was he English/Norman, but also considered an elite knight.


Even the Lawrence motto, Be Ready is seen in the book:

The king, who was ready for anything, not to say reckless, went out to meet the arrivals in a small rowing boat, inquiring how they were and where they came from. (page 188)

Another website claims: daltondatabank.org/Chronicles/RDaltonBook/20.htm#lawrence

Another writer indicates that he was created a Knight-Banneret (a military Knighthood and the highest grade in the Middle Ages) and was allow to bear for Arms, “Agent, a cross ragulée gules,” a red cross of trunks of trees having pieces like couped boughs projecting from the side in a slanting direction, on a silver shield. This Arms is registered with the College of Arms in London, England.

This probably is true as when a knight receives the Arms, he is made into a Knight-Banneret.


Sadly enough, this is where the legends end. Sure there are a couple others: He planted the first flag on Acre, but I didn’t see anything that claimed a knight planted a flag or that he climbed the highest pinnacle and planted the flag before Saladin arrived. Richard arrived AFTER Saladin had taken the fortress. These were probably added on later by kinfolk.


I fear my grandfather never made it back to England and instead died on the shores of Israel as did most of the army. There was more fighting between Richard’s men and the Saladin army, much more. My uncle dated Robert’s death in 1191. The crusades ended in 1192.


More than likely, Robert’s relatives returned home and told his widow of his death and the king gave the land to Robert’s heirs. Which is another story.


My ‘pedigree’


1. Daddy Robert Lawrence 1125-1191
2. Sir Robert Lawrence Crusader with King Richard the Lionhearted (1150 – 1191) Married a Trafford woman
3. Robert Lawrence (1170- 1216) married Anne Wallace
4. Robert Lawrence (1196 – 1265) married a De Trafford woman
5. James Lawrence (1224-1290) married Matilda de Washington
6. John Lawrence Squire (1255 – 1317) married Margaret Chesford
7. Sir Robert Lawrence Squire (1290 -1360) married Elizabeth Holt
8. Robert Lawrence (1350 – 1439) married Margaret Holden
9. Robert Lawrence (1399 – 1450) married Amphilbis Lonford
10. James Lawrence (1428 – 1490) married Eleanor Welles
11. Sir Thomas Lawrence (1472 – 1540) married ?
12. Thomas Lawrence (1500 – 1576) married Elizabeth Lawrence
13. Sir Thomas Lawrence (1539 – 1593) married Martha Cage
14. Sir John Lawrence (1589 – 1638) married Mary Gibbone
15. Robert Lawrence (1617 – 1682) married Elizabeth Adkinson
16. Henry Lawrence (1644 – 1739) married Isabella Purcell
17. Michael Lawrence (1676 – 1754) married Susanna Larcomb
18. Henry Lawrence (1725 – 1767) married Elizabeth Standley
19. Thomas D Lawrence (1761 – 1835) married Abigail Gough
20. Henry Grandison Lawrence (1807 – 1861) married Sarah Sally Bbaucom
21. Thomas Newton Lawrence (1826 – 1907) married Mary Feezor
22. George Lawrence (1854 – 1935) married Mary Ann Bastion
23. Effe Maude Lawrence (1887 – 1956) married Silas Lee Smith
24. Lawrence Lee Smith (1913 – 1966) married Gladys Evelian Brown
25. My mom and dad. (I don’t think they would like their names thrown across the internet.)
26. ME!!!!