Meet the Swynfords: Hugh and his scoundrel brother Norman

We know a fair amount of information about the Swynfords beginning with Sir Thomas Swynford, his son Hugh Swynford, and Hugh's descendants, at least the male ones.  What is difficult to find, however, is reliable information regarding Thomas' forebears and other family members.   There were several individuals with the Swynford name in Lincoln, Northampton, Huntingdon, Essex and Suffolk.  There were even a couple in London in the 16th C. or so.  In 14th C. Lincoln and Northampton, they intermarried into the families of Darcy, Arderne and even Luttrell (Of The Luttrell Psalter fame), with at least five known individuals with the surname Swynford and bearing the coat of arms seen above, sometimes with marks of cadency, of argent, a chevron sable with three couped boars heads, or, or a close variant. The question remains were they related, and, if so, how?

(Right:  "A framed miniature of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell inserted between Psalms 108 and 109 dominates this page. It was not unusual for the patron of a manuscript to appear somewhere, but they would normally be shown in a attitude of devotion. Not only is this miniature the largest in the entire manuscript, but Sir Geoffrey has had himself portrayed as a fully-armed knight, resplendent in his coat of arms. He is attended by his wife and daughter-in-law, both dressed in heraldic gowns, making a visual statement about the successful alliances he has made."  British Library.)


With a later 19th century interest in examining various life records of individuals in the poet Geoffrey Chaucer's milieu, some sleuthing endeavors were expended on the family of his wife's sister, Katherine Roet Swynford, in an attempt to paint a portrait of the unequal social circles of the two sisters Roet and how this might be discerned in or help explain the writings of the poet.  One large difference became readily apparent:  Katherine Roet married a landed knight named Sir Hugh Swynford whereas sister Philippa married a clerk.  This is a a somewhat overly simplified explanation of things, as Chaucer was an trusted envoy of Edward III who went abroad on occasion for diplomatic missions.

The 19th C antiquarian and printer Samuel Bentley, in his work Excerpta Historica, attempted to sketch out the ancestry of the Hugh Swynford family line.   He notes evidence of Sir Thomas Swynford of Lincolnshire being the father of Sir Hugh Swynford, first husband of Katherine Roet.  His and others' evidence is borne out by examining  the contents of various Inquisitions Post Mortem.


Bentley brings our attention to a Lincolnshire knight named Norman Swynford.  Norman is assumed to have been Hugh's brother on account of his bearing the same arms with a cinquefoil in canton, understood to be a mark of cadency (shown to the left).  Like his brother Hugh, Norman was a knight, in the retinue of the Black Prince in 1356 serving in Gascony.  We might assume him to have been a second son of Thomas Swynford because his arms are the same but with an added mark of cadency, as well as the fact that Hugh, not Norman, received lands and manors in Kettlethorpe and Coleby from their father Thomas in 1361.

Sir Norman Swynford:  Scoundrel

Simply put, Norman Swynford was a scoundrel who cheated his stepson out of his inheritance while reaping the products of securing the physical wardship of his wife's son by her first husband, alienating lands which were not his to alienate, and laying waste to lands he occupied, including the medieval manor of Harlaxton (now home to a medieval scholarly powerhouse).

Norman owned land in Brauncewell, Lea and surrounding areas and outlived his brother by a decade, some of which were doubtlessly acquired via marriage to Margaret Trehampton, whose family owned the manor of Lea and other lands and were donors to the local church dedicated to St. Helen in Lea.  At one time medieval glass windows depicted major donors to the church including Margaret and her family.

But he wasn't a very nice person.

He married Margaret Trehampton of Lea who was a local heiress in her own right to lands in Lincoln, namely, the manor of Lea and rents of Lea and Scothorn. Margaret's first marriage was to a John Brewes (Braose and etc.).   Margaret and John Brewes had a son, also named John.  All was well until John Brewes Sr. died and Margaret remarried; her second husband was Norman Swynford.

Margaret must have looked like quite the catch for Norman especially as she held her late husband's lands for her son who was declared to be an idiot and an idiot from birth.