Biographies: Miles of Gloucester

• Miles of Gloucester - Sybil de Neufmarché

Miles of Gloucester
Birth: c.1100
Death: 24 December 1143
Burial: Llanthony Priory
Father: Walter of Gloucester
Mother: Bertha
Marriage: Sybil de Neufmarché
Children:
Bertha
Roger, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Walter
Henry
William
Mahel
Margaret
Lucy

NOTES: Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford was the son of Walter Fitz Roger and the grandson of Roger de Pîtres. He held the office of hereditary Sheriff of Gloucester after the death of his father in 1121. He married Sybil de Neufmarché, who was the daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon and Nest in 1121 and with her had eight children. He was in the service of Henry I between 1130 and 1135 and held the office of King's Constable. After Henry's death he, like many of the barons, at first declared for Stephen but when Matilda arrived in England in 1139 he declared for her and put Gloucester at her disposal. He remained loyal to her cause and was created Earl of Hereford by Matilda on 25th July 1141 and retained as her Constable. Miles died on 24th December 1143 in the Forest of Dean, the result of a hunting accident, and was buried at Llanthony Priory in southeast Wales.