De Walcott family

The de Walcott family was a medieval English lineage connected with the manors of Walcott in Norfolk. The family is recorded from the reign of Henry II, in the second half of the twelfth century, and appears to have held lordship or other substantial interests in Walcott through the later Middle Ages. Its history is preserved through references to manor ownership, land transactions, church patronage, inheritance, marriage alliances, and royal or manorial rights. The family’s association with Walcott included two historically identified manor sites, East Hall and West Hall, although surviving evidence does not always make it possible to determine which references correspond to each hall. A manor known as Masons is also recorded in Walcott between 1386 and 1486. Members of the wider family and related lineages held land and offices in nearby Norfolk communities, including Eccles, Hempstead, Palling, Stalham, Gunton, Wallington, Felbrigg, and Brumstead. The earliest account links Maud de Walcott with East Hall during Henry II’s reign. Maud granted two parts of the tithe from her Walcott lands to the monks of Bromholm Priory in Bacton. Her daughter Letitia married Sir William de Rosceline, transferring the manor or a major interest in it into the Rosceline family. Other members of the de Walcott family retained or acquired interests in Walcott. Thomas de Walcott held part of the advowson of Walcott church and was associated with West Hall, while Sir Walter de Walcott held property in Hempstead and exercised patronage at Wallington. By the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, Alexander de Walcott was a significant local landholder. In 1286 he and his brother Thomas held messuages, arable land, pasture, and woodland in several Norfolk settlements. Alexander was lord of West Hall in 1302, was described as a lord in Walcott in 1315, and held West Hall with his wife Maud in 1316. He also presented relatives to ecclesiastical positions, including his brother Hugh as rector of Walcott in 1302 and John de Walcott as rector in 1322. The surviving genealogical evidence concerning Alexander’s marriages and children is inconsistent, and some details remain disputed. In 1340 Alexander conveyed his interest in West Hall to his son, Sir Walter de Walcott, and died the following year. Sir Walter remained a lord in Walcott and presented to Walcott church before his death in 1355. His son, also Sir Walter, died in 1366. The younger Walter’s four daughters inherited through marriage or religious life, helping to distribute family interests among other Norfolk families and institutions. A further Sir Alexander de Walcott is recorded around 1377, but his relationship to the earlier Walters is uncertain. The last noted appearance of the family in Walcott is generally placed in 1377. Later records, including a 1378 conveyance involving Simon de Walcote, indicate continued use of related names in the area but do not by themselves establish uninterrupted family lordship. The de Walcott family was not a modern commercial brand. It is treated here only because the supplied subject corresponds to the specified Wikipedia entity. The historical record concerns medieval landed status rather than products, commercial operations, marketing, corporate ownership, or contemporary brand activity.

The de Walcott family was a medieval Norfolk family whose history is associated principally with Walcott and nearby settlements. Its earliest recorded connection appears during the reign of Henry II, when Maud de Walcott was linked with East Hall in Walcott. Maud granted two parts of the tithe of her lands in Walcott to Bromholm Priory. Her daughter Letitia married Sir William de Rosceline, through whom an interest in the manor passed into the Rosceline family. The medieval settlement had at least two manor houses, traditionally identified as East Hall and West Hall. Later cartographic evidence shows Walcott Hall, although it is not clear whether this represented East Hall or West Hall. A manor called Masons is recorded in Walcott between 1386 and 1486. These uncertainties make it difficult to reconstruct a completely continuous line of possession. Thomas de Walcott held part of the advowson of Walcott church in 1240 and possibly again in 1281, and was associated with West Hall. In 1286 Peter de Rosceline claimed wreck at sea and frankpledge, rights reflecting the legal and jurisdictional privileges of a substantial medieval landholder. Peter and his wife were living in 1316, and their son Sir Thomas de Roseceline later inherited the manor. Sir Walter de Walcott held a moiety in Hempstead in 1286 and was patron of Wallington church in 1302. His son Alexander, together with Alexander’s brother Thomas, held sixteen messuages, 120 acres of land, twelve acres of pasture, and thirty-one acres of woodland in Eccles, Hempstead, Palling, and Stalham. Alexander was lord of West Hall in 1302, a lord in Walcott in 1315, and held West Hall with his wife Maud in 1316. He presented his brother Hugh to the rectory of Walcott in 1302 and John de Walcott to the same church in 1322. The sources disagree over aspects of Alexander’s family life. Francis Bloomfield recorded a Joan as his wife in 1333, when Alexander paid the king fifteen marks for an interest in Hempstead. Other genealogical accounts identify his wife as Maud and name four daughters: Cecilia, Elizabeth, Mariota, and Margaret. The possibility that he married twice has been suggested, but the surviving evidence does not resolve the matter conclusively. In 1340 Alexander transferred his right in West Hall to his son, Sir Walter de Walcott, and died in 1341. Sir Walter was described as a lord in Walcott in 1347 and presented to Walcott church in 1355, the year of his death. His son, also Sir Walter, died in 1366. The younger Walter was married to Joan, daughter of Walter de Clopton. Their daughters included Elizabeth, who married Ralph Bray of Wickhampton; Catherine, who married John Durward; Margery, who became a nun at Carrow Priory in Norwich; and Margaret, who married Sir Robert Berney of Wickhampton and obtained the manor of Gunton through that connection. A Sir Alexander de Walcott is recorded around 1377, but his relationship to the preceding Walter line is uncertain. He may have married into the Westingthorpe family. The record further refers to a daughter who married Andrew Brampton and to a later John de Walcott of Wallington, whose daughter Isabel married Robert Brampton. The family’s last recorded association with Walcott is generally dated to 1377. A 1378 transaction records William le Parker selling the manors of Brumstead and Eccles to Simon de Walcote, but the relationship between Simon and the earlier de Walcott family is not established by the supplied material. Overall, the family’s historical importance lies in its participation in medieval Norfolk landholding, local jurisdiction, inheritance networks, and church patronage. There is no evidence that it operated as a commercial brand, produced goods, ran a modern company, or maintained a contemporary organization.

• Earliest recorded association with Walcott

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  During the reign of Henry II, Maud de Walcott was associated with East Hall and granted two parts of the tithe from her Walcott lands to Bromholm Priory.

• Thomas de Walcott holds church patronage rights

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas de Walcott is recorded as holding part of the advowson of Walcott church and as being associated with West Hall.

• De Walcott landholdings documented across Norfolk

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Alexander and Thomas de Walcott held messuages, arable land, pasture, and woodland in Eccles, Hempstead, Palling, and Stalham.

• Alexander de Walcott becomes associated with West Hall

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Alexander de Walcott was recorded as lord of West Hall and presented his brother Hugh to the rectory of Walcott.

• West Hall interest transferred to Sir Walter de Walcott

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Alexander de Walcott conveyed his right in West Hall to his son, Sir Walter de Walcott.

• Death of Sir Walter de Walcott

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sir Walter de Walcott, a lord in Walcott and church patron, died.

• Death of the younger Sir Walter de Walcott

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sir Walter de Walcott, son of the earlier Walter, died and left four daughters whose marriages and religious life dispersed family connections.

• Last noted family association with Walcott

  [1]De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org

  A Sir Alexander de Walcott is recorded around this date, generally treated as the last noted member of the family associated with Walcott.

1. 1De Walcott familyen.wikipedia.org