Ranulph Neville, 1st Baron Neville

English nobleman

Ranulph Neville, 1st Baron Neville (18 October 1262 – c. 18 April 1331) of Raby Castle, County Durham, was an English nobleman and head of the powerful Neville family.

Origins

He was the eldest son of Robert de Neville (who predeceased his own father) by his wife Mary FitzRanulf, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Ralph FitzRanulf (d.1270) of Middleham Castle in Yorkshire.^[1] Ranulph was heir to his grandfather Sir Robert de Neville (d.1282) of Raby.

Marriages and children

Neville married twice:

Arms of de Clavering: Quarterly or and gules, a bend sable^[2]

• Firstly to Euphemia de Clavering, daughter and heiress^[3] of John de Clavering or of his father Robert fitzRoger de Clavering^[4] of Warkworth Castle in Northumberland. By his wife he had fourteen children including:

Effigy in St Brandon's Church, Brancepeth, of Sir Robert Neville (d.1319) "Peacock of the North", in style of a cross-legged crusader. On his shield he displays the arms of Neville with a label of three points for the difference of an eldest son

• • Robert Neville (c. 1287 – June 1319), the "Peacock of the North", eldest son and heir apparent who predeceased his father, having been slain in a border fray outside the walls of Berwick by James 'The Good', Lord of Douglas (c.1290–1330).^[5] His cross-legged crusader-style effigy survives in St Brandon's Church, Brancepeth;
  • Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville (c. 1291 – 5 August 1367), eldest surviving son and heir;
  • Sir Alexander Neville (d. 15 March 1367);
  • John Neville (d. 19 July 1333) who died at the Battle of Halidon Hill;
  • Thomas Neville (c. 1306 - before June 1349), Archdeacon of Durham.
  • Anastasia Neville (c.1285), wife of Sir Walter Fauconberg (d. 24 June 1314) who died at the Battle of Bannockburn);
  • Mary Neville;
  • Ida Neville;
  • Eupheme Neville.
• Secondly he married Margery de Thwenge, daughter of John de Thwenge and Joan de Mauley. Her effigy survives in St Mary's Church, Staindrop.^[6]

Death and burial

Ranulph died shortly after 18 April 1331 and was buried in the choir of Coverham Abbey, the patronage of which had been inherited from his mother.^[7]

Footnotes

1. 'Parishes: Middleham', in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1, ed. William Page (London, 1914), pp. 251-257 [1]
2. FitzHerbert, R.H.C (1886). "Original pedigree of Tailbois and Neville." The Genealogist, 3, pp. 31. Walford Dakin Selby, Ed. London [2]
3. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 40 Neville, Ralph de, by James Tait [3]
4. FitzHerbert, R.H.C (1886). "Original pedigree of Tailbois and Neville." The Genealogist, 3, pp. 31. Walford Dakin Selby, Ed. London [4] (or perhaps daughter of Robert fitz Roger of Clavering (5th Baron of Warkworth & Clavering) and Margaret la Zouche, daughter of Alan la Zouche (source needed)
5. Tait, DNB "the Earl of Douglas" (sic)
6. See image
7. Tait, DNB

References

• Cokayne, G.E.; Doubleday, H.A. & Howard de Walden, Lord, eds. (1936). The Complete Peerage. Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). London: St. Catherine Press. p. 497.
• Fitz Herbert, Reginald H.C. (1886). "Original Pedigree of Tailbois and Neville" (PDF). In Walford Dakin Selby (ed.). The Genealogist. New Series. Vol. 3. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 34.
• Richardson, D. (2011). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Tuck, Anthony (2004). "Neville, Ralph, fourth Lord Neville (c. 1291–1367)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19950. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Young, Charles R. (1996). The Making of the Neville Family, 1166–1400. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-668-2.