Aline de Colley, AKA de la Ley/Legh?

Hello all,

I followed the posts on the early Bowes family by John Watson, in 2008
& 2009, and found the the mother of Joan Conyers who m. Robert Bowes,
d. v,p. prior to 1399, intriguing: Aline de la Legh? (John's question
mark), who as her 2nd husband (1st was William de Dalden) and his 3rd
wife, married Robert Conyers somtime after her husband d. 1369 and
Robert's 2nd wife (Juliana de Percy) d. 1370. Aline had also been
named Aline de la Ley earlier in SGM by Gee Gee Hughs in 1999.

Through Joan Conyer's 2nd (middle) husband, John Faucomberge, I found
the following in CP V:280 & note (e):

He [John Faucomberge] m. Joan, widow of Robert del Bowes....and dau.
of Sir Robert Conyers, of Ormesby, co. York, by his 2nd wife, Aline,
Lady of Homildon (e)....

(e) She [Joan Conyers] was only child of this Robert (who died in
1390, having married, 1stly Julienne, dau. and h. of Sir John de
Percy, of Ormesby in Cleveland, by whom he had male issue) by his 2nd
wife, Aline (widow of Sir William de Dalden, who d. in 1369), who was
heiress of the manor of Homildon, and of a moiety of the manors of
Hetton and Biddic-Waterville, all held of the Bishop of Durham. Aline
died in 1408, when the said Joan, then the wife of Thomas Brounflete,
was found, by Inq. taken 28 July 1408, to be her heir, and aged 30.
(Durham Cursitors' Records, no. 2, ff. 84, 112v, 161v).

So, no name (de la Legh/Ley), but some property to track. And I
assume that the properites are Aline's inheritance, even though many
sources mention only her 1st husband, William de Dalden holding the
properties, implying that they were in the Dalden family.

The name Homildon is only found in searches connected to the battle
between the Scots and English at Homildon Hill in Northumberland, with
a small hamlet of Homildon, now known as Humbleton, nearby. An
unlikely spot, and I found no information on the history of its
manors. However the church in nearby Wooler was apparently in the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham, so perhaps the bishop held lands
in chief nearby.

There are at least three Hettons near Durham, with Hetton just west of
the city. I found no history of the three in british-history, but
wikipedia stated that William de Dalden held half of Hetton-le-Hole,
at about the right time, so I suppose that was the place.

Briddic-Waterville is not directly covered in british-history, but I
found the following in google books:

SOUTH BIDDICK,

This village and township, in the chapelry of Penshaw, is situated on
the Wear, four miles north-east-by-east of Chester-le-Street. It was
anciently called Bedyke, probably from the Saxon, being surrounded by
a dyke or foss. Supposing the present mansion to stand on the site of
the ancient Bedyk, the whole spot could have been easily insulated by
a trench communicating with the Wear, and from which circumstances it
may have received the name of BIDDIC-WATERVILLE, which it bears in
some old records.

The ancient tenur of South Biddick was in villenage. Boldon Book:
"The vilains of South Bedic hold their vill to farm, and pay 5s. and
provide 160 men to mow in harvest, and 36 carts to lead (the lord's)
corn at Hocton." In 1335, Alianor de Colley died seized of the manor
of Souch Bedyk nigh Newbotell, held of the bishop in chief by homage,
fealty, the fourth part of a knight's fee, and suit at the county
court of Durham, val. 4, leaving Gilbert, son of Walter de Colley her
son and heir, who styled himself 'Dominus de Bedyk-Waterville' in
1336, and covenanted with William son of Alan Slikeburn that his lands
should descend without alienation to his son Roger de Colley, and
Matilda daughter and heiress of William de Dunelm. The manor was soon
after held in equal moieties by the families of Dalden and
Burnynghill, derived not improbably from coheiresses of Roger de
Colley. The Dalden's share, by marriage, descended in the Bowes
family, which ultimately obtained both portions of the manor. After
the death of the Knight-Marshal, Biddic-Waterville became the seat of
George Bowes, Esq., his second son by the first marriage, whose son,
Sir George Bowes, Knt., afterwards of Bradley, and heir male of the
whole family, is also styled of Biddic-Waterville in 1630. This Sir
George Bowes dsolde the estate to the Lambtons. [An historical,
topographical and descriptive view of the county palatine of Durham,
1834, Eneas Mackenzie, Marvin Ross, books.google.com, p. 361-2]

Matilda de Dunelm, translated from Latin, is Maud de Durham, so the
above is not incompatible with the following I found on british-
history, VCH of Durham, III:157-74, concerning the manor of Relley in
the parish of St. Oswalds, co. Durham:

In 1326 William son of William Esshe of Durham gave the vill to Maud
his daughter, who married Roger, son and heir of Gilbert de Colley,
lord of Biddick. Roger granted it to Richard son of Gilbert de Durham
in 1343, and in 1359 Sir Thomas Gray kt. exchanged it with William
Dalden for a moiety of the manors of Felkington and Allerden.

So the following can be deduced from the above:

1. Aline de Colley, d. <24 Jul 1408, Heiress of Homildon, & moeities
of Hetton & Biddic-Waterville

2 Roger de Colley, of Biddick, d. >1343, m. 1326
3. Maud Esshe of Durham, d. >1336

4. Gilbert de Colley, of Biddick, d. >1336

6. William Esshe, of Durham & Relley, d. >1326

8. Walter de Colley, of Biddick, d. <1335
9. Alianor, d. 1335, held Biddick in dower, or in her own right

12. William Esshe, of Durham, d. <1326

Surtees and others maintained that Homildon came into the Bowes family
through the marriage of Maud de Dalden to William Bowes, but the IPM
of Aline would apparently indicate otherwise.

As to where the name "de la Ley/Legh?" came from, I have no idea.
Perhaps a clerk, upon hearing of Aline de "Cah - ley", mistakenly
entered her as Aline de la Ley.

Jim Weber
.

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