Title: High Sheriff of Lancaster
Name: William de Vesci, Lord of Alnwick
Herald date: 1166-1170
Or, a cross Sable
The de Vesci family were Normans who fought at Hastings and who were granted the lands of Gilbert Tyson, who was killed fighting for King Harold.
William was Sheriff of both Northumberland and Lancashire, and his family were the builders of Alnwick Abbey. Toward the end of his life William joined the monastery, where he died in 1184. He is buried beside his wife by the Chapter House.
William’s son Eustace married Margaret of Scotland, daughter of William the Lion and became a staunch opponent to King John, going so far as to offer the throne to the Dauphin of France after 1215. Eustace was killed laying seige to Barnard castle in 1216 and the family line ended in 1309, the lands and titles eventually going to the Percys.
