Robert de Eyton

�����Robert de Eyton was born before 1145. He was the son of William (I) FitzAlan and Isabel de Say. He died between 1175 and 1180.
�����Some sources suggest that he was a son of William Fitz Alan, and therefore either a descendent of Banquo, Thane of Lochabar (AD 1000) or of Alan, Senschel of Dol (c. 1066). The former has been traced as follows: ( I) Banquo, Thane of Lochabar, A. D. 1000. ( II) Fleance, son of Banquo, married Guenta Princess, of North Wales. ( III) Alan Fitz Flaald, son of Fleance, married Amieria. ( IV) William Fitz Alan (son of Alan) Isabel de Say. (V) Robert de Eaton, son of William Fitz Alan. Banquo is none other than the character who appears in Shakespeare's MacBeth and who is murdered under orders of the title character and who later comes back as a ghost to haunt MacBeth. Banquo was thought be the progenitor of the Royal of House of Stuart (Stewart) which ruled Scotland and later both Scotland and England as the United Kingdom. Shakespeare alludes to this in the opening scene of the play. However, this pedigree was largely discredited by 19th century historians and literary critics, such as Sir Walter Scott.¹

"These characters, though named by Holinshed, followed by Shakespeare, are now considered by the best authors to be altogether fictitious personages. Mr Chalmers says, 'History knows nothing of Banquo, the thane of Lochabar, nor of Fleance his son.' Sir Walter Scott observes, that 'early authorities show us no such persons as Banquo and his son Fleance; nor have we reason to think that the latter ever fled further from Macbeth than across the flat scene according to the stage direction. Neither were Banquo and his son ancestors of the house of Stuart.' Yet still modern ' Peerages' and 'Genealogical Charts' retain the names of Banquo and Fleance in the pedigree of the Royal Houses of Scotland and England ; even the laureate Southey invokes Fleance, as,— ' Parent of the sceptred race;' and our great Dramatist makes the weird sisters foretell to Banquo,— ' Thou shall get kings, though thou be none.' The real progenitor of the Stuarts has been ably traced by George Chalmers, in his Caledonia (1807), to the common ancestor of the Fitz-Alans in England, and of the Stuarts in Scotland. FLAALD, or Flathald, obtained from William the Conqueror, whom he accompanied to England the castle and lordship of Oswaldestre, now Oswestry, in Shropshire ; he left a son, Alan Fitz-Flaald, who had two sons, the eldest, William Fitz-Alan, was ancestor of the Fitz-Alans, Earls of Arundel; the second son, Walter, was made seneschal, or high-steward to David I., King of Scots, 'and the dignity becoming hereditary in the family, what was originally a title was converted into a surname, and employed as such."²

An alternate pedigree of Robert de Eyton is accepted by some. If Robert de Eyton is in fact the son William Fitz Alan then the revised pedigree follows the accepted pedigree for the Fitz Alan brothers and that is as follows: ( I) Alan, Seneschel of Dol (in Normandy), fl. A. D. 1066. ( II) Flaald fis de Alan ( III) Alan Fitz Flaald.( IV) William Fitz Alan. (V) Robert de Eaton, son of William Fitz Alan. However, even this pedigree is controversial as discussed by Rev. Robert Eyton in his multi-volume Antiquties of Shropshire published in the 19th century.

"The probability that Robert de Eyton was Warin's direct descendant and heir is not the mere average probability that the Tenant of three distinct Manors a century after Doomsday was the lineal representative of the Tenant of those same Manors at Doomsday. Pantulf's Barony was exempt from all probability of being disturbed as to its constituents by that great Shropshire catastrophe, the fall of Earl Robert de Belesme. We know in short that it was then or afterwards enlarged rather than diminished, and we may fairly presume that this was in reward of the loyalty of its Chief, and his services at the siege of Bridgenorth. Again, it is probable that Warin was himself a Cadet of the House of Pantulf, for the Descendants of Robert de Eyton, his presumed heir, have uniformly quartered the Arms of Pantulf. It has been suggested that this quartering of the Arms of a Suzerain might have been merely in token of feudal dependence. The alternate theory seems to be that, when a Vassal is found bearing the Arms of his Suzerain, as a quarter, and without any difference, he was his Suzerain's relation by blood as well as tenure.
"I should now observe that the Lords of Eyton are found to have obtained feoffment from the Barons of Wem in four Manors, in which Doomsday does not state that Warin or any other Tenant had as yet acquired investiture. That this change was soon after Doomsday is clear, for the whole Fief held by DC Eyton under Pantulf was of old Feoffment. The four Manors in question were Buttery, Half-Lawley, and Sutton, all in Shropshire, and Cresswell, in Staffordshire. It is with respect to Buttery, and Robert de Eyton's disposal thereof in the reign of Henry II., that the history of this family recommences, nearly a century after Doomsday. Robert de Eyton gave Buttery to Shrewsbury Abbey, with the consent of Ivo Pantulf his Suzerain. As usual in such early grants, the confirming Deed of the Suzerain is the only one preserved, perhaps the only one executed at the time. Ivo Pantulf addressing his sons, acquaints them that "he has conceded in almoign to the Monks of Shrewsbury a certain estate (unam terram) which is called Buttereia, which Robert de Eiton had given to the said Monks. Witnesses, Alured Abbot of Hageman, Ivo Chaplain, Ralph Pantulf, Walter Meverel, Roger de Bethesloua, John de Eppeleia, Helias de Jai, Robert Christian, &C." The above Deed probably passed between 1170 and 1175, and so was coeval with the close of Robert de Eyton's life."³

The coat-o-arms of the English family of Eaton is : Azure fret on a field. Crest : An eagle's head erased sable in the mouth a sprig vert. Motto : 'Vincit Omnia Veritas.' (Truth conquers all things.) The surname Eaton is of Welsh and Saxon origin, a place name meaning hill or town near the water. In Welsh 'Aw' means water, and 'Twyn,' a small hill ; Awtyn, called 'Eyton,' a small hillock near the water. In Saxon 'Ea' means water and 'Ton' town - the same significance, viz. : A town or hill near the water. And from some place bearing this name the first of the family to use the surname took their home-town name, after a very common custom. The name of the family is spelled in various ways: Eton, Etton, Eyton and Eaton by all authorities during the early days, but the latter spelling became generally used several generations before the first emigrant came to America.⁴