Paul Damery’s History (c. 1990)

“History of the Damery’s Around the World” is a twenty-page typescript, unsigned but closing with its own attribution: “this genealogy has been researched by Paul Damery of Six-Fours-les-Plages in France”, the same Paul Damery of Caen who corresponded with Ted Dammery. The prose reads like a translation from French, it draws on the “Damerys Around the World” directory of nearly four hundred households (probably circulated by the American cousins), and it was likely composed in the late 1980s. The copy in the family papers carries annotations in red ink, almost certainly my father Norman’s hand, and one of them may be the sharpest sentence in the whole archive. Where Ted’s report walks on documents where it can, this one strides across thirteen centuries without breaking step; read it as the legend it is, kept and labelled in the family way. Thank you, Paul.

History of the Damery's Around the World

The book of the Damery's around the world, gives the name and address of nearly 400 households in seven different countries and, at the estimation of the author, would consist of a population of approximately at least 1,000 people, which is comparatively few out of the total population of the world.

One could perhaps add certain variations of the name, due to written errors on civil state registers, but this would have had hardly any influence on the genealogical study that we have undertaken.

There are:

- 160 Damery homes in USA - 59 Damery homes in Canada - 3 Damery homes in Australia - 17 Damery homes in England - 17 Damery homes in Ireland - 1 Damery home in Switzerland - 121 Damery homes in France

As to the history of the Damery's, it covers over 13 countries with both highs and lows, but stays mainly within the human destinies of the commune as a whole. We are going to try to piece together this puzzle in the next few pages and address a view that this geneacological [sic] tree, which resembles more a forest than an isolated tree, in time.

It is therefore a fairly long history that we want to retrace, using all the historical documents still in existence, sometimes incomplete for reasons of war and of destruction of all kinds over the centuries.

We find numerous pieces of information in religious manuscript archives and in episcopal archives, in the lives of many Saints, in the first royal archives of Pépin de Bref of Charlemagne, like the Vita Carol, d'Eginhard, the royal annals of Aix La Chapelle, the Maximiani annals, the annals of Lorsh then in the life of Charles the Simple, and next in the archives of William the Conqueror and English archives.

The period of the Crusades, the lives of certain Templar Knights, the archives of the Hundred Year War, wars of religion, the French Revolution provide a good deal of information.

It is a veritable puzzle that we want to try to reconstruct and while it is still missing certain pieces, we will be able to have a perspective of this story as a whole which starts at the beginning of the 8th century and extends up to this day; this is to say 1,300 years ago and over nearly forty generations.

Before we attack the genealogy itself we are first going to review, the geographic context and history of Europe in the long years, when the situation at the end of the 'Carolingian' empire, through the "Norman Period", the conquest of England, and finally the division of the Damery's into two distinct branches following the Hundred Year War.

In the middle of the 8th century AD, the Province of Frise extended from the West Coast of Denmark to the marshes of the coastal area of Belgium l'Escaut, passing through the Zuidersee. What had been during the centuries a rich and fertile region was also the setting of huge catastrophes and floods. These phenomena were largely due to violent storms and to the reheating of the atmosphere, causing the melting of the glaciers of the North.

Certain authors make reference to the catastrophes of 1300 BC. This would explain the appearance of the "People of the Sea" that we find in the history of Egypt and in the Old Testament. Without wanting to dwell on these precise points, we can only marvel at the destruction of the line of sand dunes, sometimes higher than 20m, which bordered the Frisian coast and the submersion of a part of the coastal zone. These cataclysms reproduced themselves in the 5th century AD and historically in 1362 and 1634. Many large and small islands were engulfed, hence the Zuidersee in Holland.

However the Frisons, the grand, free and happy people of light skin and Germanic origin, whose language is an adaptation of the old Saxon, fought hard to re-conquer a part of their land. Since the early times, they organised themselves with the view of driving back the attacks of the sea and having constituted a network of dykes, fences and canals. Reliant on the islets and big islands and of sand and mud banks, they regained the firm land of the interior of Frise and of Saxony, a rich agricultural country. They profited from the immense germanic forest in the hinterlands to have the necessary wood for the incessant re-building against the elements.

The Frisons were pagans as were the Saxons and their gods were the "Irmensul", giant trees of sometimes 50 metres height. The Duke of Frise, their leader, gathered around him all the small lords of the Frison country and those of the coast. The latter ones were given the duty of looking after those in his stronghold, for the construction and upkeep of dykes, and all the diverse works necessary for survival. The man in charge of this organisation (one could call him the Minister for Public Works) was the Dammritter (Knight of the Dykes) who was powerful and closely tied to the Duke of Frise. Moreover, it was on the occasion of a signed truce between Frisons and the Francs in 750 AD at Soissons, that the name was mentioned for the first time.

Pépin the Brief, through the Mayor of the Palace asked the Duke of Frise to permit St. Boniface, Archbishop of Germany, to enter Frise to evangelise the pagans. Conrad the Dammritter would assure him protection. He was 50 years old at this time and was, therefore, born at the beginning of the 8th century. He had a son Kurt, aged about 20, who was very close to the son of the Duke of Frise. His mother was Christian and she was the cousin of St. Ludger, Bishop of Munster.

Saint Boniface attacked many sacred trees (the Irmensul) of the Frison pagans, which to them was sacrilegious. Conrad the Damritter who had remained a pagan, was tolerant of the Christians, but could not protect him at the time of an uprising of the population in 754 and St. Boniface (also known as Winifred) was assassinated, as were several Christians. Perhaps Conrad, himself, suffered the same way, because it was his son Kurt who replaced him as Dammritter. The war started again with the Francs.

Pépin the Short became King of the Francs in 751. This was a war of harrassings [sic], in order to force the Frisons and Saxons to become Christian and this was to last for years.

Charlemagne (or Charles Magne), son of Pépin the Short, became King of the Francs and very quickly eliminated his brother, Carloman, finally to reign alone. Charlemagne was a 7 foot giant (2.1 metres). In 748, he had around him a small band of devoted young Saxons and Counts, who accompanied him during his long reign. His mother, Betrade or Bertha with Big Feet, would be a faithful counsellor for this future emperor.

Almost every year, Charlemagne led attacks against the Saxons and their allies, the Frisons. In reinforcing the security of the north and the east of his kingdom, Charles also became a formidable Minister for War. He led other expeditions to help the Pope in preserving the independence of his states. Furthermore, Charles led battles against the Arabs who occupied Spain and part of the South of France. In 775, at the time of an attack of Charles' army, the army of the Frisons was beaten and the leaders were made to send hostages to the court of Charles, in this case their eldest sons.

It is in this way that Karl, son of Kurt the Dammritter will be brought up and instructed at the court of Charlemagne and will be baptised as a Christian. He could well have been a godson of Charlemagne. All things considered, he did not participate in the last large revolt of the pagans of 784. The survivors were baptised and became soldiers of Charlemagne for the new leaders were named "Counts" and were supplied as contingent soldiers incorporated in the Francish [sic] army.

Karl the Dammritter, having became [sic] an adult in this era was given the responsibility to reinforce the fight against the turbulent neighbours of the north, the Normans. Under the orders of Charlemagne, he organised a system of look-outs along the coasts of Frise and Saxony. He requisitioned ships and at the end of 798, he won a victory in destroying a Viking fleet. Karl, aged about 30 years, was received at the palace of Aix la Chapelle as a hero. Several of the old companions of Charlemagne were dead from battle and Karl was made a Count.

Karl was integrated into this closed circle, and even had the privilege of accompanying his leader to Rome where he participated in the coronation of Charlemagne at Christmas 800.

In the meantime, the Normans, in order to avenge their defeat, had organised a vast operation on the coast of the Channel. The operations of the pirates of the North (the [continues on page 4]

Vikings) continued with relative success and established a form of atonement, to avoid the usual pillage and destruction. This was the "Danegeld" (Dane Gold). Inaugurated in Frise and in Saxony it was developed to the height of an institution to pay the pirates a sum of money in order to preserve the regimen from pillage.

Our Kurt the Dammritter [sic — context suggests Karl], stayed at the court of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle after the death of his Emperor and continued to serve his successor, participating in numerous expeditions against the Normans.

He stayed faithful to the oldest son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and his son Louis the German. He controlled and advised the young King, who became an enemy of his two brothers. Karl the Damritter had two sons. He died in 841 at 71 years of age. He was the third Damery.

It seems that on the death of his father his eldest soncontinued [sic] to serve Louis the Young (Born 801, he was named Wilfried). The second, Kurt, born in 805, was a fourth generation Damery. His young brother entered the services of Charles the Bald (840–877) King of the Francs and we find him next at the Court of Louis the Stutterer. We next know that at a very old age (the Damery's are known to live to very old ages), he was advised of his son, who was a friend of the future King of France, Charles the Modest. Kurt, his son was born in 825, and is the fifth Damery.

Kurt the sixth Dammritter, born in 850, had numerous contacts with the Vikings. In 876, an army group was installed in England, and a short time afterwards, towards the year 900, a band of Normans imposed themselves in the Lower Seine and in Champagne. The village of Damery and the Abbey of St. Medard were ransacked by the Norman, Rollo. Contacts were established and the weak King, Charles the Modest, negotiated with the intermediacy of Karl Dammritter, a treaty which was signed at St. Clair-on-Epte in 911. He gave up all the region which became Normandy. Kurt the sixth Damery died in 912.

The history of the Carolingians ends, but for us that of the Damerys has only just begun.

The political system of the Carolingians vanished because it was no longer adapted to the economic realities of a landed and compartmentalised society and the new military techniques presented by a multiple enemy undertaking small unpredictable attacks. The strong royal army which united with great difficulty each spring, had become insufficient. After the first disasters, the defence in general organised itself locally and so small, permanent troops, supported by a small fortress which was quite primitive (a keep made from wood) tried hard to assure order and peace in a geographically limited area. From 950, the fortresses were made higher, towers and keeps of wood were also erected at strategic points aside from the cities and important abbeys, such as crossroads, a point or a valley, a bridge, or an important ford. They were the work of Barons or Counts, holders of the political power which organised their construction. These towers and keeps permitted them to survey the whole territory, and to assure their defense against invaders and looters.

At this time, the imprecision of the spelling of names is very variable and develops following the writing of the copyist of a manuscript. The copyists were sometimes of very little education. Also the name of the Dammritter had to have evolved because we then find Damrit, Damry, D'aimery, Damory, Doumeray. And finally from the 15th century this becomes Damery. We think that the version of a historian inthe [sic] Champagne district brought to a successful conclusion the name Damery but DamusRei, then Dameron are erroneous.

Returning to the Normans, this is the new era of the Vikings "to the mixed earth" who quickly adopt the language and standards of the region. From the 10th century, the chiefs convert to the Christian religion and so everyone transforms. The new map of Europe takes shape with a very strong Norman Dukedom, a French Carolinginen [sic] kingdom which dies and a new dynasty, "The Capetiens", who take over. It is necessary not to forget the Germanique influence with a Dukedom in Burgundy and a powerful Earldom in Champagne.

We are now close to the year 1000. The grand invasions and the lootings between the descendants of the Carolingians were coming to an end. The Popes of Rome had survived the schisms and life was born again in a devastated Europe.

In Champagne, the Abbey of St. Médard de Soissons was very powerful and in 1020 a Robert de Damery, second son of Roger Damerit constructed a keep at Damery near to a very important passage of the Marne. This Robert was a cleric, born in 881 and who died in 925. [Sic — the dates are irreconcilable with the 1020 keep as typed.] In this era it was still tolerated that priests could marry. Robert was a tolerated younger son, obliged to become a priest to avoid the breaking up of the land. This is the beginning of a part of the French branch of the Damery's of the Somme.

Next we will have during close to three centuries a genealogy of small lords and knights, who implanted themselves at Damery. We find ourselves there even a 'Templar' and moreover other members of the family who had participated in the crusades.

The descendants of Karl, the sixth Damery, were established in Normandy and Picardy, as well as in the Marne. It is therefore there that we are going to start to interest ourselves in the English branch of the Damery's.

Roger the seventh Damerit was born around 891 and he was able to construct a small keep of wood in a small village in the Somme. Rollo, the future Duke of Normandy, had ravaged the regions and destroyed the village and the Abbey of St. Médard upon which Damery on Marne relied.

However, Roger had had contacts with Rollo and by the operation of Danegeld had obtained a relative peace before intervening in the regulation of the affair with the King of France and the creation of the dukedom of Normandy, in 911, by the treaty of St. Clair-on-Epte.

Towards 925, his oldest son Roger inherited an important charge in the SE of the Dukedoms of Normandy: the Lordship of Thouars in Aquitaine, which is very near Angers. This is the eighth Damery named in the archives under the name of Roger d'Amery, Baron of Aquitaine. (It is through him and his descendants that the liaison of the Normandy and the Plantogenets [sic] took place).

He had a son, Roger, ninth Damery born around 950, who was the Lord of Thouars and who had to regulate several small border conflicts between the Normans, the Count of Maine and the Dux of Brittany.

His son, Louis, the tenth Damery was born at the beginning of 980, a period of economic revival which preceded and followed the year 1000 that many people believed to be the end of the world. He had an easy life and became a friend of the infant Count of Maine, who resided at Angers.

The oldest son of Louis, born in 1009, at the death of his father received the Lordship of Thouars. Under the name of Roger d'Aymery, he was a great friend of William the Bastard, future William the Conqueror. He participated in the conquest of England and was distinguished at the battle of Hastings. Next, he was part of the private council of the new king. He had no children.

His younger brother, Roger, born in 1010, received from the Count of Maine the Lordship of Doumeray to the north of Angers. Roger, the eleventh Damery was able to manoeuvre between his friend the Count of Maine and the Duke of Normandy, a friend of his brother, during the conflicts which followed one another during these years. Finally, the Count of Maine had to accede to the demand of the suzerainty of the Duke of Normandy on his county in 1058. This Roger of Doumeray, who was also part of the expedition of William, had a son; Roger.

Roger, the twelfth Damery, born in 1062, became an orphan at a very young age and was brought up by Queen Mathilde, wife of William. Roger of Doumeray became the friend of the children of William and had a strong tie with Henri Beauclerc, 3rd son of William. The two young boys had an education of a very religious nature. We think that Henry 1st, future King of England, was a cleric, that is to say a monk, and that Roger of Doumeray was himself a cleric or priest. At this time, those of the church were able to marry and have children. William Rufus was second son of William the Conqueror and was King of England for a few years. At the death of his brother, the third son of William, known under the name Henry inherited the throne of England where he reigned 35 years (from 1100 to 1135). On his first voyage as King, he took with him his friend and confessor Roger and it is in this way that the English branch of the Damery family began and exists to today.

The English Branch

We are going to take up here the genealogies of our cousin Edward Damery of Australia, who made a very tenable study which was verified by the "College of Arms" in London. And we can only thank our cousin for his effective work with such objectivity.

We find in these texts many common points between the two cousin branches and the common lines which even during the fratricidal wars did not change the destiny of the Damerys. We are here at the beginning of the English branch, we are at the twelfth generation of the Damerys.

The King, Henry I, disembarked in England in 1100; he was born in 1068. In his navy, he took his friend Roger and charged him with a heavy administrative task : the reorganisation of the English Administration, known today as the Public Service. He concentrated all the administration and the financial powers on the entourage of the King. In reward, Henry I gave him the Bishop seat of Salisbury and a manor in the county of Oxfordshire for his loyal service.

After Roger had become Bishop of Salisbury, he brought his younger brother and his two nephews to England. Roger and one of his nephews were married, although Bishops. The Pope who had asked William the Conqueror and his friend Lanfranc the famous Monk of the Abbey of Beg Hellouin [sic — Bec-Hellouin], to force priests and bishops to remain celibate, wanted the nominations of titles to be decided by the Pope and not the King. The Pope was never fully satisfied on these two points.

The Damery family were devout servants of Henry I and at the death of the latter, Roger, then very old, was badly treated by the new king whom he disliked. The new king was Steven of Blois (1135 to 1154). Roger asked him to assure the protection of young Henry of Plantagenet and of his mother. King Steven of Blois did not dare to undo the services of the Doumeray's because they were too useful for the Kingdom of England. The son of Roger was then the thirteenth Damery. He was called Guillaume (William) and was born in 1108.

Henry Plantagenet, King Henry II, took power in 1189. [Sic — Henry II acceded 1154.] He was a very hard and tyrannical king and had a very great need of money. He submitted the clergy to paying taxes to the Royal Justice. On his order, Thomas a' Bectett [sic — à Becket], Archbishop of Canterbury was assassinated in 1170.

We find ourselves then with Robert de Damary, the grandson of Roger Doumeray the twelfth. We know nothing of his son, but learn a lot about his grandson, the 14th of the family, and a friend of Richard the Lion Heart, who became King in 1189 and reigned for 10 years. This King had much to battle, even against his own brother : John Lackland, who on the death of his brother reigned until 1216.

Robert de Damory participated in the third crusade, which reunited the forces of the king of France, Philippe Auguste, of the German Emperor, Frederic Barberousse and of the King of England, Richard the Lion Heart. The crusade was unsuccessful with the result that Richard the Lion Heart was held as prisoner in a castle on the Danube.

Sir Robert of Damary was at the head of vast domains in the region of Oxford and elsewhere. He became a counsel to John when King and being his friend for several years. Sir Robert of Damary married Joan of Beaumont, a descendant of Henry I by his bastard son, who was close to his father and was carried in high estimation by the Norman Barons and also by the clergy, but equally by the people who were sick of the wickedness of Henry II. Richard, Henry and John were sons of Henry I. [Sic — they were sons of Henry II.]

Robert of Damory had a son, Roger de Damory, who was a great soldier and who served with King Henry III (who reigned from 1216 to 1272).

Roger the fifteenth had a son Robert, the sixteenth Damery. This last one was also a great military man with a good international reputation and died in 1285 during the reign of Edward the I (1272 to 1307).

Robert had two sons : the oldest Richard the seventeenth and the youngest Roger. Robert left to his two inheritors, vast domains in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset.

Richard the seventeenth married in France at the town of Bar le Duc in Burgundy. He had two sons of which the oldest was also named Richard and the youngest was Robert (the eighteenth Damery's).

Richard the eighteenth inherited from his father vast domains in France and in England.

Actually, it was his son who married the daughter of Phillipe I of Rouvres, Duke of Bourgoyne.

Roger the eighteenth, the younger brother, married Elisabeth de Claire; daughter of Gilbert de Clure [sic — de Clare], Earl of Gloucester and of his wife Joan of Acre, she herself daughter of King Edward I and of his wife Elenor of Castille. He inherited large lands in England and Wales. Roger the eighteenth Damery, was Baron of Blechington and of Holtem in Oxfordshire and of Sandal in Yorkshire and also "Constable" of the Castle of Sandal, Corfe Castle, Briarels Castle and Knaresboroug Castle. He was equally Lord of Knaresboroug, Lord of Usk and of Gloucestshire [sic] South; and "guardian" of the Purbeck and Dean Forests. He was the nephew of King Edwards the Second, nephew of the Duke of Bar and close relation of Charles the Fourth (the Handsome) and of the House of Castille, as well as the Duke of Bourgogne. He was perhaps the cousin of Charles the Fourth of France. Roger the eighteenth Damery, died in 1323 and he was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire. His Coat of Arms are to be found in the magnificent windows above the principal altar in Gloucester Cathedral. [Sic — presumably Tewkesbury Abbey is meant.]

Richard Damery lived a long life and was a courageous soldier. He was part of the conspiracy of the Barons against the King Edward II, who was deposed by the conspirators, imprisoned and then assassinated. This latter had a very unhealthy life and dangerous liaisons. His son Edward III succeeded him in 1327 and reigned until his death in 1367. [Sic — Edward III died 1377.] Edward III was at the beginning of the Hundred Year War between England and France.

Roger the Eighteenth died young and was killed during a revolt of the Barons in 1327, [sic — 1322/3 elsewhere] while defending his Castle Teweksbury [sic — Tutbury is meant; cf. the Ted report]. His widow Elisabeth de Clare used part of his immense fortune to found the "Clare College" at the University of Cambridge.

His brother, Richard the Eighteenth, fighter at Crecy and at the siege of Calais, in the ranks of the English army (Crecy 1346). Richard died in 1355.

When the Hundred Year War was beginning, it is necessary not to forget that the village of Damery in Champagne has a strategic point. It was a possession of the Duchess of Bar, Eleonor (aunt of Roger Damery). This strategic position caused the village many attacks with pillages and destructions.

The young Duke of Bar, named Edward, was elected Grand Master of the Order of Zion, in 1302 a closed society of the Order of the Temple and as Grand Masters, was one of the first Templars. (The separation of these two Orders took place in the year 1188). Edward of Bar died in 1536 [sic — 1336 presumably meant] during a shipwreck around Cyprus. His sister Jeanne of Bar succeeded him as Grand Master of the Order of Zion. Their mother was a Damery, granddaughter of Edward I/II? of England and niece of King Edward II. She married the Count of Warren-Surrey & Strathfield. She divorced in 1315, because her husband had been excommunicated for committing adultery. [The Order-of-Zion material derives from the Prieuré de Sion mythology — treat as fantasy. Historically, Edward I of Bar's mother was Eleanor of England, daughter of Edward I — not "a Damery"; Jeanne de Bar married John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey.]

Jeanne of Bar stayed in England despite an invitation of the King of France in 1345 because she was regent of the Duchy of Bar and her nephew, son of her brother Edward, was still too young to reign. The Hundred Year War had commenced and Jeanne of Bar set herself up indefinitely on her English lands and stayed faithful to her friends on both sides of the Channel.

After the defeat of Poitier in 1356, the French King Jean le Bon, was imprisoned in the Tower of London and was obliged to sign the preliminaries of the Peace of Brittany. In 1360, he signed the Peace of Calais, and his son stayed in London as hostage, but he escaped so the King returned to maintain his parole. He died in 1364. His captivity was eased by the Duchess of Bar, who persuaded her father, King Edward to allow her to visit him and help him. Rumour has it that she was his mistres [sic]. She was aunt by marriage of Roger Damery. Richard the eighteenth Damery born 1310 was a soldier of note and one of the first Knights of the Garter. He was with the King at the Battle of Crecy and took part in several invasions of France. He was allied to the Duke of Burgundy through his mother who was daughter of Phillip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and he died in 1389. [Sic — Philip the Good was born 1396; chronologically impossible as typed.]

His son Charles, twentieth Damery, was born in Dijon in 1365 and little is known about him, but he married Jeanne in 1390, daughter of Philip of Burgundy.

After Joan of Arc forced the English from France, the rival Kings signed the Peace of 1453, bringing peace between King Henry VI of England and King Charles of France.

However, the family of Richard Damery stayed in France and Roger Damery stayed in England and stayed apart for several centuries until the French Revolution in 1789.

Roger Damery, eighteenth Damery generation, married Elizabeth de Clare, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester and had one daughter. He also had one son, either by a previous marriage or otherwise, Henry Damery of Tortworth, Gloucestshire [sic].

These are the nineteen [sic] generation of the Damery family.

Henry Damery was known to be the owner of important property and died in 1365. He was succeeded by his son, Walter Damery, who is the twentieth generation. He died in 1409.

These Damerys were followed by the Damerys of Yatte and Cotherington, important land holders in Gloucestshire [sic] into the seventeenth century.

It must be noted that Roger Damery (Lord Roger Damery) held vast estates in Wales and Gloucestshire [sic] and also in Somerset and even now there is still a village of Damery, also Damery Quarry and Damery Forest.

The daughter of Roger Damery and Elizabeth de Clare married the Earl of March and their daughter married Lionel Plantagenet, giving him the title Duke of Clarence (de Clare in Latin de Clarencia and English Clarence). [Historically inverted: Lionel's daughter Philippa married the Earl of March. Roger d'Amory's daughter Elizabeth m. John Bardolf.]

Lionel was second son of Edward III and their grandson was Edward IV, the first Yorkish King of England. [Sic — Edward IV was a later descendant, not grandson.]

Following the Wars of the Roses, we come to the Tudor Period and the family is still powerful in Gloucestshire [sic]. Walter Damerie of Tortsworth [sic] died in 1399 and Charles Damery of Burgundy died in 1410 at Dijon.

About 1400 we find Robert Damery son of Walter Damery of Tortworth, who would be twenty-first of the line. He was born about 1390, but the records are not precise and in about 1415 he had a son Thomas Damery of Yatte. It is noteworthy that the name is again correctly spelt. He is the twenty-second Damery and is believed to have lived on that estate and died there subsequently at age 72, a remarkable age for those times. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Martin of Chaukley, a big landholder in Gloucestershire. Their eldest son was born 1450 and named William. He would be the twenty-third Damery. The date of his death is not registered, but it was during the War of the Roses.

His son was Morris Damery of Yatte, who married in 1513. Catherine the daughter of Edmund Blunt of Maigersfield was born and became the twenty-fourth Damery. [Sic — garbled; presumably Morris married Catherine.]

Morris Damery of Yatte had two sons, the elder was Morrice, the second son was Thomas; they were the twenty-fifth descendants of the Damery family.

Morrice was born in 1521 and Thomas in 1525. Morrice had two children, William Damery of Yatte and a daughter Elizabeth. William had a son named John who was born in 1580 during the reign of Elizabeth I. He died without issue. He was the twenty-sixth Damery.

Thomas Damery married Alix the daughter of Sir William Webb of Tatering and had one son Gyles Damery of Cotherington, who was born in 1551. Gyles married Sibell daughter of Nicolas Walwin of Lamware.

Gyles had three children, one son Nicolas Damery of Cotherington, born in 1581, and daughters were Elizabeth and Allice. They were twenty-seventh Damery descendants.

About the year 1500, we find two families of the Damerys in Devonshire, the Damery of Chappell and the Damery of South Moulton.

Both the Gloucestershire and Devonshire families were very rich and had great influences in their counties and their marriages were arranged to augment their power and influence.

The Damery of Chappell, (actually it was originally White Chapel), claimed the throne because of his Plantagenet blood. He was lucky not to lose his life, but he was fined so severely as to impoverish him! It must have been a vast amount because he was very wealthy beforehand.

It is said that a Damery of Devonshire captured a galleon from the Spanish also that his son John Damery of Bishops Nympton gave a huge sum of money to the poor of the parish about 1588.

In this list we find several cousins of the Damery family of the twenty-seventh generation.

Through the Stuart period and the Commonwealth under Cromwell, the Damery family seems to have lived quietly for four generations until 1792 and and [sic] the mention of Joseph Damery

John Damery of South Moulton had three sons, George, was the eldest, followed by Robert, Anthony, and Thomas. [Sic — "three sons", four named.] Robert had no children, Thomas had three sons and went to Somerset.

George married Marjory Eyre, had one son John who married Emmot Thomas, had one son John who married Prudence Roberts. They had two sons John and William. John born 1651 and William 1652. [The words "William 1652" are ringed in red ink, with a line drawn to the margin:] ✎ WHERE DID HE GO TO!? MAY BE THE FATHER OR GRAND FATHER OF "RICHARD". ✎ SEE PAGE 12.

The South Moulton family were originally from White Chapel. John Damery and his wife Prudence had a second son named George who had two sons John and George. John and Prudence also had five daughters.

Joseph Damery of Chappell married Jean St. Loe, daughter of Sir William St. Loe and his wife Bess of Hardwick, who later married the Earl of Shrewsbury and is famous in English aristocracy. Joseph Damery's great-grandson was a Minister in the government of William Pitt and became Earl of Dorchester, he had a son who died unmarried as far as is known in 1808. [Same Damer/Dorchester mis-graft as in the Ted report — see the Critical Notes file.]

It must be noted that Bess of Hardwick was married three times [sic — four] and she purchased a barony from James I, for £1,000 (in gold) for one of her sons, a Cavendish, which family later became Duke of Devonshire.

In the late 18th century came the French Revolution, "The Terror". Many of the French Damerys paid with their lives for loyalty to their King and Queen. Two brothers were made orphans by the execution of their parents and were smuggled to England by loyal servants.

[The following paragraph is marked with orange highlighter, a red arrow in the left margin, and two red annotations:]

In 1752, we find Richard Damery and his wife Ann in Ireland, it is believed that he could have been in the Monmouth Rebellion, escaped to Holland, married there a Hougendt girl and returned to England when William of Orange became King. This is either the same person or his son. He went to Ireland on behalf of the Duke of Devonshire (Cavendish family) to buy properties there and first purchased for himself in Murragh, but later bought the property of Tullyglass.

✎ right margin: EXTREMELY UNLIKELY!

✎ left margin: RICHARD WAS BORN Co. CORK THE SON OF WILLIAM DAMERY

He had four sons and three daughters, the eldest son died in infancy, the second William born 1754 married Elizabeth Tanner, they had four sons and three daughters. The eldest James married Jane Howse and had a son Edward who married Jane Tyner, they had one son who had two sons; Edward and Samuel. Neither had any further family. Edward owns Tullyglass still.

The youngest son was John who married Elizabeth Waters. He was born 1805, married 1833 and died in 1880. He had four sons and two daughters, the eldest son was Edward who left Ireland for Australia where he married Sarah Jane Barr in 1867.

They had three sons and two daughters. One son died an infant and both daughters were childless. The elder son John married Edith Marion Webb and had two sons and two daughters, Edward and John, Gladys and Dorothy. [NB the Ted report gives John's wife differently and the daughters as Gladys and Sarah Dorothy.]

Edward and John are the thirty-eighth generation.

The elder son Edward married Catherine Ellen Searle and had two sons Edward Robert David Dammery and John Searle Dammery; Edward (David) married Susan Mary Horner had one son and a daughter, Richard John Edward and Julie Catherine. Richard married [continues on page 13]

Anita Margaret Binns and has a daughter Elinor Marianne Dammery.

John Searle Dammery married Elisabeth Francesca Morton and had a son Stuart John Dammery and a daughter Elisabeth Diana Dammery. This makes the fortieth generation.

The French branch of the Damery Family takes us back to the beginnings of the French nation; to the end of the Carolinian Empire to Louis the German and his councillor Karl the Damritter who died 841 aged 71 years.

He had two sons, the elder stayed in the service of Louis the Young while the younger son as a set off move took service with Charles the Bold, King of the Francs and also Louis the Stammerer. He was the fourth generation of Damery (Damritter) and this takes us to the end of the ninth century.

Karl Damritter, sixth of the name, lived to nearly 70 years and was councillor to King Charles the Simple and was able to bring peace with the Normans (Vikings). He died in 912.

His son was a friend of the young King who was considered grotesque being very thin as compared to his Carolingian forebears!

The descendants of this Karl Damritter established themselves in Normandy, Picardy, Maine and Champagne.

The seventh Damery was Roger de Damerit born about 891 and was a friend of Charles the Simple and also of Rollo the future Duke of Normandy. He built a stronghold of wood and stones in a small village on the Somme, a village that Rollo had destroyed in one of his raids when Rollo also destroyed the Abby [sic] of St. Menard at Soissons and its properties on the Marne in Champagne.

The elder son of Roger inherited an important appointment in Aquitaine. It was the seigneurie of Thouars and he is named in the archives as Roger d'Aymery, Baron of Thomars [sic] and it was from this that the English branch derives.

Roger de Damerit had another son named Robert who is the origin of the French branch of the Damery family. He was born about 903 and had many children. The elders son [sic] of Robert de Damerit was a petty lord who allied himself to the Normans, but also infrequently visited the Franish [sic] Court of Hugh the Great who had deposed Charles the Simple and made himself King of the Francs, Hugh le Grand died 956 and through his great power as Duke of the Francs, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Paris was able to have his son Hugh Capet enthroned as King of France. The eldest son of Robert de Damerit, was William, tenth generation of Damery, he was Baron of Thouars and was one of the assembly of nobles who chose Charles [sic — Hugh Capet's son was Robert] the youngest son of Hugh Capet as the new king.

William de Damerit was married about 970 and had two sons, the elder was named Roger who was a page at the court of Hugh Capet and stayed with him till his death in 996 and served Robert Second afterwards. Roger was the eleventh generation. He was married in 1015 and in 1025 he returned to the Abby [sic] of St. Monard [sic] at Soissons, he established an annexe there for the Damerys in Champagne; he was childless.

The second son of William de Damerit was Robert who was born about 1009 and he too served at the court of Robert Second (Robert the Pious) and on the death of the King, he visited his brother. While there built a stronghold of wood and stone at Damery on the Marne river to protect the village. He married and had a son Roger born 1033 who was known as Roger the Strong and was twelfth generation.

Roger the Strong was very friendly with his cousins in Normandy and not long before the conquest of England, he was invited to the court of William of Normandy at Rouen and at the time he was a powerful lord in Picardy through his strong grip from his grandfather's stronghold at Damery. During the preparations for the invasion of England, the navy of William the Conqueror was becalmed for weeks and Roger the Strong advised William to move his ships into the Bay of the Somme which also was a shorter distance to travel. From there William made his successful invasion. Roger was killed at the Battle of Hastings. He left a widow and two infant sons and these are the thirteenth generation. The elder son William born about 1055 the second was Robert born 1058.

In recognition of the services of his father, William was called to the English Court and when 20 years old he married and had son Robert who was the fourteenth Damery generation.

The second son was very religious and entered holy orders at the Abby [sic] of Saint Menard at Soissons, he died very old and in the odour of sanctity!

Robert the fourteenth Damery was not like his brother, he had an illegitimate son, born 1102 and named Herluin. He was one of the knights who held the principal lands of Abby [sic] of St. Menard at Damery on the Marne River.

During two hundred years these knights quarrelled among themselves for each other's possessions and the Count of Champagne often had to intervene to stop them.

Robert, the fourteenth of the name, had a second son Charles born 1105. He travelled widely and was in the second crusade which was a complete failure.

Herluin and Charles are the fifteenth generation.

Herluin had three sons, Garnier born about 1135, Girard born about 1137 and the youngest Robert born 1139. Robert is also referred to as Hugh.

Records of the region dated 1151 and signed by Henry the Generous, Count of Champagne, record the names of Robert de Damery, Garnier and Girard as sons of Herluin de Damery who accepted to recognise the monks of the Abbey of Damery and in 1171 Henry renounced his right to poll tax in favour of the Abbey.

These three knights were the sixteenth on the list of the Damery family. Garnier de Damery had three sons, the eldest Gervais born about 1156, the second Simon, nicknamed "Branlard" born about 1157 and the youngest Phillipe born about 1159, they are the seventeenth generation.

Nothing is known of any descendants of Girard and Robert. There is a record of Garnier sharing a bakehouse with the Priory of the monastery with approval of Count Henry the Generous of Champagne, at this period, the end of the twelfth century, the Abbey had considerable domains some of which were vast.

In 1170 Girard de Damery entertained his overlord Count Tibault of Champagne at Damery and in 1172 he paid homage to the Count for certain privileges accorded to him by the Count.

Robert de Damery, often referred to as Hugh, became a monk and gave all his rights to the monastery.

Quite differently, Phillipe demanded the return of the rights, franchises and taxes and the Dowager Countess of Champagne gave judgement against him.

In 1198, Dame Hodierne, widow of Thibault de Damery, who held power for their young son Charles de Damery, fifteenth of the name, gave a large sum in silver to the Knight Templars of the region, apparently for their protection because the Templars were skilled fighting men.

In 1209 Phillipe de Damery who was being pressed to pay his debts to the Abbey, gave a vineyard in settlement.

Phillipe was a Chevalier de Vie, Phillipe and a nephew Pierre de Vie de Damery had very large estates at Damery and in the surrounding villages.

Now we return to Baudoin, son of Gervails [sic] de Damery who married Marie de la Branlarde, he was born 1201 and married in 1220 and the marriage produced five sons and one daughter. Baudoin was the eighteenth generation.

In 1228, Baudoin ceded title to certain rights to his brother Gerard.

In 1230 Baudoin and his nephew Gyles who was the son of Phillipe de Damery gave a large quantity of corn to the convent for the repose of the soul of Phillipe!

In 1242 Baudoin sold some rights and taxes.

In 1251 Robert de Damery brother of Baudoin and with the consent of his wife Felicie sold franchises and rents and Baudoin "Branlard" de Damery with the approval of his wife and two children Jehanin and Gauthier sold revenues and gave rights of justice to the Abbey. The six children of Baudoin were Baudoin de Marne born 1220, [sic — same year as his father's marriage] the second Jehannin, the third Gauthier born 1224, fourth was Raoul de Ponfaverger born 1226, then Catherine born 1227 and last Robert born 1229. These are the eighteenth generation. [Sic — nineteenth expected.] Baudoin de Marne married Agnes and had a son born 1254 named Branlard, the youngest Robert was Seigneur de Marne and had a son William also Seigneur de Marne.

The period 1220 to 1230 during the regency of Blanche of Castille for her son Louis Ninth was full of trouble, the barons revolted against the young King and there was fighting and pillage and destruction of many villages. There was also the beginnings of dissent in the Christian church with fighting to crush the Albigensian reform of religion and the start of religious wars. This was also the period of the seventh and eighth crusades. It is at this time that several names of Damery, junior knights disappear from the records of the County of Champagne.

In 1274, Robert de Marne and his son William signed a charter with the Count of Champagne to safeguard their lands expecting the death of Robert who however survived till 1276. The charter was signed also by other Damerys, the son of Boudoin [sic] and the son of Robert.

During this time William de Marne had a son named Jacques de Marne, he was nineteen years old when his grandfather Robert de Damery, Seigneur de Marne, died. The cousins Branlard and William de Marne are twentieth generation. The son of Guillamme [sic] (William) de Marne named Phillipon took part in the great festivities when the County of Champagne was attached to the e [sic] French King rather than the Duke of Burgundy in the year 1292. Phillipon was twenty-first Damery and had a son Louis born 1310 who was twenty-second of the line. Louis was related to the Duke of Bar whose wife was an aunt by marriage of Lord Roger Damery of England.

Lord Richard Damery, brother of Lord Roger Damery was at the Battle of Crecy and Siege of Calais and had a son Charles born Dijon 1365.

At this time the Duke of Bar and the Duke of Burgundy were allied with England to protect themselves from the French king but Count of Champagne allied to France.

Louis, son of Phillipon de Damery had a son also named Louis and born about 1350 during the horrors of the Hundred Year War. As an infant the English ravaged the County of Champagne and Damery and Eperne [sic — Épernay] were reduced to ashes. In 1370 the Count of [continues on page 17]

Champagne regained control and 1380 the Duke of Burgundy and his cousin Charles became friendly and Charles married a daughter of Phillipe named Jeanne born at Reims 1369.

Because of the ravages of the Hundred Year War there are only traces of the descendants of this marriage.

In 1491 in Paris there is a record of a Baron Damery married to Louise de Bar and this Baron will be the son of Robert Damery born at Reims in 1460 and Robert the son of Francis Damery born at Damery 1431 and he would be the son of Charles Damery born Reims 1408.

We now come to the twenty-fifth generation of the Damery family in France and it seems that they went to Paris and, by some coincidence, to the parish of Saint Menard. There Francis Jean Damery was an officer in the Royal Guard of Charles Eighth who reigned from 1488 to 1498 and afterwards he married but remained close to the new King Louis Twelfth until the death of the King in 1515. He had a son Francis born in 1494 who at age 10 was summoned to court to serve the future king and became his close friend sharing in the loose morals, pomp and free life of the prince. He was the same age and shared the same name.

When Francis became King Francis First, he served in the army and was wounded at the Battle of Marignan and taken prisoner of [sic] the Battle of Pavie, but took little part in politics because he was not interested. He is the twenty-sixth in the list of French Damerys. He was pleased when his friend Francis promulgated the Edict of Villers Coterets making French the language of all official documents instead of Latin as the King did not know Latin anyway!

He died 1544 at the Battle of Cerisoles. He had a son and a daughter by different wives. His son was Phillipe born in Paris 1518 and his mother was a dame of honour to Queen Claude of France, Phillipe was twenty-seventh Damery.

He was with his father in battle at Cerisoles.

He was well aware of the dislike of the Duke de Guise and his brother the Cardinal de Guise regarding the weaknesses of the successors of Francis First.

He married in 1545 and went to live in Lorraine, his wife was from Lorraine. The Duke of Guise was Duke of Lorraine.

Phillipe had two daughters and one son named Henri who became twenty-eighth in the line of Damery. He was born 1548. Henri was reared in Lorraine and when Charles de Guise became Cardinal of Lorraine, eh [sic — he] also became Archbishop of Reims and Seigneur de Damery which latter he hastened to grant to his friend Henri Damery, who was only eight years old. His father managed the estate for him till of age.

Henri Fourth became King, following the death of Henri Third, the last of the de Valois kings, Henri Fourth was the first Bourbon king and a Protestant, but of course France was a catholic country and there were revolts against him. He won important victories at Arques 1589 and at Ivory [sic — Ivry] 1590, but finally he converted to the national religion to bring peace.

It is very interesting and must be noted that the Duke of Guise was born at the Chateau of Bat [sic — ?Bar] (30 kilometres from Damery) and is therefore a collateral branch of the Damery family. [Sic — a non sequitur as typed.]

Henri the twenty-eight [sic] Damery took refuge in the Castle of Bar because Captain St. Pol took possession of Damery but St. Pol was put out by King Henry Fourth eighteen months later. The King had become a friend of Henry Damery and Henry was faithful to the King. While the King was inspecting the defenses at Eperne [sic], his faithful Baron was shot in the head. Eperne was allied to St. Pol.

King Henry Fourth is said to have stayed several times at Damery but that could have been for affairs of the heart as the King was very amorous.

In 1598 the land of Damery passed to the possession of de Baradat and was no longer a Damery possession. Henry Damery was in England when King Henry Fourth of France sought alliance with Elizabeth First of England against Spain which had seized half of Navarre. (Different Henry).

Henry Damery (twenty-eighth Damery) married in 1589 and had a son named Louis (twenty-ninth of the line).

Louis was a lawyer enrolled as such 1611, he married 1638, he was a member of Parliament and attached to Cardinal de Richelieu. He amassed a fortune and built a magnificent house in the Marais quarter of Paris, he died 1668. From his marriage there was a daughter and a son. The son was born 1643. During the revolt of the Fronde against the young King, Louis X1V [sic], or rather against his Minister Mazarien [sic — Mazarin], Louis Damery (twenty-ninth of the name) joined the King's party and was loyal to him and was rewarded when Louis Fourteenth gave an important position to his son Francis, then aged 22 years. Francis was thirtieth Damery. Francis was commissioned a Captain in the French Navy and commanded a privateer. On the death of his father, he became very rich and acted the grand life, neglecting his naval charge and soon was in debt, harassed by his creditors who obtained a Lettre de Cachet and put him in the Bastille.

This Lettre de Cachet was in possession of Paul Damery's father who lived in Caen, Normandy, and was destroyed when the Allies invaded France to liberate it from the Germans. Paul's parents were killed and also lost was a picture given to his wife the Marquise by Francis Damery.

After his release from the Bastille, Francis went back to the command of his ship and had several striking exploits so in 1694 he was promoted to Admiral in command of the fleet at Lorient. He died 1699 when shipwrecked in the Antilles.

He had a son born 1683 named Francis Charles who also became a naval officer, he is the thirty-first French Damery, he took part in many incidents in the West Indies and in Canada. He married 1709 in Paris and had a son born 1713 who was named Jean-Francis, the thirty-first generation. [Sic — both given as thirty-first.]

Jean-Francis Damery was an avid collector of art and all unusual items so that he had a veritable museum in his house which was the one inherited from his grandfather, the Admiral. He was also an artist and was the thirty-second Damery. He married in 1751 in Paris and had a son Jean de Damery born Paris 1758.

Both his father and grandfather held the Military Order of St. Louis. Jean de Damery was a naval officer and he is the one in the picture drawn by the King's engraver titled "The Young Physicist" and showing the Coat of Arms of the Marquis de Damery, he was eight years old in the drawing.

In 1783 he was a naval officer and in the Revolution of 1789 he was arrested as an aristocrat and executed. His wife the Marquise de Damery was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie-Antoinette, who gave a silver bracelet of sixteen Fleurs de Lys to the Marquise before going to execution. This bracelet too was lost in the bombing of Caen during the war. [NB contradicts the Ted report, where Paul Damery still has the bracelet.]

Jean de Damery had a son Francis born 1784 who was with his nurse at the time of his parents massacre and was eight years of age. [Sic — five, if born 1784.] He was the thirty-fourth Damery and was saved by the servants who managed to get him to England.

At the age of 20 in 1804 he returned to France when Napoleon became Emperor and served in the French Army and in 1807 lost an arm in a battle. [NB the Ted report has this returning émigré killed at Eylau, 1807.]

He married in 1808 and had a son Nicolas born 1828.

Francis Damery renounced his title of Marquis. Nicolas was thirty-fifth Damery and married 1849 and had a son Charles born 1850 who was thirty-sixth Damery.

Charles Damery joined the army 1871 and was an officer in Artillary [sic], he was also an excellent musician and was band leader of his regiment at Clermont-Ferrand. He had a son Louis Albert born in 1889 at Clermont-Ferrand who was thirty-seventh Damery.

Charles Damery died 1893.

Louis Albert was an electrical engineer and chief electrician at Alsthom, he married 1921 and had twin sons Albert and Paul born 1925 and in 1926 had a daughter Marie-Therese they are the thirty-eighth Damery.

Albert has two sons, Robert born 1956 in Madagascar and Bernard born 1958 also in Madagascar. Paul married 1953. Marie-Louise Jahnke and has no issue. [Sic — presumably "Paul married 1953 Marie-Louise Jahnke and has no issue."] Robert and Bernard are fortieth generation. [Sic — thirty-ninth expected.]

This genealogy has been researched by Paul Damery of Six-Fours-les Plages in France. He is thirty-ninth in the French genealogy and to him we are very grateful for all this knowledge of our family. [Sic — p. 20 also makes Paul a thirty-eighth-generation twin; the numbering is inconsistent.]

The family de Baradat who purchased the property of Damery from the Monastery at Soissons are not related although the first Guillaume de Baradat obtained the barony and his son obtained the title of Marquis from Louis Thirteenth.

De Baradat came from the kingdom of Navarrre [sic] and went to France and Paris with his friend and King Henry IV when Henry became King of France.

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