Magna Charta Surety, Baron William de Huntingfield
Dover Castle, the stronghold which William de Huntingfield held in the Barons' War, is a famous one, fulfilling the dream of the grim place of nameless cruelties and horrible prisons. It was built near the site of the ancient Roman Pharos or lighthouse. Legends attest that once William the Conqueror advised Harold to fortify it, then to deliver it up to the Normans when the time came, for it was a stout coastal defense. Harold was allegedly enticed to swear to do this, but if he did swear it, he took his oath lightly.
The Castle was completed by the son of Godwin, and was set high upon a rock above the sea. The rock was cut so that it was flush with the wall. By 1066 Dover Castle was thoroughly established, but there is no doubt that the wide encircling walls, the sturdy watch towers and massive keep are Norman. Even so, there were probably Roman and Saxon forts on the same site. The keep is believed to have been erected by Henry II about 1154. But the whole Castle, as we can envision it today, dates to a much earlier period.
WILLIAM de HUNTINGFIELD, the Surety, born about 1165, married Isabel Gressinghall, widow of Osmond de Stuteville. He was made constable of Dover Castle in 1204, and delivered up his son and daughter as hostages for his loyalty to the King. The son was to remain with the Earl of Arundel, the daughter with Earl Ferrers.
He was one of five wardens of the Ports of Norfolk and Suffolk from 1210 to 1212, and the following year he was one of the itinerant justices of Lincoln. He was high sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk until the end of 1214. He witnessed King John's grant of freedom of election to churches in 1214. He was governor of Sauvey Castle in Leistershire when he joined the cause of the Barons in arms against King John, and was excommunicated by the Pope. His lands were then given to Nicholas de Haya. According to the close and patent rolls he was one of the men actively in rebellion against King John before the issuance of Magna Charta. Very likely the cause of the Protector's severity toward Huntingfield was that he was one of those who plotted to have the Dauphin come to England and, after the Dauphin's landing, was very active in reducing the Courts of Essex and Suffolk to French authority. He fought at Lincoln 20 May 1217, and was taken prisoner by the King's forces. William had a daughter, Alice Huntingfield, who was married twice, but the name of her first husband has not been preserved. Her father paid the King a fine of "six fair Norway Goshawks," in the 15th of King John, for permission to marry Alice, his daughter, then a widow, to Richard de Solers. William de Huntingfield, the Surety, died 25 January 1220/1 on a Crusade.
Listed as William Ritz Roger of Gressinghall.
Thomas Paulet was born about 1578, Hampshire, England. Emigrated to Virginia on the "Neptune" August 1618, age 40. John Trussell, 19 "yeres", an indentured servant of Paulet, arrived in 1622 on the "Southampton."
Thomas Paulet's muster: "Corne, 20 bushels; Fish, 200; ARMS AND MUNITIONS: Powder, 2 lb.; Shott, 6 lb: Coats of Male, 3 and a headpiece; Peeces fixt, 3. POULTRIE: Poultrie, 15. HOUSES: Houses, 2." Received a headright (land grant) from James I, King of England. ("Adventurers of Purse and Person, 1607-1624/25, Third Edition, 1987," page 14). This same reference shows that a Captain John Flood bought land from Thomas Paulet of Westover, Virginia Colony 2 October 1634.
Listed on a plaque at the site of the Jamestown Colony as a member of the first Virginia House of Burgesses from Jamestown in 1619. Was a member of the General Assembly in 1639-40, and is listed along with his son-in-law, Captain Francis Eppes, for the County of Charles City.
Jan. 9, 1625/26, Captain Francis Eppes was a witness for Thomas Paulet in the controversy between Thomas Paulet and the Rev. Grevill Pooley (MSCS, - Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial, Virginia, 2nd Edition, by H.R. McIlwaine).
Captain Francis Epps was appointed Commissioner for the Upper Parts of the British Colony Virginia 8 August 1626, and commander of the forces with Captain Thomas Pawlet to attack the Weyanoke and Appomattox Indians 4 July 1627.
There is no record of Francis Eppes in Virginia between 7 March 1628/9 and February 1631/2. He probably returned to England with his wife and two sons, for on 8 September 1630, "Thomas, son of Francis Eps and Marie was born" in London. One may assume that Thomas was named after his grandfather Thomas Pawlet.
In Thomas Pawlet's will, he left his daughter Marie Eppes, the wife of Captain Francis Eppes, his Bible and 20 schillings to buy a mourning ring in his memory. Family Bibles were typically given to one's son or daughter because the Bible had the family lineage in it. He left his drum to Francis Eppes and made him the administrator of his will. Thomas Paulet's will is in "Byrd's Book of Title and Deeds, MS," which is in now in the holdings of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA.
Much of the foregoing from "Ancestors and Descendants of Francis Epes I of Virginia. (Epes-Eppes-Epps), Vol. I, Society of the Descendants of Francis Epes I of Virginia, 1992.Thomas Paulet was a descendant of Magna Charta Sureties:
Gilbert de Clare, Baron,
Richard de Clare, Baron,
Saire de Quincey, Baron, Earl of Winchester,
William d'Albini, Baron, Lord of Belvoir Castle,
William de Mowbray, Baron, Governor of York Castle,
John de Lacie, Baron, Earl of Lincoln, and
Robert de Roos, Baron of Hamlake Castle, as well as
numerous kings and queens of England, Scotland, France, Germany, Castile, Navarre, Leon and the Holy Roman Empire.
(from "Magna Charta," parts I and II by John S. Wurts, Brookfield Publishing Co., Phila., PA)This family is believed to have descended from Hercules Sieur de Tournan, a knight from Picardy, who was granted the lands and manor of Pawlett in Somerset in 1134, and whose descendants were said to have taken the name of that manor (Poole, p. 106). The earliest accurate record of the Paulet/Powlett family dates from 1356.
All the genealogy on the Paulets in England was researched for Adelia Stewart Sallee by Ken Smallbone, B.A. (Hons), AGRA, Genealogist & Historical Researcher, 47 Ochil Close, Basingate, Hants RG22 BBY, England: 10 Sept 1987.
Sources:
Burke's Peerage
K.B. Poole: Historical Heraldi Families (David & Charles, 1975)
Visitations of Hampshire (Harl. Soc.)
Oldham Parish Registers
Monumental Inscriptions in Eling Church
Will of Chideock Paulet, PCC 12 Pyckering
Will of Thomas Paulet, PCC 4 Drake
Will of Francis Paulet, PCC 77 Kidd
Living in Knox Co., TN in 1788.
Benjamin was a Methodist "Exhorter", soldier in the War of 1812, and was wounded in the arm at Mobile, AL.
Headstone Inscription:
BENJAMIN HALL PVT SHARP'S CO 5 TENN MIL (or possibly) 6 TENN MIL? WAR OF 1812 FEBRUARY 4 1965
Listed as William of Paultons, Eling.