Lilburn family

The Lilburns are a family originating in Northumberland, United Kingdom, and were members of the country's lesser gentry throughout the Late Middle Ages up until the 17th Century.[1][2][3][4] The family name Lilburn (variations include Lilburne, Lilleburne and Lilburne) derives from the original home of the family, Lilburn, Northumberland.[5]

Lilburn
The Lilburn coat of arms: a cendree (or sable) field, with three bougets argent.
CountryKingdom of England, United Kingdom
Place of originLilburn, Northumberland
MottoVis Viri Fragilis

Coat of arms

The heraldic blason for the Lilburn coat of arms is: cendree (or sable[6]), three bougets argent.[7][8] The Lilburn arms appeared "cut in stone" on the chapel of Belford and, albeit no longer visible, were recorded by Richard Gough during his tours across Britain to also include an annulet or crescent.[9][10]

A variation is that of the Lilburns of Thickley Punchardon in which the colours appear inverted, as recorded during a Visitation of Northumberland in 1666 for John Lilburne of Thickley Punchardon: argent, three bougets sable, a crescent gules.[1][11][12][13]

The motto recorded for the Lilburn family is: "Vis Viri Fragilis" ("Weak is the strength of man").[14]

Family history
Lilburn Tower of Dunstanburgh Castle, seen from the edge of the outer bailey.

The Lilburn family can be traced back to Lilburn, Northumberland.[15] The family name can be found carved into ancient gravestones in the vicinity of West Lilburn Tower, Lilburn, and Lindisfarne (Holy Island), near the medieval priory.[16] In a 14th-century church's graveyard, near West Lilburn Tower, a number of tombs allegedly belong to the Knights Templar, among which some bear the Lilburn name.[17]

Over the course of the 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries, the Lilburns are recorded to have owned moieties and knight's fees of numerous manors including those of Belford, Easington, Wooler, Beanly, Shawdon, Glanton and West Lilburn.[18][19][20][21] They are also recorded to have held significant military and political offices, including as knights, constables, commissioners of array, sheriffs and members of parliament well into the 17th Century, primary examples of whom were Sir William Lilburne in the 13th Century[1] and the two Sir John Lilburnes in the 14th Century[2][3] (see Prominent members and descendants below).

As of the 15th Century, a branch of the family, bearing the inverted coat of arms, argent, three bougets sable, is recorded to have held "a modest manorial holding" at Thickley Punchardon, near Bishop Auckland.[4]

[22][23] Of this line, in the 17th century, John Lilburne and most of his family were key figures in the English Civil Wars. In his day, the family was noted to be "typical of the lesser gentry in the northern counties: its members often dull and uninspired, sitting in Parliament but saying little, engaging in the minutiae of local magisterial and commercial disputes."[4][22]

Prominent members
Pedigrees recorded at the visitations of the county palatine of Durham made by William Flower, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1575, by Richard St. George, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1615, and by William Dugdale, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1666.[13]

Members of political or military significance
  • Sir Robert Lilburn (possibly Hilburne) is recorded among 24 knights of Northumberland, charged on 13th October 1245 to assist in defining the border separating the kingdoms of England and Scotland, between Carham and Hadden, by the precept of Henry III.[24][25]
  • Sir William Lilburne was Lord Warden of the Middle Marches in the 13th Century and oldest recorded ancestor of the Thickley Punchardon family line:[1]
    • Sir John Lilburne of Lilburn, Wooler and Beanly (1279-1355, grandson of the above William)[13] was a knight who held numerous political and military offices during the first half of the 14th Century[2] and took part in Thomas 2nd Earl of Lancaster's rebellion against King Edward II alongside Gilbert de Middleton, seizing castles and taking part in the capture of Bishop-elect Lewis de Beaumont.[26][27][28]
    • Sir John Lilburn of Belford, Easington and Shawdon (d. 1400, grandson of the above John) was a knight and close ally to Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and godfather to Sir John's son Thomas (b. 1387).[3] Sir John was twice taken prisoner following battles against the Scots: the first being a battle in Carham (1370) leading an attack against Scottish invaders;[29][30][31] the second at the Battle of Otterburn (1388) alongside Henry "Hotspur" Percy, eldest son of the same Henry Percy who was godfather to Sir John's son, Thomas.[32]
    • Thomas Lilburne (b. 1387, possibly son of the above John)[3] was a representative for Northumberland in parliament under Henry VI in 1434.[32]
    • John Lilburne (grandson of the above Sir John of Belford) was a Constable of Alnwick Castle in the 15th Century.[33]
    • Bartholomew Lilburne (d. 1562, third great nephew of the above John, Constable of Alnwick) was present during the Anglo-French summit between Henry VIII and Francois I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, arrayed in a "numerous and valuable" body armour inherited as a Lilburn family heirloom by his son, John.[34]
    • John "Freeborn" Lilburne (1614-1657, great grandson of the above Bartholomew) was a political Leveller and a key figure in the English Civil War, along with members of his immediate family:
      John "Freeborn" Lilburne (1641)

Prominent relatives

Distant relations worthy of note include:

  • and Isabel Lilburne, wife of John Lilburne (1st cousin of John "Freeborn" and brother of the above), a great niece of William Shakespear.[11][12]

See also

References
  1. Foster, J. (1887). "Lilburne of Thickley," in Vis. of Durham, 1615, p. 215. Hathitrust.org. eBook.
  2. Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th series, Vol. XI, p. 24. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-3433-1/dissemination/AAseries4/AA411new/archael411-000-000-PDFs/archael411-021-082-parliament.pdf - accessed 14th November 2022.
  3. Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th series, Vol. XI, p. 73. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-3433-1/dissemination/AAseries4/AA411new/archael411-000-000-PDFs/archael411-021-082-parliament.pdf - accessed 14th November 2022.
  4. John Lilburne, the Leveller, a Christian Democrat, Mildred A. Gibb, L. Drummond, 1967, p. 20
  5. A Dictionary of English Surnames, Percy Hide Reaney, W. A. F. Browne, Richard Middlewood Wilson, Routledge, 1991, p. 1955
  6. "P.206-7. A System of Heraldry: Speculative and Practical, with the True Art of Blazon, According to the Most Approved Heralds in Europe". Archived from the original on 2015-06-19. Retrieved 2015-06-19.
  7. John Lilburne, the Leveller, a Christian Democrat, Mildred A. Gibb, L. Drummond, 1967, p. 20
  8. The Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1925, p. 21
  9. Bateson, Edward (1895). A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 2. Reid. p. 148, note.
  10. Bateson, Edward (1895). A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 1. Reid. p. 366.
  11. "Lilburne, Randolph, Jefferson". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 26 (3): 321–324. 1918. JSTOR 4243687. Retrieved 11 November 2022 – via JSTOR.
  12. "Notes and Quesries". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 25 (4): 409–411. 1917. JSTOR 4243630. Retrieved 11 November 2022 – via JSTOR.
  13. Pedigrees recorded at the visitations of the county palatine of Durham made by William Flower, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1575, by Richard St. George, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1615, and by William Dugdale, Norroy king-of-arms, in 1666. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. London, Priv. print. for J. Foster. 1887.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. Burke, B. (1884). The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time. United Kingdom: Wm. Clowes & Sons for the Publishers, Burke's Peerage, in conjunction with Shaw Publishing Company, p. 608
  15. A Dictionary of English Surnames, Percy Hide Reaney, W. A. F. Browne, Richard Middlewood Wilson, Routledge, 1991, p. 1955
  16. Mackenzie, Eneas (1825). An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland, Vol. II, pp. 14-15. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent.
  17. "Hexham Courant | Lifestyle | Gardening | Garden glories surround the gothic splendours of Lilburn". Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  18. Middleton, Sir Arthur E. (1918). Sir Gilbert de Middleton. Mawson Swan and Morgan Limited. p. 86-92.
  19. J E E S Sharp and A E Stamp, 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward II, File 80', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 6, Edward II (London, 1910), pp. 274-283. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol6/pp274-283 [accessed 6 November 2022].
  20. Bateson, Edward (1895). A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 1. Reid. pp. 380-381.
  21. A.J. Lilburn, 'The Family of Lilburn of West Lilburn', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 4th Series, N. 9, pp. 402-403.
  22. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16654. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  23. Northumberland and Durham Deeds, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Records Series, Vol. VII (1927), p. 260; Bishop Hatfield's Survey, Surtees Society, Vol. 32 (1856), pp. 26-28.
  24. Chancery, Diplomatic Documents, n. 12; The National Archives of the UK (TNA): C 47/22/12/3.
  25. Crawford Hodgson, John (1904). A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 7. Reid. pp. 50-51.
  26. Middleton, Sir Arthur E. (1918). Sir Gilbert de Middleton. Mawson Swan and Morgan Limited. pp. 13, 20–21, 24, 28, 86–92.
  27. A.J. Lilburn, 'The Family of Lilburn of West Lilburn', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 4th Series, N. 9, pp. 398-415.
  28. Bateson, Edward (1895). A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 2. Reid. p. 199.
  29. Wallis, John (1769). The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland. Published for author. p. 469.
  30. Lewis, Samuel (1848). A Topographical Dictionary of England: Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate and Market Towns, Parishes, and Townships, and the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Man, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions ; and Embellished with Engravings of the Arms of the Cities, Bouroughs, Bishoprics, Universities, and Colleges, and of the Seals of the Various Municipal Corporations, Volume 1 (7th ed.). S. Lewis and Company. p. 513.
  31. MacKensie, Eneas (1825). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland: And of Those Parts of the County of Durham Situated North of the River Tyne, with Berwick Upon Tweed, and Brief Notices of Celebrated Places on the Scottish Border, Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Mackenzie and Dent. p. 351.
  32. Wallis, John (1769). The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland. Published for author. p. 489.
  33. Gregg, Pauline (1986). Free-born John. A Biography of John Lilburne (Paperback ed.). London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. p. 23.
  34. Wills and Inventories, Surtees Society, Vol. 2 (1835), pp. 192-194 and page 192, note.
  35. Andrew Bisset History of the Commonwealth of England – From the Death of Charles I. to the Expulsion of the Long Parliament
  36. Sunderland Antiquarian Society Antiquarian News - March 2009
  37.  Firth, Charles Harding (1893). "Lilburne, John". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 243–250.
  38. Robert Surtees (1908). The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham. Harvard University. Hills. p. 20.
  39. "Records : The Manor | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. p. 204-222. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  40. Gregg, Pauline (1986). Free-born John. A Biography of John Lilburne (Paperback ed.). London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. p. 360.
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