Hugh de Giffard - First Lord of Yester

• Preferred Name: Hugh de Giffard - First Lord of Yester^[1]
  
• Gender: M
  
• Death: 1214 in Gifford, Yester, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom at LATI: N5.9043 LONG: E2.7469 with note: 6 Oct 2022: The date was inputted by another user. The location was found on a family tree I will attach here.
  
• FSID: GF4L-N1B
  
• Birth: 1162 in Wiltshire, England at LATI: N1.3923 LONG: E2.0435 with note: Found on a family tree.
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Generation I---Hugh Giffard I, Baron of Yester and his wife the daughter of Herbert, Chamberlain of Scotland
  
  Hugh Giffard, the first lord of Yester, appeared in
  Scotland by the mid 1150's along with his brothers William and Walter Giffard. The Giffards certainly evidenced a close connection with the retinue of Ada de Warrene, Countess of Huntington. Ada was the widowed mother of King Malcolm IV, King Wiiliam I, and David, Earl of Huntington. Hugh Giffard had a close association with each of these figures, and possessed a social status which made him one of the most favored of the Anglo-Normans in the royal court of Scotland in the mid 12th century.
  
  Yester Writ #1 gives the most important and vital information regarding Hugh Giffard. It provides an accurate dating of when he is an adult and the time of his marriage. He has been put in the wrong generation in some previous studies which has led to errors in dating and lineage. This writ was issued by King William the Lion in 1166 as a confimation of an earlier writ of his deceased brother Malcolm IV (d. 1165). In the writ, Herbert the Chamberlain is giving his daughter in marriage to Hugh Giffard along wih the land of Borrowstoun in his estate of Kinneil. Herbert was Chamberlain to King David the Saint and his grandson King Malcolm IV from 1136 to 1159, and is known to have died in 1161. This indicates that Hugh Giffard received the estate of Yester and other holdings, along with his marriage grant, by 1160 or earlier in the original charter of Malcolm IV and his mother Ada de Warenne. This original charter shows that his birth would likely to have been circa 1130, as he certainly appears to be an adult by the mid 1150's. Hugh Giffard first appears as a witness in a charter of William, Earl of Northumberland (the future King William I of Scotland). The date was 1152-1155 and the charter was done at Edinburgh. (Regesta Regum Scottorum #3). Ada Warrene, mother of William, was also a witness to this charter.
  
  The relationship of Hugh, William, and Walter Giffard as brothers may be found in documents of the period 1160-1174. These include a charter of Bernard Balliol done at Bywell, Northumberland circa 1166, and another pertaining to Draughton, Northamptonshire circa 1170. In addition, the three brothers are also found as co-witnesses in a charter of Ada de Warrene granting lands to Alexander St. Martin (Laing Charters). Alexander St. Martin as well as the Giffards would appear to have been vassals of Ada Warrene, Countess of Huntington. Brother William Giffard also appears as a witness along with Hugh Giffard in a charter of William, brother of the King of Scotland, done at Jedburgh dated 1157-1165 (RRS #5). William Giffard is described as a clerk in the court of Ada de Warrene in two of her Northumberland charters. Brother Walter Giffard is found as a witness in charters of King William I, David, Earl of Huntington, Ada de Warrene, and Bernard Balliol. He also accompanied Hugh Giffard on the military invasion of England in the army of David, Earl of Huntington during 1174. No references to brother Walter Giffard have been discovered after the year 1174.
  
  The origins of Hugh Giffard of Yester indicate that he and his brothers are the first of the Giffards in Scotland. Given the standing of Hugh with the Huntington retinue, it is very likely that he is a descendant of the well known Norman family of Giffard who held the honor of Longueville-la-Gifart in France. These Giffards were companions of William I, and received large land holdings in England after the conquest. Hugh Giffard appears to have no land holdings in England other than a portion of Potton which was granted by the Huntingtons circa 1160. This makes it most difficult to trace his Anglo-Norman origin in England. It has been suggested he was a son of Osbert Giffard of Brimesfield, but proper dating shows this to be impossible. The father of Hugh Giffard would have had to be born circa 1100, and no viable candidate of that generation of English Giffards emerges to date. I have found a few minor clues which may point toward the line of Osbern Giffard, who was the ancestor of the Brimesfield Giffards. As Hugh Giffard seemed to have no appreciable land holdings in England, it is likely that his father would be a second or unknown younger son of a major line. Speculating that Hugh may have been connected to the Brimesfield (Gloucestershire) line, his father possibly could have been a younger son of Elias Giffard I considering the known date parameters.
  
  The family of Hugh Giffard 1st Lord of Yester: As previously stated, Hugh Giffard married the daughter of Herbert the Chamberlain. Herbert was the chamberlain of both King David I and his grandson King Malcolm IV. He was granted the lands of Kinneil in Scotland by an act of King David I, and also had holdings in Lincolnshire, England. Herbert the Chamberlain likely had as many as four sons including Stephen and William.
  
  Children of Hugh Giffard of Yester:
  
  1. William Giffard, his eldest son and heir who became the 2nd Lord of Yester. Born circa 1165. (Discussed in the Generation II section).
  
  2. John Giffard of Powgavie, Perthshire. Hugh Giffard of Yester held lands at Powgavie prior to the year 1185 (RRS 202). John Giffard of Powgavie is found as the principal in a charter of Coupar Angus Abbey written circa 1210. Probably the John Giffard who witnesses a Lindores charter c. 1195. Although little information has been found concerning this John Giffard, it seems likely that he may have been a younger son of Hugh Giffard.
  
  3. Jonet Giffard(?). Jonet Giffard of Yester married Adam de Seton, and she is said to have been a daughter of Hugh Giffard I. We believe dating of this couple and their children suggests that Hugh Giffard was more likely to have been her grand-father, and that she was probably the daughter of his son William Giffard.
  
  Hugh Giffard I, the first Lord of Yester, appears in over 40 acts and charters during a span of 35 years commencing in 1155. At least 31 of these are as a witness to acts of King William I, King Malcolm IV, Ada de Warrene, and David, Earl of Huntington. He appears in numerous other charters as the recipient of land grants from the four members of the Huntington entourage mentioned above. The acts and charters in which Hugh Giffard appeared can be found in the preserved records of Neubotle Abbey, Incheffray Abbey, Yester Writs, Regestrum Regum Scottorum, Acts of David, Earl of Huntington, Northumberland Deeds, and the Finch-Hatton muniments.
  
  Earliest of the lands and tenements granted to Hugh Giffard by Countess Ada and Malcolm IV include: Yester; part of Lethington; muir of Haddington; 1 toft in Linlithgow (all East Lothian); Auldcathie; Borrowstoun (from Herbert the Chamberlain), both in West Lothian; and 4 librates in Potton, Bedfordshire (later forfeited as part of the Treaty of Falaise). All these were granted in the first of the preserved Yester writs mentioned earlier. Included in the Lethington and Haddington portions were Cressewelle, which has later genealogical significance, and the road to Nungate which precipitated a 300 year long dispute with the Nuns of Haddington. Subsequent lands which came to Hugh Giffard included Tealing in Angus; Powgavie in Perthshire; another portion of Yester for one fifth of a knight's service; and Fintry in Angus including pit and gallows for ½ a knight's service. The latter granted by David, Earl of Huntington in 1174.
  
  A significant period in the life of Hugh Giffard I began during the years of 1173/1174. This was a result of the war between King William I ( the Lion) of Scotland and King Henry II of England over control of Northumberland. King William I had led an invasion of England which resulted in his capture and being held as a hostage at Falaise in Normandy. Hugh Giffard, as a Scottish baron and knight, was with the military force during the invasion of Northumberland under the command of David, Earl of Huntington, who was King William's younger brother. King Henry II of England demanded harsh terms of the Scots for the release of their King in the 1174 Treaty of Falaise. Included in the treaty terms were the surrendering of Scottish land holdings in England and the loss of a number of strategic Scottish castles. To secure his release, King William had to provide hostages to the English King to gurantee the terms of the treaty be carried out. These hostages included David, the King's brother, Hugh Giffard, and 18 other earls and barons of Scotland. Hugh Giffard, along with the other held barons and earls, in turn had to provide a legitimate son as a hostage for their respective releases. Which son of Hugh Giffard became the hostage is not known. These second hostages were to be held until all terms of the Treaty of Falaise had been met. Another result of the English provisions was that Hugh Giffard had to forfeit his land in Potton, Bedfordshire, which had been granted to him in the first Yester charter.
  
  As found in the charters of Neubotle Abbey, Hugh Giffard had his own sheriff during this period of his life. This individual was Alexander de St. Martin, another of the early Anglo-Normans closely connected to Countess Ada de Warenne. 150 years later would see the marriage of their respective direct descendants, Sir John Giffard and Euphemia Morham.
  
  Hugh Giffard is often found in charters and acts from 1175 to 1190. By 1185 these often include his son William who would be of adult age. Hugh Giffard is not found in any records that can be dated later than the early 1190's, and it is very likely that he has died by the year 1195.
  
  https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004896980.0001.000/1:254?rgn=div1;view=fulltext
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_de_Giffard
  https://gw.geneanet.org/comrade28?lang=en&n=yester&oc=0&p=hugh+giffard+1st+lord+of
  
  High Giffard 1st Lord of Yester
  Born in 1162 - Wiltshire, England
  Deceased - Yester Castle, Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland
  
  Parents
  Osbert Giffard ca 1129-
  Hawise de Tracy †
  
  Spouses and children
  With Daughter Of Herbert, Chamber

1. Title: Hugh Giffard 1st Lord Of Yester
   Author: Geneanet. This is not a primary source but the data appears to support this person.
   Publication: Name: https://gw.geneanet.org/comrade28?lang=en&n=yester&oc=0&p=hugh+giffard+1st+lord+of;
   Note: See story added.
   Page: Data seems to match with this person.