William de Vescy of Kildare

William de Vescy of Kildare
Baron de Vesci (1313-1314)
Coat of arms of William de Vescy
Born	bef. 1297
Died	24 June 1314 Bannockburn
Noble family	de Vesci
Father	William de Vesci

William de Vescy, sometimes spelt Vesci, Baron de Vesci (died 24 June 1314), was an illegitimate child of William de Vesci and Devorgille, daughter of Donal Roe Macarthy Mor, Prince of Desmond. He was born in Kildare, Ireland, and after his father died in 1297, as he was underage, his properties in England were in trust under Antony Bek, Bishop of Durham.

In 1300, William was summoned to serve in an army against the Scots.

He or his guardian Antony Bek, Prince Bishop of Durham, sold Alnwick Castle on 19 November 1309 to Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy. (For more details, see the entry on Lord Percy). It is unclear how much of the money William actually received. William was summoned to parliament on 8 January 1313, as Lord Vescy of Malton.

On 24 June 1314, while serving as a retainer of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, William perished at the Battle of Bannockburn. His body was conveyed to York and interred in the chancel of St Mary's Abbey, York.

Although it is sometimes said that William married Maud, widow of Thomas Neville of Cleatham, this is unlikely. On William's death, his estates devolved upon his distant cousin in law, Gilbert de Ayton, husband of Margery, daughter of Warin de Vesci, a son of Eustace de Vesci.

William's coat of arms is recorded by the fourteenth-century Parliamentary Roll. It is emblazoned: Or, a plain cross Sable. The same coat of arms was borne by his uncle, John de Vesci (died 1289). William's stone effigy of an armed knight, that seems to have originally sat at St Mary's Abbey, shows the Vescy family coat of arms differenced with a bend.