I have a family tree tracing mainly the Wiltshire line of the family back to 1066.
On this tree is the following entry -
Robert de Pynckney 9th Baron Weedon Claimed throne of Scotland through Alicia d1296
I have so far treated all such entries with scepticism which is what you are suppsoed to do when you research Families. Don't believe anything until you see the original document for proof.
Well what chance is there of finding anything dating back to the 13th century. I would have thought none. However, I have been contacted by Steve Walter who is a distant relative on the American line of the family. Steve has inherited some documents relating to the Pinckney family and this too contains the same reference to a claim to the Scotish throne.
Steve went on holiday to Scotland and while there he engaged a researcher to look into the claim. The facts unearthed by the researcher show that the claim is entirely true.
Here is a brief overview of what happened.
Alexander III was king of Scotland from 1249 to 1286. He had three children, only one of them had any children, one daughter. All of his children died before him. This meant his Grand Daughter was to inherit the throne but she too died shortly afterwards in 1290 leaving the throne vacant.
Edward I of England was asked to help to resolve the problem of who was to inherit the throne of Scotland. Between 1291 and 1292 Edward presided over a court. In total there were 12 claimants to the throne and they each had to submit a petition in writing detailing their claim. Amongst them were -
Robert de Pinkeny Robert Bruce (you must have heard of him) John Balliol (the eventual winner)
On 17 November 1292 the final judgement was given. By this time de Pinkeny had already withdrawn his claim and the eventual winner was John Balliol.
This is only a brief summary of events to prevent you all from getting
bored but the full details are now available to download below, supplied by Steve.
He has provided a full pack of information about the claim including a much more
detailed description of all the events leading up to the claims and the outcome. Also
included is a transcription of Robert's actual claim and Edward's judgement. He has
also produced a pedigree chart of all the claimants to the throne.
The details of the claim
A Literal translation of Robert's claim
A pedegree chart for all the claimants
A general page on the history of Scottish Flags
If you would like further details please contact Steve Walter. I would like to pass on my personal thanks to Steve for making this information freely available.