| Notes |
- Biography
Gilbert Giffard was a tenant of Glastonbury manor in Winterbourne Monkton in Wiltshire, and held a position as a marshal to the King. As explained by Stacy, it included "a 3 1/2-hide subtenancy over which the abbot's lordship had been recognized in 1086 and was to be again in 1173 and thereafter, but which was absent from the carta of 1166".
He, or possibly a relative of the same name, also appears in Domesday book.
In genealogy, a remarkable point about recent research into Gilbert is that he has now been accepted as the grandfather of William Marshal.
Children
Gilbert had two sons:«/b»
1.) John Fitz-Gilbert, who was accepted as being "chief" Marshal of England while his father still lived, in the time of King Henry I. Probably the first of his family to use the job title as a surname. Born about 1105.
2.) William Giffard or Fitz-Gilbert, born about 1107. He became chancellor to Queen Mathilda.
That Gilbert was the name of the grandfather of William the Marshall was known because William's father was often referred to as John fitz (son of) Gilbert. That Gilbert, John's father, was already involved in the family's tradition of claiming a royal marshalcy was also indicated from a record in the time of King John, although the nature of that marshalcy in his generation is not well understood. However the identification of Gilbert with records for a man normally called Gilbert Giffard (or Gibard) has become widespread since a publication of N. E. Stacy in 1999 concerning Gilbert's landlord. He not only showed that Giffard had a tax exemption, such as his descendants did for their marshalcy, and that his lands were inherited by the Marshals, but also that Gilbert Giffard's son William Giffard or William fitz Gilbert, was presented to the church of Cheddar as "William Giffard, son of Gilbert the king's marshal".
Parentage
Concerning his parentage, various theories exist but none are proven. Each tends to start with one known thing, and build from there:
Other Giffards. Starting from the newest known information, the surname Giffard, Crouch for example notes that it was a common descriptive second name meaning "chubby cheeks" and says "It is highly unlikely that Gilbert Giffard was related to the Conqueror's leading follower, Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham; it is conceivable on the grounds of proximity, however, that he might have had a connection with the unrelated West Country barons, the Giffards of Brimpsfield." (Traditionally the Giffards of Brimpsfield and Bucks are often linked. Some still suspect there is a link.)
Robert in 1086 in Lavington, Wiltshire ("Robert Marshall") and/or Cheddar, Somerset. Keats-Rohan has an entry for Gilbert in "Domesday People" under "Gislebert Gibart", apparently an entry written without reference to Stacey. She adds that "The fee of Robert Gibart is mentioned in Hist. S. Petri Glocs. ii, 230." More promising, in her later "Domesday Descendants" she cites Stacey and has him under "Marescal, Gilbert". She suggests he might be the son of "Robert marshal, who occurs in Domesday Wiltshire". However although she cites Complete Peerage, in footnote g, Appendix G, Complete Peerage says "Gilbert may have been son or grandson of an otherwise unknown Robert, who in 1086 held Cheddar, Somerset, under Roger de Courseulles. Robert the Marshal, who in 1086 held Lavington, Wilts, in chief has been suggested as the possible progenitor of the family; but this is unlikely as in 1166 Lavington was held by Piers de la Mare." It therefore appears that Keats-Rohan was following up the lead of CP, seeking for evidence that Robert in Lavington having other land holdings that might correspond to those known for the later Marshall family, specifically in Cheddar where Gilbert had presented his son to the church. The Robert in Cheddar has an entry in Domesday People called "Robert Herecom". According to a summary of this line of thought by Chris Phillips, Keats-Rohan's various entries give "a slightly complicated picture, but maybe worth investigating further".
Other Marshals. Older works speculated based on the longer-known above-mentioned claim to a "chief marshalship" which King John said happened during the time of King Henry I. Gilbert and his son John faced counter claims from two other men, Robert de Venoiz, and William Hastings. And on this basis many authors have speculated that the three families shared a common ancestry. Robert de Venoiz in particular was apparently heir (Keats-Rohan and Round say son, but CP says more likely grandson) to a Norman named Geoffrey who was referred to as "Geoffrey Marshall" (although in his time this would probably not have been considered a name, just a description). Various scenarios have been presented as fact, such as Gilbert being a son of Robert, or of Geoffrey, or that Gilbert married a lady of their family. (And similarly, the Hastings family have sometimes been linked in speculative pedigrees.) But in fact the record of King John does not strongly imply that before the time of Henry I there was one single "chief" marshal. It could well have been a decision made at that time. There were many hereditary "marshalls" in England and Normandy, as discussed by Round in his book on the subject. (The use of a the job as a surname also probably did not start until King Stephen's time.)
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1067 - Aft 1130 (> 64 years)
