, Ada De Warenne

Ada de Warenne (or Adeline de Varenne) (c. 1120 – 1178) was theAnglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl ofHuntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl ofSurrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry Iof France. She became mother to two Kings of Scots, Malcolm the Maidenand William the Lion.

Ada and Henry were married in England in 1139.[1] They had sevenchildren:
Malcolm IV, King of Scots.
William the Lion, King of Scots
Margaret of Huntingdon married 1) Conan IV, Duke of Brittany and 2)Humphrey III de Bohun.[2]
David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon married Mathilda (Maud) of Chester.Through their daughter, Isobel, they were the direct ancestors of therenowned Scottish King, Robert the Bruce.
Matilda of Huntingdon, born and died 1152.
Marjorie of Huntingdon, married Gille Críst, Earl of Angus.
Ada of Huntingdon, married Count Floris III of Holland.

As part of her marriage settlement, the new Countess Ada was granted theprivileges of Haddington, amongst others in East Lothian. Previously theseat of a thanage Haddington is said to be the first Royal burgh inScotland, created by Countess Ada''s father-in-law, David I of Scotland,who held it along with the church and a mill.[3]
In close succession both her husband and King David died, in 1152 and1153 respectively. Following the death of Henry, who was buried at KelsoAbbey, King David arranged for his grandson to succeed him, and at Sconeon 27 May 1153, the twelve-year-old was declared Malcolm IV, King ofScots. Following his coronation, Malcolm installed his brother William asEarl of Northumbria (although this county was "restored" to King Henry IIof England by Malcolm in 1157[4]), and the young dowager-Countess retiredto her lands at Haddington.
On Thursday 9 December 1165[5] King Malcolm died at the age of 25 withoutissue. His mother had at that time been attempting to arrange a marriagebetween him and Constance, daughter of Conan III, Duke of Brittany, butMalcolm died before the wedding could be celebrated.[6]

Following his brother''s death Ada''s younger son William became King ofScots at the age of twenty two. William the Lion was to become thelongest serving King of Scots until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

Religious houses were established in Haddington at an early date. Theycame to include the Blackfriars (who came into Scotland in 1219) and mostnotably the Church of the Greyfriars, or Minorites (came into Scotland inthe reign of Alexander II), which would become famous as "LucernaLaudoniae"- The Lamp of Lothian, the toft of land upon which it standsbeing granted by King David I of Scotland to the Prior of St. Andrews (towhom the patronage of the church of Haddington belonged). David I alsogranted to the monks of Dunfermline "unam mansuram" in Haddington, aswell as to the monks of Haddington a full toft "in burgo meo de Hadintun,free of all custom and service."[7]
Ada devoted her time to good works, improving the lot of the Church atHaddington, where she resided. Countess Ada gave lands to the south andwest of the River Tyne near to the only crossing of the river for miles,to found a Convent of Cistercian Nuns ("white nuns"[8]) dedicated to St.Mary, in what was to become the separate Burgh of Nungate, the extantremains are still to be seen in the ruined parish church of St. Martin.The nunnery she endowed with the lands of Begbie, at Garvald and KeithMarischal amongst other temporal lands. Miller, however, states that sheonly "founded and richly endowed a nunnery at the Abbey of Haddington"and that "Haddington, as demesne of the Crown, reverted to her sonWilliam the Lion upon her death".[3]

According to inscriptions within the town of Haddington, Countess Ada''sresidence was located near the present day County buildings and SheriffCourt. Countess Ada died in 1178[9] and is thought to be buried locally.Her remaining dower-lands were brought back into the Royal desmesne andWilliam the Lion''s wife, Ermengarde de Beaumont, is said to have taken toher bed in Countess Ada''s house to bear the future Alexander II. Millerstates that when the future King was born in Haddington in 1198 it tookplace "in the palace of Haddington".[10]