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MARMION, Roger

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DC0325
Sir Roger Marmion was a kinsman and probably brother or son in law of Robert or Rodbert Dispensator (see below). He undoubtedly held by directgrant from the King the fortified castle of Tamworth and the estates of his predecessor; but the inhabitants of Tamworth soon became independent of the barons and held their lands direct from the King before 1129.
Roger Marmion held inter alia the manors of Arrow and Middleton in co. Warwick, and Quinton in Gloucestershire: he held also the Barony of Llanstephan in Caermarthenshire.
Between 1109 and 1115 King Henry I was entertained at Tamworth Castle.
'Candida Navis', or White Ship was wrecked on the Norman coast, on 25thNovember 1120, when William and Richard the Kings' sons, Adela their sister, Richard Earl of Chester, the Countess Maud and one hundred and eighty of the noblest of the youth of England perished. Amongst these was Geoffrey Ridel, the Lord of Drayton, whose widow subsequently foundedthe Benedictine Monastery at Canwell.
Roger Marmion died about 1129, and was succeeded by his son.
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Tamworth Castle appears to have continued from its earliest foundation in royal and princely hands, its last Saxon possessor being Eadwine, Earl of the Mercians. After a prolonged struggle, the subjugation of England was completed by William the Conqueror, in 1070, when Tamworth, withthe earldom of Mercia fell into the Kings hands, and the castle was granted to one of the most intimate Norman followers. This was Robert or Rodbert Dispensator, brother to the noted Urso D' Abitot, who was Sheriff of Worcester in 1072 and 1086, and Lord of Elmley Castle. The identity of this royal steward has been questioned, but in all probability he was of the baronial family of Marmion of Fontenay, a barony held in Normandy by the feudal service of champion to the Dukes of Normandy at their coronation; and Tamworth Castle and the Manor of Scrivelsby, co. Lincoln, appear to have been held conjointly in England under a similar tenure. William the Conqueror was in Stafford in his days, and probably therefore visited Tamworth. Robert was living in 1099, but fell under thedispleasure of Henry I, fortified his estates, and died soon after 1101. He was succeeded at Tamworth by Roger Marmion, probably his brother or son in law.
/DC0325

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