Margaret Audley (FitzWarin)

Detail from oak wood effigy believed to represent Lady Margaret II Audley^[1] (d.1373). Effigy formerly in Tawstock Church under a recessed arch in wall of north chancel, now in Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

Arms of Audley: Gules, fretty or^[2]

Margaret Audley, her supposed effigy in the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon

Margaret II Audley (died 1373^[3]) was a co-heiress to the feudal barony of Barnstaple in Devon, England.

Origins

Margaret was a daughter of James Audley, 2nd Baron Audley (1312/13-1386), seated at the manor of Tawstock, feudal baron of Barnstaple, by his second wife Isabel LeStrange, daughter of Roger le Strange, 5th Baron Strange (c. 1327–1382) of Knokyn.^[4] In 1370 James Audley settled the manor of Tawstock in tail male successively to his three sons from his 2nd marriage, thus Margaret's brothers, Thomas, Rodeland and James, who all died without progeny.^[5] On the death of James Audley in 1386 the barony of Barnstaple, including 2/3rds of the manor of Tawstock, passed to his surviving son (from his first marriage) Nicholas Audley, 3rd Baron Audley (c.1328-1391), who died without issue. Nicholas's co-heiresses were his two full-sisters Joan and Margaret I and his half-sister Margaret II, who inherited Tawstock:

• Joan Audley (1331–1393) who married Sir John Tuchet (1327—1371),^[6]
• Margaret I Audley (b. pre-1351, d. 1410/11), who married Sir Roger Hillary.^[7]
• Margaret II Audley, his half-sister, who according to Pole inherited Tawstock by a special entail,^[8] wife of Fulk VIII FitzWarin, 4th Baron FitzWarin (1341-1374).

Inheritance

The lands which descended via Lady Margaret Audley to the FitzWarins and Bourchiers included:

• Tawstock
• Nymet Tracy,^[9]
• St Marychurch,^[10]
• Kingston,^[11]
• Marwood,^[12]
• Upexe^[13]
• Creedy Wiger, near Crediton.^[14]

Marriage & progeny

Arms of FitzWarin: Quarterly per fess indented argent and gules ^[15]

Margaret II Audley married Fulk VIII FitzWarin, 4th Baron FitzWarin (1341-1374). The FitzWarin family were powerful Marcher Lords seated at Whittington Castle in Shropshire and at Alveston in Gloucestershire. The title Baron FitzWarin was created by writ of summons for Fulk V FitzWarin in 1295. For the descendants of Margaret Audley see Manor of Tawstock.

Death & burial

Margaret died in 1373 and it is believed that she is represented by the oak effigy of a recumbent lady formerly in a niche in the north wall of St Peter's Church, Tawstock, from where it was removed to the Museum of Barnsatple and North Devon in Barnstaple.

Sources

• Lauder, Rosemary, Devon Families, Tiverton, 2002, pp. 151–156, Wrey of Tawstock, p.152
• Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p. 104, Barony of Barnstaple
• Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.552, pedigree of Martyn,Barons of Barnstaple

References