Volume 13 , Issue 18

Luttrells of Dunster Castle & Luttrellstown, County Dublin

There has been some doubt expressed by antiquarians as to when the Luttrell family first came to England. We find one by the name of Robert Luttrell, and another Osbert Luttrell, mentioned as living in Normandy previous to the "Conquest of England," and as being extensive landowners, and to this day families of the name are found in different parts of France. The name is not mentioned in the "Doomsday Book," although it is mentioned in the "Roll of Battle Abbey," Vol. II (Abbey lists in the British Museum).

Although doubt is now being cast upon the authenticity of the records. The unquestioned respect in which the Rolls have been held by antiquarians is due to the fact that for many families they are the only proof for a claim to an existence at that early period.


View Larger Map

Like many names of very old families there have been found many variations, appearing as Loutrel, Loutrell, Lotrell, Lotrel, Lutterell and Luttrell. For the sake of convenience the one form of Luttrell will be adhered to in the present account of the family. If they did not come to England with the Conqueror, they came at some time during his reign, probably near the beginning. The great prominence of the family when the records first make mention of them, shows conclusively that they had already played an important part in affairs. It is recorded that Sir John Luttrell, Knight, held in capite the manor of Hooten-Paynel in Yorkshire, in the reigns of Henry the First and of Stephen, by service of 4-1/2 Knights Fees, as did his posterity in the male line, until the reign of Henry V. This Sir John had a daughter who married John Scott, Lord of Calverlay, and Steward of the Household to Maud the Empress. Sir Andrew Luttrell, Knight, in the time of Henry the Second founded the Abbey of Croxton-Kyriel, in Leicestershire, and in this abbey were deposited the ashes of King John who died in the vicinity.

In the reign of King Richard the First the estates of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Knight, in the Counties of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and York were confiscated, he being one of the barons who sided with John, Earl of Montaigue, but the lands were restored after the death of King Richard. This Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Knight, attended King John into Ireland, and for a time had the authority to issue writs in the king's name. He was also stationed in Ireland in 1204, and in 1215, when he possessed large administrative powers. In 1215 King John appointed him to be his sole agent in the negotiations concerning the dower of Queen Berengaria, commissioning him at the same time to join with the Archbishops of Bordeaux and Dublin in denouncing to the Pope the rebellious barons who had recently extorted the Great Charter of English liberties. In one of these documents he is styled "Nobilis vir." His mission was so far successful that Pope Innocent the Third annulled the Charter, suspended the Archbishop of Canterbury and excommunicated the barons, but it is uncertain whether it was Sir Geoffrey Luttrell who conveyed the papal bull from Rome to England. He is supposed to have died in 1216 or in 1217. As a reward for his services he was granted lands in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, and at Croxton, in Leicestershire. In consideration of twenty ounces of gold he was still further rewarded with a large estate, known as Luttrellstown to the present day, and situated on the banks of the Liffey, about eight miles out from Dublin, Ireland.

As the American line is descended from this Irish branch of the family it will be necessary merely to follow the later history of these Luttrells. But before leaving the English branch we should mention something further of their later chronicles. It is not certain whether the head of the Irish branch was a son or a brother of this Sir Geoffrey, but it is reasonable that he bore either the one or the other relation, for the reason that the lands of Luttrellstown, secured by royal grant by Sir Geoffrey, were from this time owned by Sir Robert Luttrell, head of the Irish branch, who lived at Lucan, near Dublin, and that they remained in the family until the early part of the nineteenth century.

This Sir Geoffrey Luttrell married Frethesant Pagnel, a daughter of and co-heiress with William Pagnel, a scion of a great family in Normandy, and through this marriage was also heir to certain lands of Maurice de Gaunt, and his descendants, in direct line from William the Conqueror's brother, Robert. (If Sir Robert, mentioned above, was a son of Sir Geoffrey this same connection would apply as well to the Irish branch). The first of the Gaunts who came to England was a nephew of King William, and son of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, by a daughter of Robert, King of France. The emperor of Constantinople and Jerusalem towards the end of the 12th century was of the same paternal lineage. A daughter of the Earl of Lincoln conveyed in marriage the barony of Irnham to Simon St. Liz, Earl of Huntington, who dying without issue, Robert de Berkeley succeeded him, and assumed the name of Gaunt from his mother. Maurice, the son and heir of Robert, leaving no children, the estates devolved on the eldest son of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, whose name was Andrew, and this portion of it known as the Manor of East Quantockshead in Somerset has remained in the family name to this day, a rare instance of land ownership in England. In this connection might be mentioned the fact that Dunster Castle in Somerset has belonged to but two families since the Conquest, the MOHUNs and the LUTTRELLs, and the present owner, Captain Alexander Luttrell, is a direct descendant of both families.

The Luttrells of East Quantockshead and Dunster Castle, and their collateral branches, quartered the arms of the ancient English Barons, Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, Duke of Norfolk, Lords Hussie, Wake D'Ein Court and Tateshall.

The following is the direct line, mentioning only the oldest son or heir.

-- (II) Sir Andrew Luttrell, son of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, mentioned above, and of his wife, Frethesant Pagnel, married a daughter of Philip la Mare, a rich and powerful baron, and they had a son, Alexander.

-- (III) Alexander, son of Sir Andrew Luttrell, during the reign of Henry the Third was among the first to assume the cross of the Crusaders, in company with the king's eldest son and many others of the chief nobility. He died about the year 1273, and left a son, Andrew.

-- (IV) Andrew (2), son of Alexander Luttrell, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Warin de Raleigh, and had a son, John.

-- (V) Sir John Luttrell, son of Andrew (2) Luttrell, was knighted in March, 1337, when Edward the Third conferred the title of Duke of Cornwall upon his own eldest son, Edward. This Sir John married Joan, daughter of Lord Mohun, and there was another Sir John Luttrell at this period who was Chancellor of Oxford University. The former Sir John Luttrell had a son, Andrew.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

---