Alexander de Pilkington, I

Additional Curator's Note:

Alexander de Pilkington is the oldest person of this line for whom we can find documents from the time in which he lived, and he is known in reference to his sons. The manor of Pilkington had been held for the lords of Manchester by a fourth of a knight's fee. Alexander, son of Alexander, and William, son of Alexander, are found on the Lancashire Pipe Roll of 31 Henry II (c.1184), making their payments of those knight's fees for Pilkington.

Surnames did not come into use in England for another generation. People were identified by their father's name (patronym) or by the place in which they lived, or by their occupation. Alexander is therefore, known as Alexander of Pilkington or, in the formal Norman, Alexander de Pilkington, which would have been used on church and legal documents. It is not until 1242 that we first find the use of surnames, as we know them, to be used by this family.

The Pipe Rolls contain accounts of the royal income, arranged by county, for each financial year. They represent the earliest surviving series of public records, and are essentially continuous from 1155 onward until the 19th century.

The parentage of Alexander is unproven. There is family lore, based on a pedigree commissioned by Sir Arthur Pilkington of Yorkshire in 1635 to celebrate being created baronet by King James. These were beautiful works of art, in a medieval style, showing the family's descent according to the family's recollection of their history. They were not always researched. And then there is Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, printed in 1829, which used the 1635 Pilkington pedigree as its source. There were errors, later corrected, in the 1829 Burke's, such as a Leonard Pilkington defending Castle Pilkington during the Conquest, when there was no such castle [The fortified manor house known as Bury Castle was begun in 1469 by Sir Thomas Pilkington, and may have been called Pilkington Castle in error].

This family lore states that Leonard was the father of Alexander. This may be, but there is no proof. No document survives from that era that contains the name Leonard. As curator for this profile, I have chosen to leave the profile for Leonard in place as the father of Alexander, as the only name ever suggested as his father, but please be aware that there is no documentation to support this.

Please note that the Roman numerals for Alexander and his son, as well as those for Leonard I and II, father and grandfather, were added for clarity and were not used by the people to whom they have been attached.

Maria Edmonds-Zediker, Volunteer Curator, Sept. 21, 2014.

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Alexander de Pilkington was born c.1110 in Lancashire, England and died. c.1180. His wife is not known. Two sons are known through the Lancashire Pipe Rolls. He is believed to have held a manor house in Pilkington, Lancashire.

Children of Alexander de Pilkington:

• Alexander de Pilkington
• William de Pilkington
• Alice de Pilkington

Links to additional material:

• History of the Pilkington family of Lancashire and its branches, from 1066 to 1600 Ed. 3, rewritten and considerably extended, with revised pedigrees .... , compiled from ancient deeds, charters, pipe rolls, de banco rolls, final concords, wills, and other authentic sources. Published 1912 by C. Tinling in Liverpool . [available online through https://archive.org/details/historyofpilking00pilk]
• http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/guide/pip.shtml
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilkington_of_Lancashire
• http://geocitiessites.com/bury_uk/bury-castle/bury-castle.html

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilkington_of_Lancashire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manor_of_Rivington