Sir Charles Clay (1885-1978), editor of the Stuteville deeds in the Early Yorkshire Charters series, identified Roger de Stuteville, sheriff of Northumberland, as the brother of ... Robert III de Stuteville restored by Stephen, making them both sons of Robert II de Stuteville, whom Henry I had disseised. It is certain that Robert had a brother named Roger: Robert III de Stuteville and 'his brother Roger' witnessed the king's charter for the weavers of York, which was place-dated at Pickering and which can probably be dated to the king's visit to Yorkshire in 1163. William, Roger and Geoffrey de Stuteville were entered together in the Liber Vitae of Durham as the brothers of Robert de Stuteville, who must be Robert III. Moreover, Roger de Stuteville's installation as sheriff of Northumberland at Easter 1170 coincided with that of Robert III de Stuteville as sheriff of Yorkshire. It has always been supposed, therefore, that the two men were brothers.
As Clay himself was aware, there were, however, other men bearing the name Roger de Stuteville alive at this time, possibly as many as three. One seems to have been the younger son of Robert III de Stuteville and is very likely the Roger who witnessed a deed of his father with other brothers. A second Roger de Stuteville was the son of John de Stuteville, another brother of Robert III, who held property in Newborn upon Avon, Cosford, and Long Lawford in Warwickshire. The precise date of this Roger's succession is not known, but it appears to have occurred before 1183-4. The third Roger de Stuteville was the heir of Osmund de Stuteville, whom Clay supposed to have been yet another brother of Robert III de Stuteville. This Roger de Stuteville held the manor of Burton Agnes and other property in Yorkshire; he also entertained claims to the advowson of the church of Weston Colville in Cambridgeshire. There is evidence to connect both Roger de Stuteville of Newbold and Roger de Stuteville of Burton Agnes to the shrievalty of Northumberland. The sister of Roger de Stuteville of Newbold was married to Maldred fitz Dolfin, tenant of the king for Raby in Northumberland. Roger de Stuteville of Burton Agnes married his daughter Alice to Roger de Merlay, who held the honour centred on Morpeth castle, also in Northumberland. This Roger, his wife, and their son Anselm were entered in the Liber Vitae of Durham. The identity of the sheriff of Northumberland is further complicated by his connexions to two men, Roger de la Rivere and Robert of Robertot, who figured prominently in the company of Robert the sheriff. Roger de la Rivere witnessed two deeds concerning Warwickshire business alongside Roger de Stuteville of Newbold and Robert III de Stuteville. Roger de la Rivere and Robert de Robertot both witnessed deeds conveying Yorkshire property together with Roger de Stuteville of Burton Agnes. At the very least, both men were clearly followers and clients of the Stuteville family. The only information known about Roger de Stuteville, sheriff of Northumberland, is that he held property in Yorkshire and Suffolk. This detail possibly eliminates Roger de Stuteville of Newbold, who in any case inherited only circa 1184. This still leaves Roger de Stuteville, younger son of Robert III, Roger de Stuteville, brother of Robert III, and Roger de Stuteville of Burton Agnes as possible candidates. If there can be no certain on the precise identity of Roger de Stuteville, sheriff of Northumberland, he was clearly a younger son raised on the coat tails of his elder kinsman, Robert III de Stuteville.
He was, too, a member of a family which maintained and cultivated a cohesive sense of its own identity. The clearest expression of this was the family toponymic, taken from Étoutteville-sur-mer in northern Normandy, and borne by members of the family on both sides of the Channel. The family's cohesion in the reign of Henry II is vividly glimpsed in a deed now lost but transcribed in the seventeenth century, by which William de Stuteville confirmed property to his cousin (cognatus) John. The deed was witnessed by his father and lord Robert and Robert's brother Roger de Stuteville; by two more of Robert's sons; by Roger de Stuteville 'brother of John de Stuteville' of Newbold; by the husband of Robert's daughter; by other relations; and by their tenants, officials, and friends. Either Roger could have been the sheriff of Northumberland....
... It is often impossible to identify the Roger de Stuteville who witnessed the private deeds of Robert III de Stuteville and the acts of Henry II in the company of this Robert and other kinsmen, but there can be no doubt that his fortunes were closely tied to those of Robert III de Stuteville. Roger's installation as sheriff of Northumberland, so it was shown earlier, coincided with the installation of Robert III as sheriff of Yorkshire. When, in 1178, the king replaced the castellans of the 'castles of England' with household knights from his 'private household' (familia priuata), William and Roger de Stuteville received custody of Roxburgh and Edinburgh respectively, both castles surrendered by the king of the Scots in 1174 and 1175. An entry in the pipe roll account for Northumberland in 1179-80, ,permitting the sheriff's expenditure of 50 marks on Alan the constable's custody of Edinburgh castle for half a year, strengthens the case for identifying the Roger who received custody of Edinburgh castle with the sheriff of Northumberland. By 1178, therefore, Roger had become a member of the king's familia and a key partisan of the post-war administration of the kingdom....
Roger de Stuteville's position in Northumberland also depended on his ability to forge ties of service and friendship with powerful men in the county and on the custody of wardships and honours. So much is evident from the union of the daughter of Roger of Roger de Stuteville of Burton Agnes to Roger de Merlay of Morpeth, and the sister of Roger de Stuteville of Newbold to Meldred fitz Dolfin, regardless of whether either man was identical with Roger the sheriff. Such marriages reflect the sheriff's efforts to entrench and extend his influence. 1
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