Does anyone have any information on the Tracy line.. as to where it goes because I know that wikipedia had the wrong link for William de Tracy. It clearly states in the entry for the William de Tracy that was linked to Henry's illegit child William that his parents are a John de Sudeley, son of Harold de Mantes who married Grace de Tracey, daughter and heiress of Henri de Tracey, feudal lord of Barnstaple in Devonshire. There are lines that lead to an Eva Tracy eventually who married possibly Warin Bassingbourne; would anyone know anything about these possible descendants? It has been discussed that
Any thoughts or proof of the line going back to William de Tracy of Henry?
Unfortunately Meg, there does not seem to be a definitive answer to the early lineage of the de Tracy family. Both CP and AR have written different versions, citing various sources.. and no one can seem to agree on which is correct based on the historical record.
Grace is given in all standard sources as the daughter & heiress of William de Tracy of Devonshire.
However, recent research reveals that William de Tracy, d. ca. 1135, was succeeded in his lands circa 1165 or before, by another William de Tracy who was apparently his son.
This second William de Tracy was not Grace's son as commonly claimed even though she had a son with this name. Grace's son, William de Tracy, was an adult by the 1140s, and he seems to have held only the manor of Toddington, co. Gloucester, of the honour of Sudeley.
Chronology suggests that Grace herself was likely of the same generation as King Henry's bastard son, William de Tracy. In any event, she was probably not William's daughter and certainly not his heir.
CP says that Grace, married John de Sudeley, of Sudeley Castle and Toddington, co. Gloucester, 3rd son of Harold de Ewias, lord of Ewias (co. Hereford) and Sudeley, son and heir of Ralph, Earl of Hereford, son of Dreu, Count of the French Vexin, by Godgifu, sister of Edward the Confessor.
The 1st son, Ralph de Sudeley, succeeded his father at Sudeley; the 2nd son, William of Toddington, took his mother's name of Tracy or Tracey; hence Ralph de Sudeley confirmed a gift of his brother William de Tracy to Gloucester Abbey. The direct line of Tracy of Toddington became extinct on the death of Henry (Tracy), 8th Viscount Tracy, in 1797.
CP gives Grace's father as William de Tracy, son of an unknown mother, who left a daughter and heiress by his wife, also unknown.. and this is cited under King Henry's illegitimate children.
But AR says that Grace de Tracy's parentage is unknown.
In any event, I have seen Grace's father as being said to be Henry de Tracy, who held Barnstaple, Devon by 1130, according to 'The
Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families', by Lewis C Loyd, 1999. Loyd does not mention Grace, but puts Henry de Tracy's origin at Tracy, La Manche, Normandy.
But there are some medieval researchers who question whether Grace de Tracy existed at all. Historian Katherine Keats-Rohan says that John de Sudeley married Grace, daughter of William de Tracy, a natural son of King Henry I. She cites D. Bates, "Lord Sudeley's Ancestors: the family of the counts of Amiens, Valois and the Vexin", in "The Sudeleys - Lords of Toddington", The Manorial Society of Great Britain (1987).
The marriage of John and Grace is dated either c.1130/35 or apparently before 1129, when John accounted for a plea of his wife.
While it is correct that John de Sudeley's wife was named Grace, there seems to be no evidence whatsoever that Grace was the daughter of William de Tracy, the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. Also, there is no evidence that William de Tracy the bastard, was the same person as the William de Tracy who held the barony of Bradninch, Devon.
William de Tracy who held the barony of Bradninch, Devon was succeeded by a second William de Tracy, who was one of the four murderers of Archbishop Thomas a Becket. He in turn was succeeded by a son and heir, Henry de Tracy.
As for Grace, wife of John de Sudeley, the only evidence that suggests she was a Tracy is that her younger son adopted that surname.
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Warin de Bassingbourne of Bassingbourne and Meldreth, co. Cambridge was married before 1228 to Eve de Tracy, daughter of Oliver de Tracy, baron of Barnstaple, Devon, by his wife, Eve.
As your quote says, there is no question which Tracy family she belongs to.
Eve de Tracy, wife of Warin de Bassingbourne, comes from the Barnstable Tracys. And even if Grace de Tracy is someday confirmed to also be a member of this Barnstable family, there is still no known link between these Tracys and Henry I's bastard.
Bassingbourne descendants can certainly be traced through the Lords of St. Maur, whose family name eventually morphed into Seymour, and whose current head is the Duke of Somerset. I do not know anything at this time regarding the male-line descent, although the family does appear in records in the 15th century.. perhaps there are some descendants alive today.