Nicholas Gaillard

   Another name for Nicholas was Nicholas Gaylord.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information. ¹⁵³⁷

The family whose surname is spelled Gaillard, Galiard, Gaylard, Gaylord, etc., had its origin at a very I early period. In Normandy, on the bank of the River Seine, was located Gisors, while, on the opposite side of the river, was Gaillon, and here, in the Twelfth Century, Richard Coeur de Lion, King of England and Duke of Normandy, chose a great rock, called in the old chronicles "la roche Gaillard," on which to build a strong fortress. This was commenced in 1197, and in the short space of twelve months was finished.

"Comme elle est belle, ma fillette d'un an!"How beautiful she is, my little daughter of a year!" - "King Richard cried when the castle rose above the river. It was called "Chateau Gaillard" and became a model of military architecture.

It is said that the castle's name was derived from the old Commune of Gaillard-bois, in which the Chateau is situated. It may have been used in a punning sense, as gaillard means "gay," or "saucy," thus carrying on the metaphor of a gay and gallant child.

The castle was a possession of the Kings of England, who were also Dukes of Normandy, and it is probable that the ancient family of de Gaillard le Bois fought in the wars of the period, and were closely identified with the chateau. It was established in the Bailliage of Gisors, and in some of the records the surname appears as "de Gaillarbois."

A member of this family was Guillaume (William) de Gaillarbois, who married, at the commencement of the Fifteenth Century, a daughter of Pierre de Poissy, and received from King Henry V, of England, lands "which appertained to Amon de Falaise." His Arms were blazoned: Argent, six annulets sable. His English estate was perhaps in Somersetshire, for another member of his family, William de Falaise, who was a benefactor of foreign monasteries, gave to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary of Lonlay, in the Diocese of Seez, Normandy (of which several of his family are said to have worn the habit), lands for a Priory at Stoke-Courcy, Somerset. The Priors were nominated by the Abbot of Lonlay, and were sent, with their monks, to Stoke-Courcy as a cell to the Norman house. John Gallard was made Prior in 1352, coming there from Normandy. In some records his name is given as "Gallardi."

The Victoria History of Somerset gives an interesting account of this Priory, and the installation of John Gallard as Prior. It states that "the Priory of Stogursey or more correctly... Stoke-Courcy, was an alien Priory, an offshoot of the Benedictine Abbey of Lonlay in Normandy.... After the great war with France it was suppressed and its estates used for the endowment of the College of St. Mary at Eton. It arose out of a grant.. in the time of Henry I by William de Falaise and Geva his wife of the Church of St. Andrew of Stoke to the Church of St. Mary of Lonlay, four miles northwest of Domfront in Normandy."

There was, at any rate, a family of this name, variously spelled, in Somersetshire, which appears to have been descended from the ancient Norman line, through a branch in Flanders, at Bruges. The Bruges lineage begins with Chevalier Oliver de Gaillard, Seigneur of the Chateau Gaillard in Normandy, Chanceller and Secretary of Charles the Simple, King of France. His wife is said to have been the daughter of Siloius de Frankenfort, "valiant Captain Commandant of a company of Franco-Germans, and descended from the Dukes of France."

The second son of the aforesaid Chevalier Oliver de Gaillard was Hugues de Gaillard. He had a son, Charles, who, in turn, had two sons, Baudouin and Nicholas. They built the church at Bruges called "Cool Gaillard's Kerke," or "the Cool Kerke." This Baudouin Gaillard was among the nobles who accompanied Robert II, Count of Flanders, to the Holy Land, on Crusade, and two of his sons, Simon and George Gaillard died there, fighting the infidels. Another son, Antoine, and Baudouin Gaillard himself, were knighted. The latter died in Flanders.

Antoine Gaillard, mentioned above, son of Baudouin, saved from the Turks the Seigneur de Ryswyck, who gave him his only daughter, Elizabeth, in marriage. She and Antoine had three children: Baudouin, who died, unmarried, in Paris; Victoire, a nun, and Adrien. This Adrien Gaillard married Dame Mabille de Baenet, and their children were: Jean, who fell in battle at Adrianople in 1205; Jacques, who died August 7, 1224, and was interred in the Gaillard family tomb in the Cool Kerke at Bruges, near his wife, Dame Marie Van Aertrycke; and George, who fought under Count Baldwin of Flanders, at Constantinople, where, with his brothers, he was knighted. The Chevalier George Gaillard died at Bruges, May 15, 1227, and was buried in the Chapel of Our Lady in the Cool Kerke. His wife, whose tomb is near his, was Marguerite, daughter of Jean de Cleyhem.

Chevalier Gerard Gaillard, the son of the foregoing Chevalier George and Dame Marguerite, married Antoinette, daughter of Nicholas Bonin, and, with other children, had a son, Guillaume (William) Gaillard, who added to the lustre of the family name at the famous "Battle of the Spurs" at Courtrai, July 11, 1302. He died September 6, 1328, and was buried in the Cool Kerke.

In 1312-13, Nicholas Gaillard, whose surname is also recorded as Gaylard, and who was a priest, "parson of the church of Babbecary," and Rector of Curry Rivel, was party to a suit concerning lands in Southpetherton, Somersetshire, England, and in Bruges, Flanders. About 1272, Clemencia de Erleigh granted land in Babbecary, Somersetshire, to "Roberto le Large" and his brother, "Johanne le Large," and to "Wilhelmo Galie" and the latter's wife, Matilda. In the charter of this grant "Hugone Gayllard"- Hugh Gaylard - appears as a witness.
Thus we find the names of Hugh and Nicholas with the surname Gaillard or Gaylard in both the Bruges branch of the family (descended, as we have seen, from the ancient Norman line), and the branch settled in Somersetshire, England, while, as appears herein below, the same names persist in the Somerset records, and a Hugh Gaylard was ancestor of many Americans.

At Pitminster, County Somerset, in the late Sixteenth Century, lived Hugh Gaylard, and there he died and was buried in 1614. His will was recorded that year in the Taunton Probate Court, but has "utterly perished."

In 1573 the name of Hugh Gaylard appears in the Taunton Manor Register, "Poundisford, for two Messuages and two Furlongs of Bondland, and two acres of Overland in Smalecrosse, and one acre of Overland in Lakemeade, in the Tything of South Trendle, late of Nicholas Gaylerd, and the said Hugh first surrendered one acre of Bondland called Southgrove, in Tything aforesaid, by surrender of John Gaylard ( ?Johane, widow of Nicholas) to hold to said Johane a Messuage and land for residence," &c. His name also appears in the Calendars in 1574, '81, '88, '92, '94 and '96. On October 4, 1608, he surrendered a Close called "Smalerest," in the Tything of South Trendle, to his son, George Gaylard.

In the Taunton Calendar, under date of 1546, is recorded the will of "Nicholas Gaylar" of "Pytmyster," and he appears to have been the Nicholas Gaylerd from whom Hugh Gaylard held land in South Trendle (now Trull), Somersetshire, in 1573. The widow of Nicholas, Johane, was living at that date, and they were the grandparents of Hugh Gaylard.

The aforesaid Hugh Gaylard, of Pitminster, had a daughter, Alice, who was baptized in Pitminster Church, May 10, 1594, her name in the record being spelled "Gayland," though her father appears therein as "Hugh Gaylard." In the old Taunton (Somerset) Calendar, under Pitminster, her marriage is thus chronicled: "1615. Richard Trett was mar. to Alice Gaylard the xxvij day of April." The burial of one of their children is also here set down: "1633. Alice Trott dau of Richard Trott was bur ye 2d of August." The name of Treat often appears as Trott, Trett, etc., in the old records.

Richard Treat and his wife emigrated to America, settling in Wethersfield, Connecticut. They were the ancestors of the Treat family of New England and New Jersey.

A Nicholas "Galiard" was naturalized in England, April 16, 1537, and is stated to have come "from the dominion of the King of France." Another Nicholas "Galyard," perhaps son of the above, also "from the dominion of the King of France," was naturalized April 16, 1540. The record of his naturalization appears with that of the above Nicholas.

The Journal of American History, Volume 12, pp. 557-561

Nicholas married Johanne Numan on 23 Jun 1572 in All Saints Church, Martock, Somerset, England. (Johanne Numan was born in England.)