Alan, Lord of Galloway

Alan FitzRoland (c. 1175 – 1234) was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland.

Family

He was the son of Roland, or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Helen de Morville. His date of birth is uncertain, but he was considered an adult in 1196.

In right of his mother he inherited the de Morville Lordship of Lauderdale. as well as others in that vicinity: West of Blainslie, in Lauderdale, but in the Lordship of Melrose, are the lands of Threepwood, which were granted by Alan, Constable of Scotland, to the monks of Melrose between 1177 and 1204. [ Romanes, Charles S., CA., "The Records of the Regality of Melrose", Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1917, volume III, p.xli, (Alan is identified as son of Roland the Constable)]

Campaigns

In 1212 Alan responded to a summons from King John I of England by sending 1,000 troops to join the war against the Welsh. In this year he also sent one of his daughters to England as a hostage. She died in 1213 in the custody of her maternal uncle. Alan is listed as one of the 16 men who counseled King John regarding the Magna Carta.

Alan, like his forebears, maintained a carefully ambiguous relationship with both the English and Scottish states, acting as a vassal when it suited his purpose and as an independent monarch when he could get away with it. His considerable sea power allowed him to supply fleets and armies to aid the English King John in campaigns both in France and Ireland.

In 1228 he invaded the Isle of Man and fought a sea-war against Norway in support of Reginald, Prince of Man, who was engaged in a fratricidal struggle with his brother Olaf for possession of the island.

Alan died in 1234 and is buried at Dundrennan Abbey in Galloway.

Marriages

He married three or four times: (1)?? an unnamed daughter of John, Baron of Pontefract and Constable of Chester, who had died by 1209. They had one daughter:

* Female, (d. 1213).

He married (2) Hilda (Helen) de L'Isle (b.abt1174 d.after 11/0/1245) m.1205 Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the daughter of Rognvald Sumarlidasson, Lord of the Isles and Fonia of Moray. Sources-(Ancestral File. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah 1994)

Child of Alan of Galloway and Helen de l'Isle:
* Helen of Galloway (b.c1208) Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland, who married Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester.

He remarried (3) Margaret of Huntingdon, daughter of David I of Scotland. By this marriage he had named daughters:

* Dervorguilla of Galloway, who married John de Balliol, 5th feudal baron of Barnard Castle and founder of Balliol College, Oxford. Their son became King John of Scotland.
* Christina of Galloway (d. 1246), who married William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, but had no issue.

Alan married his last wife, (3) Rohese de Lacy, in 1229, the daughter of Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster.

By one of his marriages he had a son, Thomas, who predeceased his father; (not to be confused with his illegitimate half-brother, also named Thomas).

With Alan's death his holdings were divided between his three daughters and their husbands. A popular attempt was made within Galloway to establish his illegitimate son, Thomas, as ruler, but this failed, and Galloway's period as an independent political entity came to an end.

Notes

ources

*"Curia Regis Rolls," 1935.
*"Cal. Charter Rolls," 1, 1895