APPENDIX.
No. I.—Copy of the inscription in the church of Tanworth, Warwickshire.—[Vol. i. p. 58.]
“Heu Pietas! heu prisca Fides!”
“Sacred to the memory of Andrew Lord Archer, Baron of Umberslade, who died April 25th, 1778, ætatis forty-one, and lies interred in the family vault beneath. He was the last male descendant of an ancient and honourable family that came over with William the Conqueror, and settled in the county of Warwick in the reign of King Henry the Second, from whom his ancestors obtained grants of land in the said county. He married Sarah, the daughter of James West, Esquire, of Alscot, by whom he has left four daughters.
“To perpetuate his fair fame this monument is erected by her who knew and loved his virtues.”
In the Peerage of England by Arthur Collins, Esq., vol. vii. p. 359, 4th edition, is the following account:—
“This family, one of the most ancient in Warwickshire, came out of Normandy, where some of the name, bearing the same arms, are yet existing. In Stow’s Annals, printed in 1615, is a list taken from a table anciently in Battle Abbey, of those who came into England with William Duke of Normandy, in which the name of Archer is inserted; also in an ancient roll, cited by Stow, of the names of the chief noblemen, &c. who, in 1066, accompanied William the Conqueror into England, collected by Thomas Scriven, Esq., the name of Archer occurs.”
Edward Gwynn, Esq., a learned antiquary in the reign of King James the First, demonstrates very clearly, that Fulbert l’Archer, with his son Robert, came into England with William the Conqueror; and that the said Fulbert was in England, and of eminent degree, is apparent, by his being witness to several concessions of Geffery de Clinton, a Norman, who was treasurer and lord chamberlain to King Henry the First, and founder of the monastery of Kenilworth in Warwickshire.
Mr. Gwynn in his dissertation further recites, that Robert l’Archer also accompanied his father Fulbert into England with William the Conqueror; and was in such estimation for his learning, that the said king appointed him to instruct his son, King Henry the First (then prince), who, to his tutor’s credit, was (as Gemmeticencis saith) “Justitiæ ac pacis sectator, religionis amator, iniquorum, et furum ferventissimus punitor, inimicorum suorum, non solum excellentium Principum, et Comitum, verum et nominatissimorum Regum fælicissimus Triumphator.” How well he deserved the respect and esteem of the said prince, and how well he was rewarded by him, when he came to be king, the following grant fully manifests: “Henricus, Dei Gratia, &c. Sciatis Nos dedisse et concessisse, Roberto l’Archer, magistro meo, et hæred. suis, &c. Manor de Aldermanson, Fynchampsted, Coletrope, Speresholt, Chewlewe, &c. in com. Berks.” Which manors and lands thereunto belonging King Henry II. confirmed to William l’Archer, his son. King Henry I.’s estimation of the said Robert l’Archer, and the account he made of his service, may be conceived in vouchsafing to call him his master, also by his liberal donations to him.