Towards identifying the ancestor of the Leicestershire Mallorys
It has been argued that there are two 12th century Leicestershire Richard Mallorys, of whom the first is probably the father of the second. This knoll will argue that, while the possibility of two Richard Mallorys (father and son) remains, there is also a possibility that there was only one Richard Mallory and that before him there may have been a Robert Mallory who could have been his father.
There would appear to be a one-generation chronological gap between the 12th century Anketil Mallory whose descendants possessed Botley for several hundred years and Geoffrey Mallory of Botley who, for reasons argued elsewhere, could have acquired that manor from Robert de Stadford (Stafford/Toeni/etc.) as early as 1087 or 1088. A relationship other than that of direct ancestor would, of course, not be precluded, but, if Geoffrey Mallory of Botley also possessed other manors in Dorset and possibly Somerset from William de Moyon, then his being a direct ancestor of Anketil Mallory would appear rather more likely than an indirect relationship, such as that of an uncle or cousin.
One reason for assuming the existence of a missing generation is because the terms of the grant by Robert de Stadford to Geoffrey Mallory allow Geoffrey to dispose of Botley to any individual he might wish. This would imply that Botley was meant for someone other than Geoffrey's "right" heir (i.e., his oldest son or next male heir by right of primogeniture). It could also imply that the individual for whom it was intended was already born, a second son by either the same wife or by different wives (or another male family member for whom the rule of primogeniture would not apply). If such were the case, we would expect this second son to have been born, at latest, by 1088. Whatever his age or relationship with Geoffrey Mallory, what is certain is that Anketil and Richard Mallory were brothers (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Archive Catalogue DR10/192) and that the descendants of Anketil inherited Botley from Geoffrey, whereas Richard, himself, can be shown, at one time or another, to have held independently of his wife Kirkby Mallory, as well as property in Swinford, the City of Leicester, and Nuneaton. (Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, Illustrative of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, A.D. 918-1206, Edited by J. Horace Round, pp. 376, 377). In addition to these properties, Richard came to hold considerable properties through his wife. As for Anketil, the manors of Tachebrook Mallory and Walton-on-the-Wold can be shown to have come to him by other means than inheritance and at a later time than Richard came into possession of his various above-mentioned properties.
This would lead one to expect that at least some of these properties came to Richard by means of inheritance, even though Botley did not. The logical explanation would be that Anketil was Richard's older brother by a first wife of his father and that Richard, himself, was the son of a second wife who was the heiress of at least some of the properties mentioned above.
It has been argued elsewhere that Richard's year of birth may be hypothesized as having been 1012 give or take two or three years. He seems to have passed away between around 1192, whereas Anketil passed away around 1184 or 1185. As for Anketil, a later rather than earlier year of birth would represent a more reasonable assumption, considering that Anketil played an active role supporting the revolution of the young King Henry against his father, Henry II, in 1174. Anketil would, thus, have been unlikely to have been born much earlier than 1110 and perhaps as late as 1113 or 1114.
Though it is not necessary to assume that the Richard Mallory appearing in the various charters of the 1150s and 1160s was the father of the Richard appearing in the Pipe Rolls, the father of this Richard and Anketil may very well have been another Richard Mallory, if we assume that the Richard Mallory appearing in the Northamptonshire Survey as holding lands in Welton and Ashby St Ledger in Fawsley Hundred (Hundredum of Aylewoldeslewas an individual living around 1120 (See Prosopography of persons occurring in English documents, 1066-1166, Volume 1, p. 102, by K. S. B. Keats-Rohan). Although the survey is a composite, apparently first drafted in the reign of King Henry I and then edited in that of Henry II, it can be assumed that the portion dealing with Fawsley Hundred is from the reign of Henry I because both Richard Mallory (Maulore) and William de Neufmarche (Nouo Foro - the father of Agnes, Richard Mallory's wife) are mentioned at a time when Pagan Peverel would seem to have still been alive. Pagan appears in charters of the time definitely as late as 1129 and possibly as late as 1133, but would not appear to have lived many years longer. As internal evidence would suggest that the initial composition was around 1120, if this Richard Mallory's name is to be dated to this time, then he could not have been the same Richard Mallory appearing in the Pipe Rolls toward the end of the 12th century and could, in terms of chronology, have been the father of Richard and Anketil Mallory.
That an earlier Richard Mallory was the father of a second of the same name, however, cannot yet be considered as proven beyond doubt. One piece of evidence comes from a series of court cases initiated in the early 1220s by Cecilia, the sister of Stephen Segrave and the widow of Richard Mallory II (a grandson of the Richard Mallory dealt with above). As a part of her court settlement, she was granted a messuage (a piece of land of indeterminant size with a building, very often a house, on it) that Robert Mallory had held in Kirkby Mallory. Cecilia can be shown to have had a younger son by the name of Robert who was still a minor. Likewise, in the 12th century, Anketil Mallory's oldest son can be shown to have had the name of Robert. Anketil's son would have had no share in the Kirkby Mallory properties and Cecilia's son, Robert, being both a minor and a younger son, would not have been in a position to undertake such a project. One could hypothesize that the messuage referred to the piece of land on which the manor house was built and that the Robert who held it may well have been the first Mallory to possess Kirkby Mallory.
Another piece of evidence comes from Nichols Leicestershire, vol. 4, p. 761, where mention is made of a Robert Mallory having enfeoffed the Hospital of St David in Northamptonshire with five virgates of land in Kirkby Mallory and likewise having enfeoffed the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem with four virgates. Nichols assumes that both actions took place in the 13th century rather than the 12th, but he depended on tertiary sources of information in reaching his conclusions. Not being in a situation where I can easily gather or evaluate source material, I am not prepared to take a final position, but do think this is one area of historical research which, like many others, will, if subjected to appropriate investigation, indicate a need for reevaluation of source material. As it stands, I do not consider it impossible that one or both incidents refers to a Robert Mallory living in the 12th century rather than the 13th and feel that both actions would fit with the times an early 12th century Robert Mallory could have experienced.
In conclusion and in lieu of better evidence which I hope will be eventually forthcoming, I would see Geoffrey Mallory of Todber and Botley as the first known Mallory in England and arriving at sometime or other time during the reign of William the Conqueror. I would see Robert or Richard Mallory (the first Mallory of Kirkby Mallory) as a younger son of Geoffrey and as the father of two sons, Richard and Anketil, of whom Anketil would have been the older.
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