CHESTER. 223 III. 1101, 2. EicnARD, E&BL of Chester, also Vicomte ti) D'Avraxciies, &c, in Normandy, only 3. and li.. aged 7 years at his 1120. Father's <loath. He m. in 1115, Matilda, da. of Stephen, Count ov BluIS, by Adela, dn. of King William I, sister to Henry I, then King of England. He d. s.p. legit. 2~> Nov. 1120, together with his wife, her emisin William, (the only s. and h. ap. of the King) and a vast number of the nobility, all being drowned, by the shipwreck of the " Blanche Nef," oil' Bavtteur. IV. 1121. 1. Randolph Le Messcui.v,^) styled, also, "De BniQUEss.iiT,"( b ) Vicomte de Bayeux in Normandy, s. and h. of Randolph, Vicomte de Bayeux, by Margaret, sister to Hugh (D'Avrakches), Earl ok Chester abovenamed, being thns 1st cousin and h. to the last Earl (whom he sue. as Vicomte D'Avkanciies, &c, in Normandy), obtained, after the Bail's death in 1121, the grant of the counlij palatine of Chester, becoming thereby EARL OF CHKSTER. He appears thereupon to have surrendered the Lordship of the great district of Cumberland,( c ) which he had acquired, shortly before, from King Henry I. In 1124 he was Commander of the Royal forces in Normandy. He m. Lucy, widow of Roger Fitz-Gerold (by whom she was mother of William de Romara, afterwards Karl of Lincoln), (la. and Ii. or coheir of Ivo Tailleijois, of Anjou, by Lucy, believed to have been, da. of William Malet.() In right, probably, of this alliance he is called (by a doubtful authority), in 1 US or thereabouts, EARL OF LINCOLN. He <(. about 1129 and was bur. at St. Werburgh, Chester. The Countess Lucy confirmed, as his widow, the grant of the Manor of Spalding to the monks of that place. V. 1129. 2. Randolph, styled " De Gerxok,"( 1 ) Earl op CHESTER, also Vicomte D'Avranches, Sec. in Normandy, s. and h. He was b. before 1100, in the Castle of Gernon in Normandy. To the detriment of his elder br. of the half blood, William (de Romara), Earl of Lincoln, he appears to have long held a large portion of the profits of the Earldom ok LrNC0L> - .( J ) He dis- tinguished himself as a soldier both on the side of the Empress Maud and of that of King Stephen, with the greatest impartiality. To Stephen's second " Charter of Liberties " lie was, in 1136, a witness, and by him he was made Constable of Lincoln. Against that King, however, he took part at the battle of Lincoln, 2 Feb. 1141, in which Stephen was made prisoner, who retaliated on the Earl 29 Aug. 1146, by seizing him at Court, at Northampton, He m. about 1141, Matilda, da. of .Robert, Eaul of Gloucester, by Mabel, da. and h. of Sir Robert Fitz-Hamon. Having again taken part with King Stephen and being consequently distrusted by both sides, hail. 16 Dec. 1188(f) being supposed to have been poisoned by his wife and William l'everell, Lord of Nottingham. He was bur. at St. Werburg, Chester. His widow, who in 1172 founded Bepindon Priory, co. Derby, d. 2!) July 1189. VI. 1153, J. Hugh, styled " De KEVELioc,"( e ) Earl op Chester, also Vicomte D'Avraxches, &e. in Normandy, s. and h. He was b. in 1147f f ) at Kevelioc, co. Merioneth. He joined in the rebellion against King (") i.e. " The young," from the Latin " M ischium ;" French " Mcsehin " (Le Jeune). "Apud Francos media) [etatis scriptures snmitur vox ' Meschin' pro adolescente et juvcnculo." Dncamjc. ( b ) So called from " Briquessart " in the commune of Livri. He is called by Ordericua " RauuulCus Baioosnsia," from having succeeded his Father as Vicomte of the Bessin (of which Bayeux was the capital) in Nov. 1 120. £.c inform. J. Horace Round. (°) He is hence sometimes, erroneously, called Earl of Cumberland, or Earl of Carlisle. See, ante, p. l. r >0, note "a " for some remarks on this subject. ( ll ) See "Top. and Gen" Vol. i, (especially at p. 12 and p. 15) in an able article [pp. 9-28 and 301-320 ib.] giving an elaborate account of the (early) Earls of Lincoln. ( c ') So called from the place of his birth. As to De Gernon (possibly des Gernonl Mr. J. H. Round points out its resemblance to Als Gernon ("aux Moustaches ") the labriqttet of William de Percy. ( f ) See "Annates Cestrienses" edited, in 1SS7, by R. C. Christie, who remarks (in the " Introduction") on the light which the dates of the birth and marriage of Earl Hugh (1147 and 1169) throw " on that bitterly debated poiut, the question o£ the legitimacy of his da. Amicia, wife of Ralph Mainwariug."
