ANGUS COMPLETE PEERAGE 147 VIII. 1267 ? 8. Gilbert (de Umfreville), Earl of Angus Qy. EARLDOM [E.] [H ^- .^"^ h, b. about 1244. (*) In 1265 ^^ I- -■ he joined the rising or the Barons against the I. 1299. [1283?] King. He is styled Earl of Angus in June 1267. C") In 1 28 1 he was one of the Nobles who swore to ratify the marriage of Margaret of Scotland with Eric, King of Norway. In 1291, being then Governor, not only of Dundee and Forfar Castles, but of the whole territory of Angus, he refused to surrender it to England unless under an indemnity from the King, and from all the Competitors to the Scottish Crown. On 24 June, i Oct., and 2 Nov. (1295) 23 Edw. I, and on 26 Aug. (1296) 24 Edw. I, he was sum. to Pari, by writs directed Gilberto de UmframviH whereby he may be held to have become LORD UMFREVILLE, (■=) and on 28 June (1283) 1 1 Edw. I,('^) and again from 6 Feb. (1298/9) 27 Edw. I to 26 Aug. (1307) I Edw. II, he was sum. to Pari, under the designation of EARL OF ANGUS, the writs being directed Gilberto de Umframviir (or UnfranviW) comiti de Anegos. Q) He m. Elizabeth, 3rd da. of Alexander (Comyn), (*) Simon de Montfort obtained the custody of the lands and of the heir of Gilbert de Umfraunvilia, 15 June 1 245, for a fine of 10,000 marks. (Fine Roll, 29 Hen. Ill, m. 8). (*) In 1267 the King granted to Gilbert de Humframvilla, Earl of Angus, and his heirs, free warren in his demesne lands in Northumberland (16 June), and a market and fair at his manors of Overton, Rutland, and Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland (22 June). (Charter Roll, 51 Hen. Ill, m. 5 and 4.) {") As to how far these early writs of summons did in fact create any Peerage title, see Appendix A in the last volume. V.G. C) As to this supposed Pari., see Preface. Q " Dugdale states that he was sum. in virtue of his Barony of Prudhoe, co. Northumberland ; but by the late Francis Townsend, Esq., Windsor Herald, the writ of 25 Edw. I (1297) _i.e. the writ, dated 26 Jan. 1296/7, to attend an assembly at Salisbury, which at the time when Townsend wrote, was considered to have been a summons to Pari.], was considered to have cr. an English Earldom, and certainly he and his descendants are always sum. with other Earls ; but the editor [i.e. Courthope, not Nicolas], is of opinion that no such English Earldom was intended to have been cr., but that the King, having in 1 296 seized upon the sovereignty of Scotland, did, in directing summons to his Baron, Gilbert de Umfreville, in the following year, allow to him, in the way of courtesy, that title which had by marriage or otherwise been acquired in Scotland ; he was therefore sum. as a Baron, though by the appellation of an Earl : and it may be added, in confirmation of the opinion that no English Earldom was intended to be cr., that Henry de Beaumont, having m. Alice, da. and h. of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, was sum. to Pari, from 1334 till his decease, 1340, as ' Henrico de Bello Monte Comiti de Boghan, ' but that his s. and h., John Beaumont, having lost the Buchan property in Scotland, was no longer sum. by the title of Buchan, but by that of Beaumont only. " {Courthope, p. 24). The remarks of Townsend will be found in Coll. Top. et Gen., vol. vii, p. 383. He sensibly observes (referring to the manner in which this peerage altogether ceased after the death of Earl Gilbert in 1381), that this case seems to countenance the idea "that the descent of ancient dignities in general depended chiefly upon the will of the Crown." The following remarks (made by J. H. Round on the above note) are subjoined —
