FlemingClans.com

Simon Fleming of Kennethmont, son of Bertolf
(c1149 - after 1234)
Basic information about this person: \click here\

Symon is mentioned as a perambulator in an 1190s charter of Earl David at Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire. He witnessed at least six other charters before 1234 which indicate that he was a son of Bertolf. He served the powerful Stewart family, and his move to the west of Scotland brought the family into the region where it would flourish for the next three centuries.

Son of Bertolf

Simon was born around 1149, a son of Bertolf. His brothers were Malcolm, first of Leslie, Norman and Bartholomew. Simon was associated with Kennethmont in Aberdeenshire, close to his brother Malcolm’s lands at Leslie.

In the charters he witnessed, Simon was described variously as Symone Flandrensis or Flamench, “Simon the Fleming”, and as Symone filio Bertulfi, “Simon son of Bertolf”. Together these records show that the origins of the Fleming surname and the descent from Bertolf belong to the same man.

In the service of the Stewarts

Simon’s earliest known appearance is as a witness to a charter of Eschina, wife of Walter fitz Alan, granting land at Molla to Paisley Abbey between 1165 and 1177. Walter fitz Alan was the first High Steward of Scotland and founder of the Stewart family, and Paisley Abbey was his foundation. Simon was probably one of the household knights of the Stewarts.

His service continued under the next generations. Between 1204 and 1241 he witnessed a charter of Walter Stewart granting Mow in Roxburghshire to Melrose Abbey, and between 1208 and 1232 he witnessed the confirmation of a gift of two ploughgates at Penuld (Fulton, in Renfrewshire) to Paisley Abbey.

Move to Lennox

Simon’s service took him to the west of Scotland, where the Stewarts held Renfrewshire and the neighbouring earls of Lennox ruled Dumbartonshire. Between 1208 and 1234 he witnessed a charter of Maldoven, Earl of Lennox, granting lands at Luss to Maldoven son of Gilla Muire. His appearance among the earl’s witnesses shows that he had become part of the Lennox elite.

Family and legacy

Simon had two known sons: Simon of Lectehtwerling in Dumbartonshire, and Hugh of Dalnottar, who was granted Dalnottar by the Lennox family. Through Hugh, Simon was the ancestor of the Flemings of Biggar. By the end of his life his family had been transplanted from Aberdeenshire to Lennox, the region that would remain the heart of its power.