The ancestors of the American Richmonds were, if tradition may be credited, related to Alan Rufus the first earl, who built the castle. They were not in direct line from Alan, but for several successive generations were lords of the manor and constables of the castle owned by their noble relative. That they were originally of royal descent is not much questioned by English genealogists.

A generation ago Colonel John Richmond Webb, of the Wiltshire Richmond’s, said that he “could prove lineal descent from Edward I. and that his first ancestor, Roaldus de Richmond, rode by the side of William the Conqueror at Hastings field.” He added, “We were gentlemen when the Churchill’s were horse-boys.”

Richmonds in England

First of record in the line of English Richmond ancestors leading to the American Richmond family:

• Roaldus Musard de Richmond, who was with William the Conqueror at Hastings. He was one of the most powerful leaders accompanying the Norman invader into England in 1066.

• Hasculfus Musard de Richmond, son of the preceding, held in demesne Keddington and Chilworth, Oxfordshire, Stainbury, Gloucestershire, and other lordships at the time of the General Survey, according to Dugdale.

• Roaldus de Richmond, le Ennase, son of the preceding, was second constable of Richmond Castle under Alan in., earl of Richmond; he was seized of lands in Skeeby and Croft, by the gift of King Henry, who likewise gave him the manor of Pickhall, and other holdings, which he in turn gave in marriage with a daughter to Jolanus de Neville. He was lord of Burton, Aidborough, and most of his uncle Emsart’s lands, by a grant of King Stephen, Emsart being the first constable of Richmond. He founded an abbey on his manor of Easby in honor of St. Agatha in 1152, and there he was buried with his wife, Graciana. Sir Alan, son of Roald de Richmond, was the third constable of Richmond Castle. In the first year of the reign of Richard L, 1189, he owed the king two hundred marks for the custody of the castle. In the fourth year of the reign of Richard L, 1193, he paid ten marks and owed one hundred and ninety. In the third year of the reign of Richard I., he as surety for Walter de Lasselles. In the second year of the reign of John, 1201, he gave the king three hundred marks, and three palfreys to be constable of Richmond Castle, to hold the same for himself and his heirs. Soon after he was diseased, but in the ninth year of John, 1208, he gave the king two hundred marks and four palfreys to have the castle again and with it the king’s letters patent granting him military jurisdiction.

• Sir Roald de Richmond, son of the preceding, was the fourth constable of Richmond Castle. In 1208 King John gave to him various lands, including the manors of Caldewell, Croft, Kipling, and others, and also a mill and lands in Skeeby. The letters patent granted these lands to him and his heirs forever. He entailed the manors of Burton, Aldeburgh, and Croft upon his son Roald in the latter part of the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Henry III., 1240.

• Alan Richmond de Croft, son of the preceding, received from his brother the manor of Burton. He claimed lands in Roppele, Clareworth, Wurthington, and Newland, county of Lincoln, in right of his wife, in the forty-third year of the reign of Henry HI., 1259. He married Mathilda, daughter and coheir of Peter de Goldington and coheir of Simon de Roppele, lord of Roppele, Lincoln County, of the time of Edward I.

• Sir Roald Richmond de Croft, son of the preceding, received from his uncle Roald the manors of Caldwell and Croft. He died in the forty-sixth year of the reign of Henry III., 1262. One authority (fn7 “Honores de Richmond,” Gales.) makes this Sir Roald to have been the son of Sir Roaldus de Richmond, fifth constable, brother to Alan, son of Roald de Croft. Sir Roald Richmonde de Croft married Isabella, daughter and heir of Robert, son of Osanna de Langthwayt, by Isabella his wife.

• Eudo de Richmond, son of the preceding, had possessions in Staynwriggis, county of York.

• Elyas de Richmond, son of the preceding lived during the reign of Edward III. (1327-77).

• Elyas de Richmond, son of the preceding, lived during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard H. (1327-99). His brother, Richard de Richmond, succeeded him, and married Elizabeth, daughter of William de Burgh, lord of Burgh. Upon Richard and his wife Elizabeth William de Burgh entailed the manor of Burgh near Catterick, County York, in the twenty-third year of the reign of Edward III. (1350).

• Thomas de Richmond, son of Richard de Richmond and his wife Elizabeth, was living in the times of Richard, Henry IV., and Henry V.

• William de Richmond, son of the preceding, lived at Draycott. He married, about 1430, Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas and Elizabeth (Nicholas) Webb of Draycott, Wilts County. Upon his marriage he assumed the name of Webb and quartered the Webb arms.

• William Richmond, alias Webb of Draycott, son of the preceding, married Joan Ewen, daughter of John Ewen of Draycott. His will was dated April 24, 1502.

• William Richmond, alias Webb of Stewkley Grange, Bucks County, married, 1st, Dorothy Lymings, daughter of John Lymings of Notts County, and 2d, Marjory Choke, daughter of John Choke of Shelborne, Wilts County. He was living in Wilts in the reign of Henry VIII., for he is recorded as having bought lands there in 1541 and 1545.

• Edmund Richmond, alias Webb of Durnford, Wilts County, was living in 1575. He married Mary Weare, daughter of Robert Weare, alias Brown of Marlborough.

• Henry Richmond, alias Webb, son of the preceding, lived at Christian Malford, Wilts County. He was married four times and had twenty-five children. From this Henry Richmond are descended the Richmond’s of Ashton-Keynes, England. The manor of four hundred acres, and the entire village of Ashton-Keynes, once belonged to this branch of the family. In the eighteenth century the manor house was the home of Oliffe Richmond. In 1768, by marriage of Bridget Richmond (granddaughter of Oliffe Richmond), to Edward Nichols, the property passed into the possession of the Nichols Family, and in 1856 it was sold to the duke of Cleveland.

• John Richmond, eldest son of the preceding, was the first American ancestor, was born about 1594 in Ashton-Keynes, Wiltshire, England. He was a man of affairs and ample means when he came to the new world in 1635, and he settled in Taunton, Mass., of which place he was one of the founders. He became a large land-owner and acquired considerable wealth. In the original purchase of Taunton, 1637, he owned six shares. He was absent from Taunton a great deal of the time, being recorded in Newport and elsewhere in Rhode Island. It is known he was in Rhode Island in 1655 and was a commissioner from Newport at the court of commissioners held at Portsmouth, R. L, in 1656.

  • He was also an officer in the Civil War between King Charles and the parliament. The story is current in the annals of the family that there were two brothers, John and Henry, who had engaged in this war, one of them being with King Charles and the other a soldier of Cromwell. The celebrated Rev. Leah Richmond, author and rector of Turvey, Bedfordshire, wrote much concerning his ancestry, and in one of his manuscript letters is recorded this tradition concerning the two brothers:

    • “On the night preceding one of the engagements, Henry, his brother, went into the camp of the other army, eluding the vigilance of the sentry, and reached John’s tent, in the hope of enjoying an affectionate interview, previously to the uncertain events of the morrow. On entering the tent, John, alarmed at the sudden appearance of a stranger, as he conceived Henry to be, rose upon his bed and shot him dead on the spot.” Some authorities say that John Richmond killed himself in remorse for this act, while others have it that he abandoned the family estates and fled to parts unknown. There were fragmentary rumors that he exiled himself and engaged in business pursuits under another name in the northern part of England. However that may have been, an interesting speculation, that seems to have much of soundness and reason in it, connects him with the American Richmond’s, as will now be seen.

    • In the manuscript of the Rev. Legh Richmond a tradition is recorded that the John Richmond of Ashton-Keynes, who shot his brother Henry Richmond, came to America in 1635 and engaged in business. Joshua Bailey Richmond, in his work, “The Richmond Family, 1598-1896, and Pre-American Ancestors, 1040-1594,” refers to this tradition and says in connection with it that nothing is definitely known concerning the American John Richmond between the years 1643 and 1655. He thinks that this John Richmond may have been the John Richmond who came to Saco, Maine, in 1635, and that he may have returned to England and engaged in the Civil War. He was called Colonel, which circumstance might also tend to identify him with the John Richmond of the Civil War.

  • He died in Taunton, March 20, 1664.  He was married in England, although no record of his marriage has been found as yet.

Source :  Richmond History website