The Skaggs-Files

Alexander de St. Martin & Basilia

Alexander de St. Martin's wife was named Basilia, this fact being found in his charter granting Crumwelstrother to the Abbey of Neubotle (Neubotle #101). William de Montford and Alexander's wife Basilia are the two witnesses named in the charter. The charter is undated, but must have been done in the early 1180's. (Sir Thomas de Morham lists Alexander de St. Martin as the earliest of his ancestors who made grants to Neubotle Abbey). Alexander de St. Martin was the sheriff of Hugh Giffard of Yester as proven in Neubotle #111. He was also sheriff of Haddngton for King William I. These offices appear to be held during the period 1175-1189 as discovered in dated charters. That Alexander de St. Martin was sheriff for an individual land holder (Hugh Giffard) is quite interesting. Alexander's land of Duncanlaw adjoined Yester, and he appeared to have had a close relationship with Hugh Giffard.

Like Hugh Giffard of Yester, Alexander St. Martin had a very strong association with Countess Ada de Warenne and her sons King Malcolm IV, King William the Lion, and David Earl of Huntington. The Norman family of St. Martin had close ties including a blood relationship with the Warennes, and the Scottish St. Martins became a favored vassal family of the court of Countess Ada and her sons. Ada de Warenne's Norman grand-mother is believed to have been Emma St. Martin. The Lothian lands of Alstanesford, Duncanlaw, Baro, and others were granted to St. Martin in an early charter by Countess Ada de Warenne. Alexander de St. Martin appears as a witness to multiple charters of King William I and his mother Ada de Warenne over an extended period of time. The last dated charter, to which Alexander de St. Martin was a known witness, was a confirmation charter of King William I regarding the land of Stenhouse in Stirlingshire granted to Geoffrey de Melville, son of Maud Malherbe. This charter was confirmed by King William I between 1185 and 1189. It can be estimated that Alexander de St. Martin died between 1190 and 1200 at the approximate age of 65. The death date and ancestry of his wife Basilia remain unknown.
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Bruce & Barbara Morrison

Lexington, Kentucky

Contact: NUbrubun55 (at) webtv.net

© August, 2004

 

 

Primary Sources:

Registrum S. Marie Cambuskenneth; Declaration of Arbroath; Ragman Rolls, 1296; Liber S. Marie de Neubotle; Calendar of writs preserved at Yester House 1166-1503; Liber S. Thome de Arberbrothoc; Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland; Regesta Regum Scottorum, Vols. I, II, V, & VI; Calendar of the Laing Charters 854-1837; Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh; Liber S. Marie de Melros; Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland; Hand Acts of Alexander II; Hand Acts of Alexander III, the Guardians & John; Deeds relating to East Lothian, Wallace-James; Anglo-Norman Families, Loyd; The Surnames of Scotland, George F. Black.