Walter (FitzRichard) de Clifford (1127 - 1190)

Born 1127 in Clifford Castle, Clifford, Herefordshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1190 at about age 63 in Godstow, Oxfordshire, England

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Biography

Name

Walter I FitzRichard, son of Richard FitzPons & his wife Matilda.

aka: Walter Fitz-Ponce, Walter de Clifford, Walter FitzRichard FitzPons

His parentage is confirmed by the charter, dated to before 1190, under which "Hugh de Say and Lucia his wife, daughter of Walter de Clifford, son of Richard fitz Poncius" donated the mill of Rochford to Haughmond Abbey.^[1]

"Clifford, Walter de (d. 1190), landowner and soldier, was the son of Richard fitz Pons and Maud, the daughter of Walter of Gloucester. Richard was still alive in 1128 but had died by 1138, when Walter de Clifford exchanged his manor of Glasbury for that of ‘Esleche’ held by Gloucester Abbey. By that same year Walter held Clifford Castle and the Herefordshire Domesday reports that he held it in the 1160s, along with the manors of Hampton, Hamnish, Rochford, Dorstone, ‘Burchstanestone’, ‘Roenoura’, Hanley, and ‘Madme’—all lands which his uncle Drew fitz Pons had held in 1086. By 1116 Richard fitz Pons had established a castle at Llandovery from which he dominated Cantref Selyf in central south Wales. Walter de Clifford inherited this castle but lost it in a resurgence of Welsh power about 1140. From c.1143 to 1155 he was a prominent member of the retinue of Roger, earl of Hereford, and worked to assist Roger's ambitions in the southern march. In 1158 his position in south Wales was restored. The Brut y tywysogyon reports that in that year Clifford raided the lands of Rhys ap Gruffudd, the Lord Rhys (d. 1197), who, after his complaint about this to Henry II went unheeded, retaliated by besieging and capturing the castle. Clifford clearly continued to be active in southern Wales, for the pipe roll for 1160 reports that £44 7s. 6d. was paid to troops in Cantref Bychan through him. In 1163 he killed Cadwgan ap Maredudd. The rapprochement reached between Henry II and Rhys in 1171 gave the latter possession of Cantref Bychan and deprived the Cliffords of their foothold there." (Ref: ODNB)

• Burial: Walter de Clifford was buried at Godstow Abbey, Oxford, Oxfordshire.^[2]

Children

"The children of Walter de Clifford and his wife, Margaret de Tosny, who was probably the daughter of Ralph de Tosny, included another Walter, who may have been the eldest son, Richard, and Rosamund. Rosamund lived openly with Henry II as his mistress in the mid-1170s. It was probably because of this relationship that the king granted the Shropshire manor of Corfham to Clifford in 1177. He held this from the king in chief for the service of one knight's fee. After Walter de Clifford's death in 1190, Richard inherited Clifford. He may have died in 1199, for the younger Walter succeeded to Corfham and other lands in that year." (Ref: ODNB)

Sources

1. ↑ Eyton (1857), Vol. IV, p. 307, citing Haughmond Chartulary, tit. Richard’s Castell.
2. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #83677013

• Medieval Lands - Walter I FitzRichard* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_de_Clifford

• Ancestral Roots 8th ed. 2004 F.L. Weis Line 29A-28 page 37

• Clifford pedigree titled 'Table Showing the Descent of the Barony of Clifford' where he is listed as 'Walter Fitz-Ponce' and his wife 'Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Toney'.

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)

Acknowledgements

• Weaver.ged on 03 January 2011.

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