Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford

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Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, lord of Brecknock (1100 - 24 December 1143), was the son of Walter of Gloucester, who appears as sheriff of that county between 1104 and 1121.

Milo succeeded his father about the latter year. He was high in the service of Henry I between 1130 and 1135, and combined the office of sheriff with that of local justiciar for Gloucestershire. After the death of Henry he declared for Stephen, at whose court he appears as constable in 1136. But in 1139, when the empress Matilda appeared in England, he declared for her, and placed the city of Gloucester at her disposal; he was further distinguished by sacking the royalist city of Worcester and reducing the county of Hereford.

In 1141, he was rewarded with the earldom of Hereford when Matilda ruled the country. He remained loyal to the empress after her defeat at Winchester the same year. John of Salisbury classes him with Geoffrey de Mandeville and others who were non tam comites regni quam hostes publici. The charge is justified by his public policy; but the materials for appraising his personal character do not exist.

[edit] Family and children

He married Sybil de Neufmarché, daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon and Nest, granddaughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, in 1121. Their children were:

Bertha of Hereford, married William de Braose before 1150.
Walter of Hereford died ca. 1160. He was Sheriff of Gloucester in 1155-1157 and Sheriff of Hereford in 1155-1159.
Henry of Hereford died bt 1159 - 1163. He succeeded to the title of Lord Abergavenny in 1141/42.
Mahel of Hereford, died ca. 1164, without issue.
Margery de Gloucester, married Humphrey de Bohun.
Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford.
William of Hereford. He died before 1166 in Bronllys Tower, Breconshire, Wales, mortally hurt by a stone dropped from the tower, without issue.
Lucy of Gloucester, married Herbert FitzHerbert of Winchester, Lord Chamberlain.

[edit] Sources

Continuation of Florence of Worcester (ed. B Thorpe, 1848-1849); the Cartulary of Gloucester Abbey (Rolls series); and JH Round's Geoffrey de Mandeville (1892).