[NI1680]
The Clan Somerville
This surname is French in origin and comes from the town near Caen in Normandy; the name means Sumer's estate. The first of this name in Scotland was one William de Somerville, who came in the train of David I and received lands in Lanarkshire. There were five Williams in succession, the last dying in 1282. They appeared as witnesses to the charters to the religious houses of Melrose, Kelso, Coldingham, Glasgow, Newbattle and Paisley during the reigns of David I, Malcolm IV and William the Lion. During the reign of William the Lion, William de Somerville slew a monstrous animal or serpent which was terrorising the district of Linton, Roxburghshire. In 1174 he was rewarded with the lands of Linton. Robert de Sumeruilla witnessed a charter by Duncan, Earl of Fife, to the Nuns of North Berwick c.1177. Ralph de Sumervilla, acolyte, was promoted to the church of Linton in 1255. William Somerwele of the Plane, was a charter witness in Edinburgh in 1492 and John Semrell was a tenant under the Abbey of Kelso in 1567. In 1430 the title Lord Somerville was conferred on Sir Thomas Somerville. In December 1423 he was given a safe conduct to England to meet James I and he was one of the guarantees of the treaty for his release in December 1424. John, third Lord Somerville, was wounded at the battle of Sark against the English in 1448. He had a son, Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan, who was killed at Flodden in 1513. John, thirteenth Lord Somerville, built the elegant house of Drum where he died in 1765. The peerage ceased in 1870 on the death of the seventeenth Lord.
source: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/stoz/somervi2.html
Other Information
The eldest son:
Archibald, Master of Campbell, m 1st, Elizabeth, dtr of John Somerville, 3rd Lord Somerville, and d ante March 1440, in the lifetime of his father, leaving by her a son:
..A1 Colin, his heir, and heir to his grandfather, 1st Lord Campbell [see below]
The heir:
Colin Campbell, 2nd Lord Campbell, succeeded his grandfather 1453 while still in his minority, and was created Earl of Argyll in 1457.
source: http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-03/campbe01.html
The Ancient Sommerville Family History
The name of Somerville or Sommerville is of local origin and was probably taken by its first bearers from a village of that name in Normandy, from which place the family went into England about the year 1066 ad. In the train of the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror. It is found that in ancient English and early American records in the various forms of Somervail, Somervell, Somerfield, Somerfale, Somerwill, Summersville, Summervill, Somervill, Somervil, Sommervill, Sommerville, Somerville, and others, of which the last two spellings are those most generally used in America today.
Families bearing this name were resident at early dates in the British Counties of Stafford, Gloucester, Devon, Warwick, Ayr, and Lanark. These families were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and yeomanry of Great Britain.
According to tradition, all of the families of the name in England, Scotland, and America trace their descent from Sir Gaulter de Somerville, who was rewarded for his service, at the time of the Norman conquest of England, by grants of land at Whichnow, in Staffordshire, and Aston Somerville, in Gloucestershire.
Sir Gaulter, Lord of Whichnow, was the father of another Sir Gaulter, who married Cicilly Delunsie and had a son, Sir Rodger, who married Edellie Beether or Edeline Boteler and had tow sons, Sir Rodger (progenitor of the Scottish line) and another (name unknown), who established the English line. This line is said to have ended in the poet, William Somerville, in the early seventeenth century.
To continue the elder line, Sir Rodger, son of Rodger and Edellie, was the father of another Sir Rodger, who was succeeded by his son, Sir John, who was living in Scotland in the year 1164. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Oliphant, and had issue by her of Sir Robert and William. Sir Robert married Isabella, daughter of Roger de Merley, and had Sir Roger, who was Sheriff of Yorkshire and Governor of the Castle of York. This Sir Roger was the father of another Sir Roger, who was the first of the line to be created a Peer of England and to bear the title of Lord Somerville. He was succeeded by his son Philip, who had only female issue and was succeeded by the descendants of a younger line, given below.
William, second son of Sir John and Elizabeth (nee Oliphant) Somerville, married Margaret Newbigging and had a son, Sir Walter, who married Effie Barclay and had issue by her of Sir David (probably died young) and Sir John. The latter married Elizabeth Douglas and was the father of James (killed in battle 1346) and Sir Walter. Of these Sir Walter married Janet Preston and had issue by her of Sir John, who married a daughter of Sir John Edmonstone. He was the father by her of Sir Thomas, who married Mary Sinclair, sister of the Earl of Orkney, and was the first Lord Somerville of this line.
Sir Thomas, Lord Somerville, did in 1434, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William, who married Janet, daughter of Sir John Mowat. By her he had a son named John, who married Helen Hepburn, daughter of Lord Hailes, and was the father by her of, among other, William, who married Marjoria, daughter of Lord Montgomerie, Earl of Eglington. They had John (died without issue), Hugh, and possibly others. Of these brothers, Hugh succeeded John as Lord Somerville and married Anna Hamilton, daughter of the Earl of Arran, in 1510. He had issue of her of James, John and Hugh.
James, eldest son of Hugh and Anna and sixth Lord Somerville of this line, married Agnes, daughter of Sir James Hamilton, and had two sons, Hugh and James. The first married Heleana, daughter of Lord Seaton, and was the father by her of William, John, Robert, Gilbert, and Hugh. Of these, Gilbert became the next Lord Somerville and married his cousin Margaret, daughter of John Somerville, of Cambusnathan. Gilbert was the father of a son named James, who died in infancy. Hugh, son of Hugh and Heleana, was the father of James and Gavin, of whom the first married Lilias, daughter of Sir James Bannantyne, and left at least one son, named James, who was the father by his wife, Martha Bannantyne, of yet another James. This James married Elizabeth Graham, by whom he was the father of James, who married Elizabeth Murray before 1698. He had issue by her of James, George, John, William, Buphemia, and Elizabeth. Of these, James, Lord Somerville, had issue by his wife, Anne Bayntun, of James, Hugh, and Anne.
source: http://home.att.net/~RSD75/index2.html
Taken from William Somerville, Esq.’s earlier volumes,
"The Memorie of the Somervilles", by James Somerville
The first of the surname of Somerville of which we have any record, is Sir Gualter (Walter) De
Somerville, a Norman Knight, who, with other adventurous spirits, attached themselves to William
the Conqueror, and landed with him in Britain in 1066.
Sir Gualter (1st Baron) was thus the ancestor and founder of the families of the two powerful
territorial houses of Somerville who flourished in England for nearly 300 years, and in Scotland
for 700 years.
We read that Somerville*1, near Evreaux, in Normandy*1 was the place from which the family
drew its name, and which Sir Gualter left in order to follow the fortunes of William the
Conqueror. This knight, for his services and share of the spoils on the conquest of England, was
rewarded by William with a gift of the lands and barony of Whichenour and Burtone
(Burton-on-Trent) in the County of Stafford. He was succeeded by his son.
GUALTER (2nd Baron) – 2nd of that name, of whom there is nothing mentioned in "The
Memorie" except that he married Cicilly deLunsie, by whom he had a son, Rodger, who
succeeded him.
RODGER (3rd Baron) – All that is known of this baron is that he married Edellie, daughter of
Robert Buther of Inglishbie. By this lady he had a son named Rodger, who heired him, and others
of whom there is no account given.
RODGER (4th Baron) – 2nd of that name. The author of "The Memorie" says he can find nothing
written, but that he was the father of a third Rodger who succeeded him.
RODGER (5th Baron) – 3rd of that name. This Baron had two sons. Rodger the elder was
educated in France for the Church, and was afterward preferred to the Bishopric of St.
Andrews. John, the younger, while on a visit with his father to the North of England, met
Malcolm IV, King of Scotland, who took a liking for him (at this time he was only a lad of
fourteen).
In 1164, King Malcolm offered to take him into his service as a page of honour. This pleased Sir
Rodger so much that he willingly left him in his Majesty’s care. King Malcolm died the following
year, 1165, and was succeeded by his brother, William the Lion. This king also took a fancy for
him, so he rapidly rose in favour at the Scottish Court, being soon after appointed Chief
Falconer to his Majesty.
It was while thus employed that the incident occurred which laid the foundation of the House of
Somerville in Scotland, and all the stirring events and festive scenes connected with the family
for the next four centuries.
The incident referred to was his killing the worm or serpent (which will be given fuller detail,
later). For his service, he had the lands and barony of Linton gifted to him, along with a
knighthood, by the king in 1174.
In the 5th year of the reign of King John, Sir Rodger obtained from him a grant of the lands
and Manor Eyrwasi (Zears) which adjoined Whichenour.
This baron joined in the Magna Chara rebellion of 1214-1215, against King John, in consequence
of which he had his estates forfeited, and had to seek refuge in Scotland in the house of his
son, Sir John, now baron of Linton in Roxburghshire, where after a few months’ residence, he
died.
SIR JOHN SOMERVILLE of Linton (6th Baron) – Sir Rodger’s 2nd son succeeded, after the
death of King John, through the mediation of King Alexander with King Henry III, in getting the
estates in England restored and settled in his favour about the year 1221. These were
afterwards, made over to his elder son Robert, who thus succeeded him as Lord of Whichenour,
while he settled the succession of his Scottish estate upon his 2nd son, William.
In Sir John, the two families were united, and at his death, were again divided into two
separate branches.*2
ROBERT (7th Baron) – Elder, son of Sir John and baron of Whichenour in 1229, married
Isabella, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Rodger de Merlie, a great baron in
Northumberland, but did not live many years. He died in 1242, in the 25th year of Henry III’s
reign.
RODGER (8th Baron) – Son of Robert, succeeded him. This Baron was a soldier, and under
Henry dePercy, was engaged in expeditions against Scotland, in the taking of Berwick in 1296,
afterwards advancing to Dunbar where the Scottish Army was defeated. We find that he, in the
following year, petitioned Parliament for an allowance, for his services in these expeditions.
He was later appointed Sheriff of Yorkshire, and Governor of York Castle by Edward II. He
left a son who succeeded him.
RODGER (9th Baron) – This baron was also a soldier, and took part in the wars with Scotland.
We find he gave admission to the Church of Stainington to the monks of Newminster near
Morpeth in Northumberland. There is little else on record about him except that he was
summoned to attend Parliament in the 1st year of the reign of Edward III in 1327, and among
others, was made a peer of England (Nobilitat).
Lord Rodger died about ten years after, leaving his honours, title and estates to his brother, Sir
Philip de Somerville, Knight, and is interred at Burton-on-Trent.
SIR PHILIP, (now Lord Somerville), at the age of fifty, succeeded his brother in 1337, being
the tenth year of the reign of King Edward III. This was now an influential and powerful Lord;
besides, since succeeding to Whichenour, Burton and Zears, he had become possessed of the
following Manors and lands: Susceet, Reidware, Netherton, Conlencal, Tunstall, Brideshall,
Newbold and Tatunhall, all in Staffordshire (the three last in right of his wife Margaret) also
the Manors of Burcon-Anness and Eber Stockton in Cumberland, and the Manors of Turnswall,
Plesselyes, Shotton, Benton-Magna and half of Stainington, all in Northumberland. The Author
of the "Memorie" acknowledges his great indebtedness, for all these particulars, to the Author
of "English Baronage", and praises his painstaking faithfulness in undertaking a work of such
great difficulty. Before his brother’s death, Sir Philip (as he was then) was Sheriff of
Buckingham and Bedford.
We read that he gave the Church of Betton, in the County of Northumberland, with certain lands
in that parish, to Baliol College, Oxford, for the perpetual maintenance of six scholars to be
elected out of the towns neighbouring thereto.
Lord Philip died in the 29th year of Edward III’s reign (in 1356) leaving no male issue. His great
inheritance, therefore, was transmitted to the Staffords and Vernons, to whom his two
daughters Jean and Maude were married. Both of these families were materially helped to their
dignity and greatness by the addition of Lord Philip’s great estate.
From the first of these unions, the Staffords, came the Dukes of Buckingham, who suffered
much in their persons, honours and fortunes in the bloody controversies between the houses of
York and Lancaster.
From the Vernons came Sir Richard Vernon, who was executed by Henry IV for his adherence to
the cause of Richard II, King of England.
Thus with the death of Philip, 2nd Lord Somerville of Whichenour, ended the family name, as
territorial Lords, in England, after flourishing for the long period of 290 years;--from the
Norman Conquest.
Re: James Somerville, 1700, England
Posted by: Bryan Gabriel Date: January 21, 2000 at 08:15:40
In Reply to: James Somerville, 1700, England by Keith Wilson of 342
Keith,
I will answer (to the best of my ability) your questions in the order that they appear.
1. James 13th Lord Somerville, 24th in direct male line to Sir Gualter 1st Lord of Whichenour. James took the title in 1722 after the death of Lord Gilbert. James married Anne, daughter of Henry Baynton Esq. of Spy Park in 1724. Anne died in 1736. James remarried in 1738 to Frances, daughter of John Rotherham Esq. and had one daughter who died young.
2. Col. Hugh Somerville. Hugh was the son of James 13th Lord by his first marriage to Anne Baynton.
3. Elizabeth Lethbridge, daughter of George Lethbridge Esq. of Westaway Devonshire, married Hugh, son of James 13th Lord.
4. John 15th Lord. My records show the 15th Lord to be James Somerville, Colonel of the West Somerset regiment of Yeoman Cavalry and Lord of the Bed-Chamber to King George 3rd. Son of Hugh and Elizabeth (Lethbridge).
5. James Somerville 14th Lord. Born 1727 died 1796. James 14th was the older brother of Col. Hugh. He died unmarried and was succeeded by his nephew James(15th). James 14th attempted to aquire the original Marquisate of Somerville in France (Normandy) but his efforts were thwarted by the French Revolution, the supporters of which claimed that his desire to repossess the families lands was evidence that the British aristocracy were trying to overthrow the French. Interesting stuff.
Hope this is of some help,
Regards,
Bryan Gabriel. Australia