“In the Reign of Edward I lived John de Bellew, who married Laderina, youngest of the four Sisters and Coheirs of Peter de Bruce, descended from the same Lineage as the Kings of Scotland, who died in 1271, and Daughter of Peter de Bruce, who died the 6th of that Reign, with whom he had the Lordship of Carleton, and other Manors, in the North Parts of England: And in 1375 James Bellew of Bellewstown in Meath held the Carragh, near Dundalk, in the County of Louth, and married Ismay, daughter to Richard Dillon of Allenstown, Ancestor to the Earl of Roscommon, by whom he had Richard his Heir; and a Daughter Anne, married to (blank) Sarsfield of Morechurch.
Richard, who succeeded at Bellewstown, had Issue James Bellew, Esq, who marrying Catharine, Daughter to Patrick Begg of Fleshelliston, had Richard, his Heir, who took to Wife Catharine, Daughter to Thomas Fitz-Gerald of the Rath of Greenock, and had Issue 3 Sons, and 3 Daughters; George, his Heir; James; Christopher; Jane, married to Thomas Teling of Monaghan; Catharine, to James Cusack, Esq; and Anne.
To George, the eldest Son, succeeded John Bellew, Esq, the Father of another John, who by Commission, dated at Trym, 16 March 1381, was appointed, with Leonard Hakelynge, Overseers of the Keepers of the Peace in the Baronies of Duleek, Scryne, Rathtoath, and Dunboyne. He married Anne, Daughter and Coheir to Sir Thomas de Verdon, and had Issue Sir John Bellew of Bellewstown, Knt, who lived in the Reigns of Henry IV, V, and VI; was Sheriff of the County of Louth 4 (sic) Hen IV, and in Consideration of the great Expences and Labours he had sustained for the Safety and Defence thereof, had a Grant, dated at Kells 12 May, of 20L, out of the Issues and Profits of his said Office; and by his petition to King Henry VI desired his Majesty to consider, how he was Sheriff of the County of Louth for above two Years, and was at great Labour and Expence to preserve the Peace on the Marches; and had arrested, and delivered into Gaol divers Felons, and Traitors, without any Regard had to his Services by the Crown; whereupon the King granted him the sum of 10L out of the Exchequer, 29 October 6th of his Reign. He died in or before the 29th of that King, leaving by Catharine Leyns his Wife, (who that Year, 17 April 1451, being his Widow, had a Licence to go out of Ireland for one Year, paying into the Hanaper 6s and 8d for the King’s Use) Philip Bellew Esq his Heir, whose Widow Margaret was living in 1475 … “
(The Peerage of Ireland, Mr Lodge, Deputy Keeper of the Records in Bermingham Tower, 1754)
We can read between John Lodge’s lines. The family had a propensity for marrying rich wives and taking a few bribes along the way. The former tradition was unfortunately discontinued in the 20th and 21st centuries and the latter many centuries ago. You may be interested in the Hanaper, literally a hamper or basket.
“The Clerk of the Hanaper became an office in the department of the chancery, now abolished. The clerk, also known as warden of the hanaper, was paid fees and other moneys for the sealing of charters, patents, writs, etc., and from which issued certain writs under the great seal. The British office was abolished in 1852. In Ireland the office of the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper within the Irish Chancery persisted until 1922.” (Wikipedia)
To digress, while Henry VI was being pestered by Sir John Bellew he had enough time to found “Kynge’s College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore in 1440”.
How good to know that we are related. My lot came over with the Conqueror as well and, as Robert de Brus, was given lands in the north, Annandale to be precise. And taking only a couple of centuries or less, as it appears did your ancestors, to evolve into Bruces. A proud lineage. Sadly we seem to have mislaid the ancestral pile along the way.