My Maternal 20th. Great Scottish Grandfather, Walter de Somerville, Lord of Carnwath and Linton

 

 

Drum House, Gilmerton, Scotland

Lords of Somerville

The later family seat at Drum House, Gilmerton, near Edinburgh was acquired as a result of the marriage of Sir Walter Somerville of Linton and Carnwath to the daughter and heiress of Sir John Herring.

Carnwath was sold in the 16th century and Hugh Somerville, the 7th Lord, built a substantial tower house at Drum in 1585 which was replaced between 1726 and 1734 with a Palladian mansion designed by architect William Adam. The Drum estate was sold in 1862.


The family's earliest known ancestor is Sir Gualter de Somerville (anglicized as Walter de Somerville), a Norman knight and companion of William the Conqueror who, for his service during the Norman conquest of England, was awarded the lordship of Whichnour, in Stafford, and the land that is now known as Aston Somerville, in Evesham.


One of Gualter's sons, William de Somerville, was close to King David I of Scotland and, for their friendship, David created for him the barony of Carnwath in the county of Lanark. He also acquired the barony of Linton in Roxburghshire. William's descendants, like himself, were close to royalty, and they went onto marry into prominent Scottish families. Wikipedia-Lord Somerville

 

 Lochan-urr-glen-etive-Scotland

Name: Walter de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath

Birth:  circa 1275 in Carnwath, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Married: circa 1300 in Drum, Kinross, Scotland to Giles "Jill" Herring

Children:  (4) Thomas, George, William, and Richard Somerville

Died: circa 1337 in Scotland

Burial: circa 1337 in Scotland

 

st_marys_aisle_carnwath_lanarkshire_scotland

During the wars of this period, Linton tower, built by William de Somerville, the serpent-slayer, was often put in peril, from its position on the borders, by its owners’ sturdy opposition to the aggressions of the English.

Sir Walter de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath, one of Bruce’s principal associates, died about 1330. By his wife, Giles, daughter and heiress of Sir John Herring, he got the lands of Gilmerton, Drum, and Goodtrees, Mid Lothian, and had three sons. 

1. Sir James, killed at the battle of Durham in 1346. 

2. Sir Thomas, who fought in the same battle, and succeeded his brother. 

3. Richard, witness to a charter of the earl of Lennox in 1340.

Sir Thomas de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath, between 1362 and 1366, had three safe-conducts into England to visit the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury, and one to go through England to visit St. John of Amboise in France. He died before 1370. His eldest son, Sir William de Somerville, one of the hostages for the release of David II., 3d October 1357, died in 1403, leaving two sons, Sir Thomas, first Lord Somerville, and William, ancestor of the Somervilles of Cambo.  

https://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/somerville.htm