Eaton Challenge -- Long
Hi:
Some of us have been focusing on ancient Eatons, rather than on more modern ones. This is a perilous journey at best, because of people like Robert de Eaton or De Eyton of Shropshire, son of William Fitz Alan, baron of Oswestry, Sherrif of Shropshire and Castellan of Shrewbury in 1138) andhis second wife, Isabel de Say or Saye (barnoness de Clun.
Robert, as almost everyone knows, is the first Eaton (also spelled Eyton by many) to appear in the line that dates back of Banquo, Fleance et al, and which goes forward to us New England Eatons and others throughout North America.
Robert, as we who have been digging and digging, also is *the* problem. if anyone here has some answers and sources, it will surely result in a good night's sleep for the rest of us.
Here goes:
Eaton and Eyton are widely held to be place names and Robert appears to be of (de) Eaton/Eyton. But which one and where? There are scores of Eatons and such places ( Eaton Bray, Eton, and Eyton and Eaton, for example, in England.
Why was Robert de Eaton and not FitzAlan, as were other reputed sons, William and John?
Was Robert a Middle Son (because William 2 inherited the titles and lands, although some pedigrees list him as being the eldest of two, the other being John, with no mention of William at all)?
When was Robert Born? When did he marry? When did he die? Where?
Has anyone been able to find any historical reference to his life and affairs?
What is the source of any information relating to the above and, indeed, to his very existence -- other that other people's pedigrees, unless they are backed by facts.
I don't make the latter point to be rude, or to question anyone's hard work, but Robert, with both spellings and no detail, pops up everywhere, without a bit of documentation... even in Mrs. Molyneux's famed, now 100-year- old book book; likewise without hard data.
My wife and I together and separately, spent six hours each Sunday, following different Net paths to get more information, pursuing virtually every lead we could find and revisiting "sources" that we had been to many times before.
Barbara Fitzhenry (who offers helpful information here often) and I, in separate states but in frequent e-mail contact, have done everything short of studying "Olde English," Gaelic and Welsh in our efforts to find Robert and Robert-related data among his fairly well-documented progenitors and peers in the history of those countries... all to no avail.
Many pedigrees mention William and Isabel's other son, John, but fail to mention Robert or William at all. Others mention John and William, or John and Robert (with no detail) and, once posted here, a message suggested William had eight children, although we have not been able to find any information to that effect.
So, kith and kin, this is a request for help to those so disposed and a challenge to others who just can't resist such quests. Please try to find Robert and provide some detail on him. It is more than important; it is essential, because -- without such facts -- we cannot even say for sure that he existed. If that's the case, we shoould all be at the Smith, Boyarski, Chen or some such family lists rather than here. :-)
I'll be continuing to work at it too, focusing on Shropshire (the County) and nearby Wales, unless someone has a better idea.
By the way, also unmentioned in most accounts is that William(b. c.1090; d. c 1160) apparently had two wives. The second was Isabel. The first was apparently Christiana (sometimes referred to as Christian) de Caen, niece of Robert Fitzroy the Earl of Gloucester. Robert is the brother of Henry I, King of England, who, if I recall correctly, is the son of William The Conqueror, aka William, Duke of Normandy. We spent a lot of time trying to run that angle down, thinking that some people might have had the wrong mom for our Robert, but had no success with that either.
By the way, there is strong evidence to support the belief that these Eatons originated in Nrittany (Britagne), which was an English province in Northern Gaul (france). in addition to thre Norman hierarchy, many of those who served under William, were Bretons. These Eatons held titles from Dol, a city in Brittany.
Thanks for listening and, if you find time to, responding. My quess is that there are about 10-20 thousnad of us affected by the answers we are able to uncover.
More Replies:
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long
Rick Eaton 8/24/00
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Re: Eaton Challenge -- Long