Some account of the Landholders of Yorkshire named in Domesday Book, A.D. 1086. (Reprinted from the 'Yorkshire Archæological Journal.')

Introduction

. This remarkable record is now so much better known than formerly, from the photo-facsimiles recently executed at the Ordnance Survey Office, that but few words, by way of preface, are needed, to introduce the following biographical notices. The Yorkshire portion, however, still wants indices and an accompanying translation to make it more appreciated and useful, for the translation by the Rev. William Bawden, Vicar of Hooton-Pagnel, of what refers to Yorkshire, Notts, &c, printed at Doncaster in 1809, has long been out of print. Yorkshire, " Evrvicscire," occupies from folio 298 to 333 of the first volume of the original MS. and this part of the survey seems to have been made during the year 1085, previous to the completion and registration of all the returns from the various counties. The portion referring to Yorkshire may be thus divided : — 1.

The survey of the city of York. 2. A list of the tenants in capite. 3. The particular specification of the manors, lands, and rights of each tenant in capite, with, in every case, the name of the possessor in King Edward's time, and that of the grantee's feoffee if subinfeuded. 4. " Claims " and disputed titles, rights, boundaries, &c. This follows after the survey of Lincolnshire, folios 373 and 4. 5. A summary or recapitulation of carucates arranged by locality, in wapentakes, beginning folio 379. Part 2 is a sort of table of precedence of the tenants in capite ; after the Terra Begis come the Ecclesiastics, then the Earls, but the Barons and others follow without any B apparent arrangement, though those of the same Christian name seem grouped together, and the more important are given first.

This list does not correspond in order with the names in the 3rd division, for after No. 17 Goisfrid de la Wirce is omitted by mistake, and Abbas Eboraci is given, though he does not occur as a tenant in capite in the latter ; as he was included in this list, the Abbot of Selby ought to have been also, but he was not. Appended also is tbe name of Rogerius Pictavensis, because most of his lands had been seized by the King, and his possession of the rest was doubtful, while on 332 b. is added the Fief given to Robert de Bruis after the "Book of Winton " was written, as it says. Of the red numbers before the names of the tenants in the 3rd division, 35 is a clerical error for 25, 36 for 26, and so on to the end, and there is no number 14. Correcting this, their order is preserved in the following notes.

Any genealogical or biographical facts the survey itself may contain are incidental only, as it was no part of the design to give such particulars. Such as do occur are here brought together and supplemented by any notices of the same persons to be found in the best contemporary chronicles, as the Anglo-Saxon, those of Florence of Worcester, Ordericus Vitalis and others, with references to their charters in the cartularies of the Monasteries of Normandy, Brittany, and England. Good use has been made of the valuable notes of the late Mr. Thomas Stapleton, who by critical research succeeded in tracking so many of these Norman adventurers to their old homes. " An Introduction to Domesday Book," 2 vols., now very scarce, by Sir Henry Ellis, who superintended an edition of the Survey in facsimile type for the Becord Commission, has a most useful set of indices to persons mentioned therein.

That noble monument of the industry of our venerated topographer Roger Dodsworth and his-colleague (Sir) William Dugdale, tbe " Monasticon- Anglicanum," and the "Baronage" of the latter, have supplied most of the information here brought together, but the Monastic Registers, then trusted, have been rejected, except where they bear evidence of their own veracity and accord with history. The errors thus originated have infected most topographical works, and are still propagated. It will be observed that the new sites fixed upon by the Norman barons for their castles, as Richmond, Pontefract, Tickhill, are not mentioned in the Survey, nor can the manors even in which they were erected be identified with certainty, though they were then already existing. Every baron had at least one valuable manor rated as having an increased value since King Edward's time, which, as this was the exception, for depreciation1 was the rule, may generally be taken to include, if not the " caput baroniæ," at least a residence either of the Baron himself or of one of his chief tenants.

So involved and complicated were the boundaries of the great lordships, even before the conquest, with the berwicks and detached districts in their soke, that a map of Yorkshire on a small scale, showing the various properties clearly, is not possible, though an excellent one is given of that part of the county within the Deanery of Doncaster iu the 2nd volume of Mr. Hunter's valuable work, " South Yorkshire." I. TENANTS IN CAPITE. II.2 ABCHIEPISCOPUS EBORACENSIS (et canonici ac Homines eius). This was Thomas canon of Bayeux, the first Norman Archbishop, successor of the venerable Aldred, who died of orief on the Friday (18 Sept. 106.9) before the accidental destruction of the minster by fire, and the sacking of York by the Danes. Aldred had crowned the Conqueror in West minster Abbey on Christmas day 1066.

Thomas was not nominated until the Whitsuntide following after the death of his predecessor, so the see was vacant 8 months. At the 1 It was long before the county re covered from the conquerors' savage devastation, when scarcely a homestead had escaped being burnt or at least plun dered, and from the subsequent famine wliich slew many of those whom the sword had spared. 2 No. 1, beiug "Terra Regis," is omitted here. The lands it comprised were then still nngranted. They were not, with the exception of Knares borough, intended to be reserved as Crown property, for we find considerable portions were soon after granted to Rob. de Bruis, William de Warrenne, and others. b2 date ofthe survey he had been archbishop 15 years, during wliich time he had greatly improved the condition of his diocese, for when he first reached it everywhere the wretched ness consequent on the conqueror's devastation was at its height, and the light of religion was all but extinguished.

He was a resolute and energetic man, and faced the difficulties before him with the Norman love of labour ancl organisation. Soon the blackened ruins of S. Peter's were restored or rebuilt, and covered in with a new roof, and so great was his expenditure in setting things right that he has been charged with impoverishing the see. Personally rich, be bad obtained it as compensation for money lent to William for the expedition to England. He remodelled the constitution of the secular canons of S. Peter's and of his collegiate churches of Ripon, Beverley, and Southwell, appointing his own nephew Thomas (after arch bishop) in 1092 to manage the property of the second as provost. He died at York, Sunday, 18 Nov. 1100. An impression of his seal remains.3 Of the possessions of the archbishop the most valuable was the great lordship of Sherburn4 (in Elmet) with the town, 2 churches, and all its berwicks, worth " now," as formerly, 34/. 6s. Od.

The chief tenants there were the archbishop's knights, a thane, 2 clerks, and the abbot of Selby. King Eadgar had given 20 mansions and lands there to the see in 963. Around the city of York the archbishop held 15 carucates, which had increased in value from 8/. to 1 0/. ; but the manors of Patrington, Swine, and Newbold were not worth half what they were in King Edward's time. Patrington was given by King Canute. The manor of Everinghara, with its berwicks, was in the tenure of a knight and 2 clerks. If this knight held it as his successors did, his duty was to perform the office of State butler on the day of the archbishop's enthronization.5 Lands in Newton (N.R.) had been given to the see by Gamel in King Edward's time, and the manors which Ulf, — Thorold's son, — -foreseeing disputes likely to arise between his sons about his property after his death — had vested in 3 Fasti Eboracenses, Vol. I. Elmet mentioned in Bede.

The arch bishops had a palace here ; the church has a massive early Norman nave. 5 South Yorkshire, Vol. I., p. 8_ 4 So called from being situated on the shared or boundary stream, which may have been the limit of the wood of the archbishop by laying his horn (still preserved in the vestry) on the altar of the minster, can be identified in the Survey which, in one instance, — Stanegrif, expressly states "given by Ulf to S. Peter." It was, no doubt, arranged that these lands should be held by his sons, of the see, but the survey does not give the names of the archbishop's tenants at these places. (Archæologia, vi. 52.) We now come to the possessions of the archbishop's canons. Those of S. Peter, his own minster, held lands of him in divers places. The carucate in Beverley, belonging to St. John's, had always been free of the king's taxes.

Its value with berwicks to the archbishop, in King Edward's time 24/., " now " only 10/., but to the canons 20/., then as " now." The 23 berwicks of the canons in St. John iu Holderness were unjustly claimed by Drogo de Bevrere, who had nearly all that territory, though the canons have the sealed charters of King Edward and King William. Archbishop Thomas, having the king's writ for it, granted them the soke of 4 carucates in Risby, bought of Gamel by Archbishop Aldred since the conquest. His liberty of St. Wilfrid in Bipon, held as one manor by his predecessor, had been devastated, for, though formerly valued at 32/., it was "now" only 71. 10s., and most of its berwicks were still waste. His canons there have 14 oxgangs. The minster church at Ripon (built by Odo Archbishop of Canterbury 934—59) seems to have been at least partly de stroyed, aud an apsidal choir aisle of Thomas' (intended) new church still remains incorporated with the later work.6 Here was one of the palaces.

At Southwell, Notts, he had another, a resting place on his way to and from London. The manor, " 20 mansions," had been given to the see by King Eadwy in 958. The canons of the church here are not mentioned in the Survey. In Lincolnshire the archbishop had 25 manors, and one of them, Lissington, held by Herbert,7 his vassal, had been improved in value, and was rated at 71. IO*., formerly il. 6 Walbran's Ripon. 7 This was probably Herbert '"the chamberlain," a tenant in capite in Hants holding _ manors (so. 48 b.), and another in the same county, of Hugh de Port (as his son in law, like William de 'Perci seems probable). William, one of his Bons, was treasurer and afterwards Arch bishop of York, 1130; ob. 1154, and was canonised. EPISCOPUS DUNELMENSIS (et Homines eius). William de St. Carileph, so called because he had been a monk in the ancient Abbey of St. Carilef (S. Calais) in Maine, abbot also of S. Vincent at Mans,8 being in great favour with William the Conqueror, was by him, 9 Nov., 1080, nominated to the see of Durham, vacant by the murder of Walchere, 6 months before.

He found his diocese in a very distracted condition, owing to the arbitrary conduct of Leobwine, the dean, to whom his predecessor had confided the administra tion of the affairs of the see, which resulted in the murder of the bishop as well as of himself, in revenge for the death of the thane Liulf. He seems to have succeeded in quieting these disorders by his tact, but he was ambitious and time-serving, for, though made justiciary by Rufus, he deserted him when he thought the rebellion to place duke Robert on the throne would be successful. He was, however, mistaken, dispossessed of his temporalities (Howdenshire being given to earl Odo, and Welton to earl Alan), and after defending himself with great vigour at the court at Salisbury, 2 Nov., 1088, against the king and primate in a stormy meeting, of which a most graphic description remains9 he was, after a vexatious detention, at length, under the terms of an agreement, allowed to embark for Normandy, where he was honourably received by duke Robert.

Tbe castle of Durham had been taken possession of for the king on 14 Nov. The bishop remained abroad until 1091, when, having regained the king's favour, he was restored to his see, which Rufus bad kept vacant in the interim in order that he might enjoy its temporalities. He replaced the secular canons at Durham by a colony of Benedictines, and, from designs he brought back with him from Normandy, began the noble and endur ing Norman church, still standing. He did not live to finish it, dying at the king's court at Windsor, Wednesday, 2 January, 1096. He was buried at Durham. Of the lands held by the bishop in Yorkshire at the date of the survey, Crayke, in the forest of Galtres, had been given 8 Gallia Christiana, Vol. XIV., 4r,7. torians of England, III., 731. 9 .Monasticon, I., 2H ; Church Histo St. Cuthbert himself by Egfrid, king of Northumberland, in 685, with territory 3 miles in circuit,10 that he and his successors might have a resting-place passing to and from York.

The bishops had a park and castle here on the hill in the midst of the plain. Two hides here were given by an earl Thorcd (. the one mentioned " Anglo-Sax. Chron.," a° 992) to " St. Cuthbert's Stow."11 Howdenshire had belonged to the rich and famous Abbey of St. Peter of Burgh, or Medes-hamstead (Peterboro'), but in consequence of the heavy tribute exacted by the Danes, it was wrested from it during the 3 years abbot Ebsi was in Normandy with queen Emma, 1013-5. 12 After belonging to king- Edward, William, as his successor, gave it to bishop William, who transferred it to the monks of his church. The bishops had a hall here, and the church was made collegiate in the reign of Henry III. We find William de Perci among the bishop's vassals in the East Riding. No less than 40 manors in Lincolnshire had been given by the conqueror to bishop Walchere, and lands in Covenham, held by the abbey of "St. Karilef" (340 h.), had no doubt been given by bishop William.

A very perfect impression of his seal is engraved in Sur tees' Hist, of Co. Durham, vol. 1, plate 1, fig. 1. IV. ABBAS EBORACI. This is abbot Stephen of Whitby, so called. At the time of the survey (1085) he was residingat York, having been driven away with his monks both from Whitby and Lasting ham, either by William de Percy (q. v.) or by pirates and robbers, or more correctly perhaps by all, but retaining his right to the lands bestowed upon him. The interesting account he has left of himself up to this date will be found abstracted in the article " William de Perci," with whom he was so much concerned. The abbot was probably at this very time engaged in his scheme for a Benedictine abbey at 10 Dugdale's Monast. I., 234, and u Hug. Candidi, Hist. ; see Monast. I., Simeon of Durham. 349. 11 Liber Vita:, Surtees Soe, 56.

York, but had not as yet obtained the patronage of Earl Alan, who 3 years after gave him the church of St. Olave, wherein Earl Siward was buried, and land outside the walls for the site. These gifts, with royal favour and his own exertions, eventuated in the famous abbey of S. Mary. He does not seem to have been aided by the archbishop, who claimed the 4 acres of the site, and persisted in his suit even after the church was built. He lost his patron, Earl Alan, in 1089, but not before he had further given the abbot a site without the walls, called Earlsborough, and had resigned the patronage of the foundation to the king, so that the abbey might have greater privileges. The buildings being planned were now proceeded with, but being seen by Rufus while at York, he proposed that they should be projected on a grander scale, and himself opened the ground.

The Norman barons and landowners were now most liberal in their dona tions, but the archbishop, not having received land promised by the king in exchange for the 4 acres, and growing envious of the rapidly increasing prosperity of the house, renewed his claim, and Rufus in council at Gloucester assigned him in lieu thereof St. Stephen's church, and moreover the abbot added of his own free will one carucate in Clifton and another in Heslington to pacify the prelate. In 1097, Stephen was commissioned by Rufus to take abbot Benedict of Selby (q. v.). For 24 years the real founder ruled the house, and died in 1112. The " abbot at York " is recorded as still holding Priestby and Sowerby (" waste ") in the soke of WTiitby of his determined enemy William de Perci, he of earl Hugh. So he was still considered to be abbot of Whitby.

This he must have soon after resigned to " prior " Serlo, his successor there. But the lands conferred on him by Berengar de Todeni, in Lastingham, the 2 Kirkbys, Spanton and Dalby, and held by him at the time of the survey (so. 314), were reserved to form part of the endowment of S. Mary's. The abbot nowhere occurs as a tenant in capite in tbe sur vey proper, though his name is placed 4th in the Index List, but in the " Summary of Carucates," which is evidently a subsequent abstract of the returns, we find him recorded as holding of the kiug in Die Wapentake, 2 car. in Lastingham, 2 in Apelton; and in Maneshow Wap. 2 in Apelton and 3 in Normanby [so. 380, b.). [ABBAS DE SALEBI, 302 b.13 Though his name is not in the list, he had as much right to be included as the abbot at York, perhaps more, and ought to have preceded him, being the head of the only abbey then existing in Yorkshire, and one, moreover, of royal foundation.

His name was Benedict ; he had been a monk of Auxerre, and pretended to have been directed to this spot in a vision by S. Germanus, a relic (a finger) of whom he carried about with him. This was in 1069, and very shortly after he had the good fortune to attract a passer-by on the river, Hugh Fitz Baldric, the sheriff (q. v.), who not only helped him him self and induced others to do so, but also obtained him the patronage of the Conqueror, by whom that portion of the royal manor on which he had settled was granted. A wooden church, and conventual buildings for the monks who soon congregated, served for them until the time of Hugh de Laci, the 2nd abbot, when the massive Norman church still remaining was commenced. The lands which the Conqueror himself, considered the founder, gave to the abbey in Snaith, Rodcliff, Brayton, and fishery at Whitgift (Monas. iii., 499), not being mentioned in the Survey, must have been either not yet then conferred or else omitted in error.

Of these the abbot would have been tenant in capite. All that we find the abbot holding in Yorkshire are the 7 carucates in Sherburn of the archbishop, who had given them. In 2 other counties he occurs. Lands at Stanford in Northants, which belonged to Wido di Reincurt, " abbot Benedict bought of him " (226 b.), though according to Wido's charter and the Conqueror's confirmation he gave them. The abbot of " Salebi " has 2 houses in the town of Northampton (219 b.). In Lincolnshire (so. 370), at Crowle, in the isle of Ax holme, " a certain abbot of St. German of Salebi " has under Geoffrey (de la Wirce) one carucate in demesne, and 7 others, fisheries and 30 acres of meadow. This can hardly be the hundred (or soke) of Crull, which Geoffrey by his charter <3 Always so spelt in the Survey and frequently so in other early instances. gave subsequently to the survey,14 absorbing his former donation.

The lands given by Gilbert Tyson are not recorded as in the possession of the abbey at the time of the survey, though his charter pretends to be witnessed by archbishop Aldred, who died 11 Sept., 1069. Two of the monks having stolen silver out of the treasury of the church escaped to Northamptonshire, but were pursued aud overtaken by the abbot, and treated so inhumanly by him that the matter was brought before the king (Rufus), who ordered him into the custody of abbot Stephen of York, during royal pleasure. Stephen met him in a field called Segewald, and he not only refused to submit but dared any one to lay hands on him, and took up his staff. Stephen would not resort to violence, so he returned to his abbey, but he resigned it in consequence in 1097, and went to Rochester, where he lived some years iu retirement.15 One is loath to give up the tradition that Henry I. was born at Selby, but it is very improbable, for his birth pre ceded the settlement of the monk with his miracle-working relic, otherwise we might have attributed a visit of the king and queen to this.

By the best authorities Henry was born soon after the queen's coronation, Whit-Sunday, 1067. Neither the Conqueror's charter nor the Historia Selbiensis mentions the event. In these unsettled times, when not on a military expedi tion, the royal progress would probably be by boat between York and Torksey by the Trent and Ouse, the route of the king's commissioners (so. 337), the only fact which makes the tradition at all likely. V. HUGO COMES.16 Hugh was the only son of Richard 'Goz,' viscount ( = sheriff) of the Avranchin in Normandy, by Emma (or Emmeline) daughter of Herlwine de Conteville, by Herleva, mother of the Conqueror, who was therefore his half-blood M Monast. iii. 499, Lans. MS. 207, c. lb Labbe, Nova Bibliotheoa MSS. rell's Hist, of Selby. 16 See accounts of him in first volume of Ormerod's History of Cheshire. librorum.

Vol. I. Historia M. Selebiensis, v., c. XXII., iii. aud iv. ; see also Moruncle as well as his kinsman on the paternal side (v. Pedigree, D'Anisy's Recherches sur le Domesday, p. 249). He does not appear to have been at the battle of Hastings,17 and the Whitby Abbey Reg. (New Monasticon, I. 409) is probably correct in stating that he came over the year after with William de Perci (q. v.), bringing with him, among others, his cousin Robert de Tilleol, who had been in England before, in Kiug Edward's service, and was afterwards the commander of his troops. They either came with the Con queror when he returned from the duchy, or had been sent for by him when he found what he had to do in completing the subjugation of the kingdom, and were no doubt actively employed in this, and engaged in the northern campaign.

Though Hugh had been recompensed already by grants in the south, it was in 1070, when Gherbod, whom the king, his step-father, had made earl of Chester, was imprisoned by his enemies in Flanders aud not likely to return, that the Con queror made him earl of the same, granting him the entire county, saving only the bishop's lands, " to be held as free by the sword, as the king himself holds England by his crown." A county with palatine rights was thus created, and we find in the survey the tenants in capite entered as holding " de comite " instead of " de rege." The king showed his wisdom in placing at Chester so trusty a person, so active, daring, and expert a soldier, then in the prime of life, and able to keep the restive Welsh at bay. But with the king's permission he did more, for he increased his territories at their expense, and built the castles of Rhudlan and Diganwy (on the Conway) to secure them.

The Welsh called him ' Vras.'orthe fat, to distinguish him seemingly from another earl Hugh (of Shrewsbury ' Goch,' or the red), both of whom they had good cause to remember, for in concert these two earls ravaged with great barbarity the isle of Anglesea. By the Normans he was named 'Lupus,' and M.D'Anisy believes this was because he bore a wolf or wolf's head on his banner : the latter was certainly attributed to him by the heralds long afterwards. He had lands and manors in no less than 16 other counties,18 but there is little to record of him in connection with York- 17 According to Wace " Richard d'Av rencin was at the battle : this was the father, who was still surviving 1084. (D'Anisy). 18 In Lincoln-hire he had 7 manors that had been " earl " (kiug) Harold's ; Gianham a very valuable one.

(West) Halton was held of him by William fitz shire, wherein he obtained 7 manors on the sea coast, remote from his other possessions. These were the 4 manors of Whitby, with the berwick of Sneton, and soke in 11 places, formerly held by earl Siward as one lordship and worth 112/. ' now' only 60s., and held under earl Hugh by William de Perci. The 1 1 places were all waste, but the abbot of York has Priestby and Sowerby of William. Earl Siward's manor of Loftbouse formerly valued at 48/. " now nothing ; " as with 12 places in the soke all waste, but in Easington there 'is' a solitary villane with a plough, but a church without a priest. Acklam, another of earl Siward's manors, formerly with the berwick in Ingleby and soke worth 46/., not now as many shillings : — 40. Hugh fitz Norman was the earl's tenant here and at Flamboro' (24/. now but 10*.), which had be longed to ' earl Harold,' as the survey always styles the king, whose manor of Catton (28/. now 100s.), William (de Perci) also holds of earl Hugh.

How desolate must have been especially this part ofthe county at the date of the survey, after the Conqueror's savage devastation in 1069, and the plunder ing inroads of the north sea rovers, still continued where there was anything left worth carrying off. It seems the earl had not only obtained a grant of these manors by 1074, but William de Perci was already his tenant at Sneton at least, for the monk Reinfrid is said to have visited him there in that year (v. William de Perci). This Reinfrid a Benedic tine, making an effort to re-establish Whitby abbey, and having permission from William de Perci (q. v.), obtained from earl Hugh, as superior lord of the fief, the church of St. Peter ' with all appertaining to it,' meaning no doubt the ruined conventual buildings and the precincts, and he gave also Flamburgh church with all its tithes.

His charter (Mon. 1. 412) is directed to archbishop Thomas, William de Perci, and H(ugh fitz Baldric) the sheriff, as well as to his own bailiff's and officers, and was probably made at York, being witnessed by earl Alan, R. Paynell, Eschetill de Bulmer, Robert de Bruis, &c : and as Reinfrid is styled ' prior,' the date is between 1074 and 1078. The earl at the time of the survey was claiming (so. 373) of his tenant William de Perci one carucate in Filling, say- Nigel, who had also of the earl another stable, an office which the second Lacys place of this name in Cheshire, where he inherited from him by descent. built a castle. He was the earl's coning it belonged to Whitby, but he has no proof. In York (so. 298) it is stated William de Perci has of earl Hugh the houses of the two sheriffs of earl Harold, but the burgesses say one of these had not been the earl's, but the other had been forfeited to him.

William also has of the earl, S. Cuth bert's church and 7 small houses, altogether in width (only) 55 feet. The Register of Whitby abbey (Mon. I. 409) asserts that the earl gaye the manors William de Perci held, to him as freely as he himself had them by the king's gift. If so it must have been subsequent to the date of the survey and the earl's connection with this county would then cease. He is frequently mentioned by Ordericus Vitalis, who has twice drawn his character, though not in very favourable terms. He describes him as not merely liberal but prodigal ; not satisfied with his personal retainers, he kept an army on foot. Like his generosity his rapacity was unbounded, and being fond of sports, he encouraged those who attended him in hawking and hunting, more than clerks or those who farmed his lands.

Though a brave soldier he indulged in gluttony, and became so stout he could scarcely walk (iv. 7 and vi. 2). He witnessed the king's charter to the monks of Evroult, made at Winchester in 1081, by which his own gifts and those of his tenants were ratified, and Robert, a son of his, was at the same time dedicated to be a monk there (ib. vi. 5). He was among those who engaged to attend Odo bishop of Bayeux, when he took measures for succeeding Hildebrand in the papacy in the same year (ib. vii. 8). Although he was one of the chief of those on whom Rufus could rely, in 1091 we find him an adherent of Henry in Normandy, but doubting of the success of his cause in the midst of the war he deserted to Rufus, into whose hands he surrendered his castles (ib. viii. 18), and in 1097 had a command under Robert de Belesme in the king's forces, which made an eruption into the French Vexin (ib. x. 5).