Blennerhasset familyThe family of Blennerhasset derives its name from the village in Cumberland; the earliest members of this family appear in the middle of the fourteenth century, as burgesses of the ancient Roman city of Carlisle. Being a burgess family, without landed estates, their earliest history is difficult to ascertain. It was not until the marriage of Ralph de Blennerhasset to the heiress Joan Skelton, she of the families of Skelton and Orton, both of considerable landed importance, that we are able to trace the Blennerhasset family with any clarity. Joan (or Jane), was the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Clement Skelton (MP for Cumberland 1382) by Joan (b 1345), daughter and co-heiress of Giles de Orton (MP for Carlisle 1337/38) of Orton and Stainton, Cumberland. Joan de Orton carried Orton and Stainton to Clement Skelton (grandson of Hugh de Skelton, flourished ca 1325) and these estates descended to their daughter Jane, wife of Ralfe de Blennerhasset. Joan de Orton descended from Robert de Orton of Orton, who occurs about 1252.
Ralfe, son of Ralfe and Jane (Skelton), by his marriage to Jane Lowdham (widow of Thomas de Heveringham), acquired the manors of Frense, Lowdham, Boylands, and Kelvedon. Ralfe predeceased his wife by almost 26 years. .... more |
|