Key Facts

Snapshot:	knight seems to have died in combat during the Anglo-French War (but this is never explicitly stated)
Parents:	uncertain, but see below
Born:	unknown
Died:	not long before 22 May 1296 probably Gascony in (what is now) France
Buried:	unknown

Problem: Unresolved Who is 8406496Alexander's father? Some reference works state that 8406496Alexander de Cheny's father was likewise also named Alexander de Cheny,1 but as best I can tell the evidence comes exclusively from much later works (especially pedigree manuscripts), in some cases written centuries after 8406496Alexander's lifetime. I have seen no contemporary (or nearly contemporary) evidence to prove who 8406496Alexander's father was. If you have additional evidence or a better interpretation of the existing evidence, please contact me.

8406496Alexander married 8406497Agnes de Say. Their son 4203248William was born circa 1274.2

Around 1276 8406496Alexander's brother-in-law William de Say enfeoffed a manor in Patrixbourne to 8406496Alexander and 8406497Agnes.2 8406496Alexander also owned properties at: Streat, Sussex; Titburst, Hertfordshire; and Keston, Kent. The Keston property included a watermill.2 8406496Alexander's son later inherited Streat and Patrixbourne.3 You can read more about Streat here.4

On 27 July 1276, 8406496Alexander and his brother-in-law William were both granted protection with clause volumus (This protection barred legal action, e.g. prosecution or lawsuits, against the grantee while he was away from England serving the king, often for military service.) for "going to Ireland, for three years." 5

He apparently didn't go to Ireland, however (or at least didn't stay long), since on 6 July 1277 he was listed as one of the s͗vient̃ ("sergeants" or "servants") on a muster roll taken at Worcester, England.6

On 3 August 1282, 8406496Alexander was listed as a knight on a muster roll taken at Rhuddlan, Wales.7 Rhuddlan Castle was constructed from 1277 to 1282, so it's plausible that 8406496Alexander was a laborer for its construction or at least was stationed there. Notice that King Edward I was trying to conquer Wales around this time, so 8406496Alexander may have been part of that campaign.

The ruins of Rhuddlan Castle.8 8406496Alexander was serving in Rhuddlan in 1282,7 the year construction of this castle was completed. Therefore, he was likely stationed here and perhaps helped with construction.

He served in Gascony in 1296.9 The records loosely suggest that he may have died there in combat, since we know that 8406496Alexander died in 1296,2,10 and that he provided such "good service" in Gascony that 20 years later his service was used to justify pardoning his son 4203248William of a debt owed to the king.9 Furthermore, 8406496Alexander seems to have died in the spring (The earliest-dated record pertaining to his death is dated 22 May 1296.2), consistent with the English invasion of Gascony in March 1296.

The arms of "Alisandre de Chene" is included on the Dering Roll. Below are images of the relevant portion of the roll12 alongside an idealized image of the same.

Online genealogies that include 8406496Alexander often cite Douglas Richardson's Royal Ancestry as a source, but without specifying which original, underlying record(s) support(s) their assertions. Therefore, below I've copied Richardson's entry for 8406497Agnes and 8406496Alexander in full. 8. AGNES DE DAY, married about 1268 ALEXANDER DE CHEYNE (or CHEYNEY, CHEIGNEY), Knt. of Titeburst (in Aldenham), Hertfordshire, and Keston, Kent, son of Alexander de Cheyne. They had one son, William. Her maritagium included the manor and the advowson of the church of Streat, Sussex. Her brother, William de Say, also granted them the manor of Patrixbourne, Kent. Alexander adopted the Say arms: Quarterly or and gules, differenced by a label of five points azure. In 1276-7 John son of Gervase de Bruges arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against him and others regarding a tenement in Bridge, Kent. In 1276 he and his brother-in-law, William de Say, had protection for three years, they both going to Ireland. Alexander served under his brother-in-law, William de Say, as a Serjeant in 1277 in Ireland and as a knight in 1282 in the conquest of Wales, and later under King Edward I in Gascony. SIR ALEXANDER DE CHEYNE died shortly before 22 May 1296. Hasted Hist. & Top. Survey of Kent 9 (1800): 279. Clutterbuck Hist. & Antiqs. of Hertford 1 (1815): 133 (Cheyney ped.). Sussex Arch. Colls. 25 (1873): 108-111 (Cheyney ped.) (wife identified as "Agnes, daur. of Willm. de Say"); 65 (1924): 20-53. Arch. Cantiana 14 (1882): 169-170. C.P.R. 1272-1281 (1901): 156. Benolte et al. Four Vis. of Berkshire 1532, 1566, 1623 & 1665-6 2 (H.S.P. 57) (1908): 102-105 (Cheney ped.: "Alexander Cheney dyed 24 Edw: I. = Agnes da: of Wm de Say by whome came the manor of Patricksborne [Co: Kent.]"). Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 46 (1886): 111. Misc. Gen. et Heraldica 4th Ser. 3 (1910): 313-317. Moor Knights of Edward I 1 (H.S.P. 80) (1929): 204. Taylor Recs. of the Barony & Honour of the Rape of Lewis (Sussex Rec. Soc. 44) (1939): 78-79. VCH Sussex 7 (1940): 114.

Sources Cited:

1: Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Volume IV, page 459.

2: Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume III, Edward I (London, 1912), page 205-6.

3: Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office, Volume VII, Edward III (London, 1909), page 416.

4: Records of the Barony and Honour of the Rape of Lewes (Sussex Record Society, Volume 44) (1939), pages 78-79.

5: Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Edward I, 1272-1281 (London, 1901), page 156.

6: Francis Palgrave, The Parliamentary and Writs and Writs of Military Summons [...], Volume I (1827), page 209. For some reason, this copy is missing the book's title page, but you can see it here. On page 528 is an abstract of the relevant entry, which reads, "Chennay, Alexander de ...... 'Serviens,' performing Military Service due from Willielmus de Say.—Muster at Worcester, on Tuesday next after the Octaves of St. John the Baptist, 6 July."

7: ibid., page 232. The abstract reads, "Cheyny, Cheingny, Alexander de ...... Knight, performing Military Service due from Willielmus de Say.—Muster at Rhuddlan, on Monday next after St. Peter ad Vincula, 3 Aug."

8: Mike Peel, "Rhuddlan Castle 9.jpg" (photograph taken 27 May 2012). Mr. Peel has shared this image under a Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license.

9: Calendar of the Close Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Edward II, 1313-1318, page 377.

10: Calendar of the Fine Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Volume I: Edward I, A.D. 1272-1307 (London, 1911), page 375.

12: British Library Additional Roll 77720, folio 1r.