Richard FitzGilbert
1035 – 1090
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Richard FitzGilbert de Clare was among the greatest men of Norman England: a tenant-in-chief in Domesday Book of something like a hundred and seventy lordships, joint Justiciar of England in 1075, and founder of the house of Clare, which took its name from his castle in Suffolk. His identity is not in any doubt, which is why this family's claim to reach Domesday rests on him rather than on the better-known but more ambiguous first Aubrey de Vere. He married Rohese Giffard. He died about 1090.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (standard, undisputed account - entered 23 Jul 2026 under the relaxed rule used for the Oxford spine, at the website chat's request; the link Gilbert FitzRichard = his son is uncontested in every authority incl. CP): RICHARD FITZGILBERT (de Clare, de Bienfaite, de Tonbridge) - founder of the house of CLARE in England; came with WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR and was among the greatest beneficiaries of the Conquest: DOMESDAY TENANT-IN-CHIEF 1086 of ~170 lordships centred on CLARE, Suffolk and TONBRIDGE, Kent - a Domesday magnate with, unlike Aubrey de Vere I, NO identity ambiguity whatsoever; joint chief justiciar of England during the King's absence, helping suppress the Revolt of the Earls 1075; d. c. 1090 (a monk at St Neots at the end, by one account). Presence AT HASTINGS itself: traditionally asserted, not among the handful of proven combatants - that single claim graded ~; everything else ✓. m. ROHESE GIFFARD. HIS ANCESTRY (note-only, extendable, with its flag): son of GILBERT, COUNT OF BRIONNE (guardian of the boy Duke William, murdered c. 1040), grandson of Godfrey, NATURAL son (openly acknowledged) of RICHARD I, DUKE OF NORMANDY - the ducal house of Normandy stands one flagged-illegitimate step behind him. Direct ancestor - the tree's uncautioned Domesday anchor. Added 23 Jul 2026.