242 CLARE CLARE (honour of) Observations. — In the times of the Heptarchy the border fortress of Clare (Suffolk), on the confines of the Kingdoms of East Anglia and Essex, was of the greatest importance, and continued to be so for many centuries afterwards, when it was granted by the Conqueror to Richard FitzGilbert. FitzGilbert's successors, the earlier Lords of Clare were, " it is implied in the Lords' Reports (vol. iii, p. 124) and elsewhere, styled Earls of Clare before they were Earls of Hertford, but investigation disproves this,"(^) though doubtless, these Lords, after they obtained that Earldom, were, according to the usage of the period, frequently styled " Earls of Clare," just as the Earls of Derby were styled "Earls Ferrers," i^c. On account of the great importance of these feudal Barons, the earlier Lords of Clare, so frequently considered to have been actual Peers, a short account of them is subjoined, as under. HOLDERS OF i. Richard FitzGilbert, i/j/^^ (from his pos- THE HONOUR sessions) " de Bienfaite," " de Clare," and " de OF CLARE. ToNBRiDGE," was s. of Gilbert, Count of Brionne . in Normandy, which Gilbert was s. and h. of Godfrey, ^^^' Count of Brionne, illegit. s. of Richard, Duke of WILLIAM I. Normandy. He was b. before 1035, '^^^ Lord of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy, accompanied his kinsman, William the Conqueror, into England, and was rewarded by him with no less than 176 Lordships, of which 95 were in Suffolk, attached to the Honour of Clare, which honour, with the Castle of Clare, as also the Castle of Tonbridge in Kent, he obtained, becoming thus Lord of Clare and of Tonbridge. During the King's absence he was Joint Chief Justiciar, and, as such, suppressed the revolt of 1075. ^^ "'• Rohese,() da. of Walter Giffard, the elder, through which match his descendants became co-heirs to the lands of that family. He was living 108 1, but appears to have d. about 1090, being bur. at St. Neots, co. Huntingdon. His widow was living, as such, 11 13. II. 1090.' 2. Gilbert FitzRichard, styled also de Clare and de Tonbridge, Lord of Clare, (3'c., s. of the above. (*) See an able article by J. Horace Round on the family of Clare, in Diet. Nat, Biog., where are several notices of the earlier members thereof; also his paper on "The Family of Clare" in Jrcli. Journal, Sep. 1899, and his useful chart pedigree of the descendants of Count Gilbert of Brionne in Feudal England, p. 472. That writer is of opinion that the castle mounds of Tonbridge and Clare may both be the work of Richard FitzGilbert. V.G. C*) For some discussion on English mediaeval names, see Appendix C in this volume.
