Family:Whitney, John de (fl. c1250)

John de Whitney, probably brother of Robert de Whitney, was of Pencomb, Herefordshire, England, flourished in the reign of Henry III (i.e. 1216-1272).

In the reign of Henry III. Pencombe was stated to consist of fifteen hides of land, one moiety of which was held by John de Whytene, of Robert Tregoz, and the other moiety by Thomas de Hemeganes, of Robert de Whytene, by military service, and both of the honour of Ewias: --

"In Pencombe continentur 15 hideae, und Johannes de Whytene, tenet medietatem de Roberto Tregoz, de honore de Ewias, de veteri feoffamento, per serv. militare, et Thomas de Hemegane alteram medietatem, de Roberto de Whytene, et idem Robertus de eodem, &c., ut supra."^[1]

Melville says this:

There are two documents which refer to a John de Wyteneye, or Witteneye, who possibly was the same John above spoken of as the under-tenant of Robert Tregoz.

The first is in 1252, as follows:

Because John de Wyteneye, one of the overseers of the works of the King's Castle of Bristol, frequently goes into the parts of Ireland, as the King understands, so that the works aforesaid are not attended to as they ought to be, it is commanded to the mayor and bailiffs of Bristol that they do cause to be elected in the place of the aforesaid John, one of their trusty and discreet burgesses of Bristol, who being sworn, &c. Witness as above (17th day of August), By the King. [Close Roll, 36 Henry III., No. 66, in Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.]

and this, the other, 1272:

The King to the Sheriff of Hereford and to the Coroners of the same county, greeting. Because we have understood by the inquisition which we have made by you that John de Oxonia, who lately, for the death of John de Witteneye, killed in the town of Hereford, withdrew himself, had not any lands or tenements except of the inheritance of Edith his wife, and that the goods and chattels of the same John are appraised at twenty and two shillings and six-pence only, and also that the aforesaid John de Oxonia is not for the death aforesaid, outlawed or convicted by judgment of our court thereof, and you have taken into our hand by reason of the withdrawal aforesaid the lands and tenements which are of the inheritance of the aforesaid Edith, together with the goods and chattels aforesaid, and the lands and tenements aforesaid of the aforesaid Edith you do detain as we have understood. We, being willing to show favor in that behalf to the aforesaid Edith at the instance of her friends, do command you that you do cause the same Edith to have the goods and chattels aforesaid taken into our hand by reason of the withdrawal aforesaid, for her sustenance, and the lands, tenements and rents which are of the inheritance of the same Edith you do hold in our hand until the aforesaid John de Oxonia shall come to our Court or that he be outlawed for that felony by judgment of our Court. Given, etc., as above. (25 day of May.) By the King. [Close Roll, 1 Edward I. (1272), No. 95, in Record Office.]

Bristol is on the Severn, near the mouth of the Wye; so that it is not surprising to find a "De Witteneye" there. The "going frequently into the parts of Ireland" may be significant. There was later a family of Whitneys in Queens County, Ireland, of high standing. This John may have been the founder of it.

The town of Hereford was only seventeen miles from Whitney, so the John killed in the former may have lived in the latter place.^[2]

References

1.^  Henry Austin Whitney, The First Known Use of Whitney as a Surname: Its Probable Signification, and Other Data (Boston, MA: Henry Austin Whitney, 1875), p. viii.

2.^  Henry Melville, The Ancestry of John Whitney: Who, with His Wife Elinor, and Sons John, Richard, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Jonathan, Emigrated from London, England, in the Year 1635, and Settled in Watertown, Massachusetts; the First of the Name in America, and the One from Whom a Great Majority of the Whitneys Now Living in the United States Are Descended (New York, NY: The De Vinne Press, 1896), pp. 38, 44, 45.

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Copyright © 2006 Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group