THE ANCESTOR 245 Warin (corruptly ' Warren ') derived its name — had married Alice the heiress of the Courcis, who brought him the Oxford- shire manor of Nuneham, the Domesday seat of her ancestor Richard de Courci. Margaret, daughter aud heiress of Warine and Alice, brought the whole group of manors to her husband, Baldwin de Reviers (' Redvers '), and it became part of the vast inheritance of their granddaughter Isabel, Countess of Devon and Lady of the Isle. On her death, in 1293, such portions of her estates as she had not surrendered into the grasping hands of Edward I. were claimed by her heirs collateral, the representatives of the families from whom her various possessions had been derived. This gave rise, as might be expected, to a very pretty tangle, but genealogy makes it clear that her kinsman, Warine de I'lsle, the heir of a younger son of Warine Fitz Ceroid, became entitled, on her death, to such of her manors as had belonged to Warine. Nevertheless, when he claimed them, a counter claim was made on behalf of another collateral heir, Hugh de Courteney, who had no descent from Warine Fitz Ceroid. As Hugh was a minor, the Crown replied that it must keep the lands in its own hands till he came of age ; and when he had done so, Warine de I'lsle was dead, and the minority of his heir gave the Crown a fresh excuse for postponement. Thus it was not till July, 13 10, as we learn from this Calendar, that the Crown at length parted with these valuable lands, of which it had retained possession for seventeen years. And even then their rightful heir, Robert de I'lsle, we find, did not obtain the whole. The manor of Nuneham, together with some lands in Heyford Warin and in Harewood, was secured by Hugh de Courteney, perhaps by way of compromise, and the descent of Nuneham Courtney, otherwise incomprehen- sible, is thus explained. It would seem that Wootton Courteney, Somerset, was diverted in like manner from the heirs of its original possessors, for I have found evidence in a private collection that it was held by Warine Fitz Ceroid and Alice de Curci his wife, it having descended to the Curcis through an heiress from William de Falaise, its Domesday holder. Another instance of collateral succession is found in the heirship to Juliane Aguillon, who died a minor in ward, hold- ing the manor of Nutbourne by knight-service. A single document (p. 499) supplies the following pedigree : —
