| Notes |
- He is the first recorded member of Eyre (Ayer) family, probably of Saxon origins, descendants of Edward, Keeper of the Harriers (Hounds) for William the Conqueror as written in the Domesday Book. As a crusader, Humphrey le Heyr accompanied King Richard the Lion Hearted to the Holy Lands in the 3rd Crusade. (Legend has it that he rescued King Richard during the siege of Ascalon, and lost one of his legs in the process, and that the leg couped was granted to him upon his coat of arms in remembrance of the occasion. Other legends have him likewise rescuing William the Conqueror, but this would have been historically impossible.) Humphredi le Eyr was a Forester for fee of the ancient forest of Melksham.
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Additional sources:
John Burke, Esq., A GENEALOGICAL AND HERALDIC HISTORY OF THE COMMONERS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, Vol. III, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1977, p. 290. The old Wiltshire family of Eyre enjoyed, for several centuries, the highest distinction within its native county, and was of consideration in the state, --most of its chiefs having had seats in parliament, and two of them, learned in the law -- upon the bench -- one as lord-chief-justice of the Common Pleas; a branch, too, which emigrated to Ireland, attained the peerage of that kingdom. Humphrey Le Heyr, of Bromham, in Wilts, married Gilycia, and was father of Nicholas Le Heyr.
WILTSHIRE VISITATION PEDIGREES, 1623, Harleian Society Publications, London, 1954, pp. 57-58. Sciant praesentes et futuri qd ego Galicia relicta Humphredi le her de Bromham dedi concessi et ha praesenti Carta mea Confirmavi Nicholaio filio meo &c Hijs testibus Rico de Bridwolston, Rogero le Blount, Willo le Blount, Magistro Simone, Johanne de la Mason Sans date. Sciant praesentes et futuri qd ego Galfridus le here de Bromham dedi concessi et hac praesenti Carta mea Confirmavi Nicholaio fratri meo pro homagio et servitio suo & Hijs Testibus Rico de Brawanton tunc ballivo, Rogero le Blount, Willo (Wanthelin) le Blount et aliis Sans Date. Pateat universis per praesentes qd ego Galfridus le Eyr de Bromham dedi et concessi et praesenti scripto [meo] Confirmavi Willo: Rolf &c Hijs testibus Johanne de la Roch: Willo le White Stephano le Eyr Thome Milis Johanne le Stocke et Multis alijs Dat apud Bromham Die Dominica proxima ante festum Sti Thomae Apli Anno Regni Regis Edwardi filij Regis Edw: 15: 20 Dec. 1321. (The following notes are in Browne Willis's hand: Rich le Eyr Ld of a 4th pt of Barton M. co: Warwick Temp: H: 3 [Henry III was born 1207, reigned 1216-1272.] Simon Eyre Ld Mayor of London Temp: Hen: 6 See Stow [Henry VI was born 1421, reigned 1422-1471.] Roger Eyre mentioned in a Fin 48 H: 3 [1264] Robt Eyre High Sheriff of Derbyshire 1481 21 E 4 [Edward IV, born 1442, reigned 1461-1483: should be 1485?] The Eyres an antient Family in Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire give the same Arms as I remember from some of their epitaphs in Ashmoles Collections in the Musaeum wch are 200 years old as I remember] Humphrus Le Her sanz date [married] Galicia
BURKE'S AMERICAN FAMILIES WITH BRITISH , Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1975, p. 2677. Humphrey le Heyr, of Bromham, Wilts, who went to the Holy Land with King Richard I -- (see Eyre, of St. John's Wood).
THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND, devised and edited by Eric R. Delderfield, Stein and Day, New York, 1981, p. 38. Richard I Lion Heart was born 1157, ascended throne in 1189, reigned 10 years, died 1199, age 42. Buried at Fontevrault.
BURKE'S GENEALOGICAL AND HERALDIC HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY, Burke's Peerage Limited, London, 1939, p. 729. In the elaborate history of the great family of Eyre of Wiltshrie given in Hoare's MODERN WILTS, the earliest mention is Humphrey Le Heyr, of Bromham, Wilts, who went with Richard I to the Holy Land. His wife, Gillicia, made a grant of land to her younger son, Nicholas le Heyr. This grant and the confirmation are quoted in the visitations of Wiltshire.
Mary Elizabeth Frances Richardson-Eyre, A HISTORY OF THE WILTSHIRE FAMILY OF EYRE, Mitchell and Hughes, London, 1897. The first notice of the Eyres' settlement in Wiltshire, states Thomas Smith in his "History of Marylebone," " is a grant of land made by Galfridus le Her of Bromham to his wife and children, and is quoted in a copy of the Visitation of 1525. The date of this grant must be about the year 1100.. The name," says this biographer, evidently appears to be Norman, and although it does not occur in the Battle Abbey Roll, the founder in all probability came over before or at the Conquest." Mr. E. Phipps Eyre, to whose kindness I am indebted for much of the information this book contains, says, "The first notice I have seen of the Eyres in this county is a grant from Galicia, the wife of Humphrey le Heyr of Bromha, according to tradition a follower of Richard I. int he Crusade, to Nicholas her son. Although no date is given, it is probable from subsequent ones that the deed was made in the reign of Henry III." Galfridus le Her, s/o Humphrey, granted to his brother, the above mentioned Nicholas, certain possessions on conditions of homage and service. An extract of the deed conveying the grant is still preserved. To him succeeded a s/o the same name, although from the fluctuating orthography of the time it is spelt Eyr in a grant to William Rose in the 15th year of Edward II. He was living in the following reign, and obtained a license from the King to hear divine service service in the chapel of his mansion-house at Bromham
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Old Dead Relatives
1160 -
