Tealby - Lords of the Manor: 1066 to 1086

Tealby –Lords of the Manor, 1066-1086 October 29, 2013
Researched by: John Downs
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TEALBY- LORDS OF THE MANOR, 1066-1086
Domesday Book entries for Tealby
Total village population in 1086: 52.5 households
Total tax assessed in 1086: 5.0 geld units
INTRODUCTION
Prior to the Norman Conquest the land in Tealby was owned by a number of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-
Scandinavian thanes. According to http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs2780.htm : “In
origin, the meaning of thane was 'one who serves'; but by the late Anglo-Saxon period the word was
often used as a synonym for a free man of almost any rank. Royal thanes were among the richest
and most powerful men in the kingdom, and median - middling - thanes were prosperous
landholders of local or even regional importance. Even lesser thanes were considered noble and
their service was honourable: they paid taxes and performed military service. A lesser landowner
who 'prospered so that he possessed fully five hides of his own' might attain this status. But there
were also very large numbers of thanes before the Conquest who held tiny holdings, so modest that
they were almost indistinguishable from those of the more prosperous peasants, and might even be
smaller. A thane was a free man, a noble man, but often one of limited resources”
When William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 he confiscated the holdings of these
landowners and allocated them to members of his own family and the Norman lords who had
helped him conquer the country. These people were known as Tenants-in-Chief. Unlike the older
Anglo-Saxon form of feudalism these people did not own the land because the ownership remained
with William the Conqueror himself. The land allocated to a Tenants-in-Chief was known as a Manor
or fief. Often the Tenant-in-Chiefs would appoint a steward or Lord of the Manor to manage and
administer their individual Manors.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that: "While spending the Christmas time of 1085 in Gloucester,
William had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire to find out
what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth.” The main
purposes of the survey in 1085, which became known as the Domesday survey, were to record:
 The identities of the previous landowners and what they had held in terms of land, livestock
and other sources of revenue (mills, salt pans, etc)
 What taxes (e.g. land taxes or geld) had been liable to the crown during the reign of the
previous king, Edward the Confessor
 the names of the new holders of lands, and the assessments on which their tax was to be
paid in the future
The following is a collection of extracts from the Domesday survey that relate to Tealby. I have used
three translations of the original shorthand Latin text: one from 1809 1, another from 1924 2 and the
last from an on-line database 3. I have started to include some biographical details of the Tealby
landowners at that time, as provided by Professor John Palmer in his Domesday Dataset4.

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1. MERLESWEIN (1066)  RALPH PEYNEL (1086)
1809 Translation: Manor “In Tavelesbi (Tealby) Merlesuen had 14 oxgangs of land to be taxed. Land
to 2 ploughs and a half. Ralph has there 10 sokemen with 3 oxgangs, and 10 villanes with 1 plough,
and 3 mills of 12 shillings, and 89 acres of meadow, and the sites of 3 mil ls. Value in King Edward’s
time was 12 pounds, now 50 shillings. Tallaged at nine shillings”
1924 Translation: M. “In Tauelesbi Merlosuen had 14 bovates of land [assessed] to the geld. There is
land for 2 and half teams. Ralf has 10 sokemen there on {de) 3 bovates, and 10 villeins with 1 team,
and 3 mills rendering 12 shillings, and 89 acres of meadow, and 3 sites of mills. T. R. E. it was worth
12 pounds; now 50 shillings; tallage 9 shillings”
On-line database:
 Head of manor: Tealby.
 Taxable units: Taxable value 1.8 geld units.
 Value: Value to lord in 1066 £12. Value to lord in 1086 £2.5.
 Households: 10 villagers. 10 freemen.
 Plough land: 2.5 plough lands (land for). 1 men's plough team.
 Other resources: Meadow 89 acres. 3 mills, value 0.6.
 Lord in 1066: Merleswein the sheriff.
 Lord in 1086: Ralph Paynel.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Ralph Paynel.
 Phillimore reference: 35,9
MERLESWEIN THE SHERIFF may be the important English thane in King Edward's reign who was
sheriff of Lincolnshire at some stage during King William's reign until he joined the Danes in 1069 in
their attack on York. All of Ralph Paynel's lands in Devon, Somerset and Yorkshire and almost all his
others in Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire had been held by Merleswein in 1066. Of this thane's
other estates, four in Somerset passed to Walter of Douai and one to the king and one in Yorkshire
passed to Count Alan. In Cornwall all the lands held by a Merleswein in 1066 were held in 1086 by
the Count of Mortain, three in lordship, six from his men, but although there is no definite proof that
this was the same Merleswein and that he was the sherif f of Lincolnshire it is likely. Frequently in
Domesday all the lands of an Anglo-Saxon in a given area passed to one Norman, as with
Merleswein's lands in Devon, Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire.
Identified as sheriff and official predecessor of Ralph Paynel in the Clamores for Lincolnshire ,
Merleswein was among the ten wealthiest Anglo-Saxon magnates after the great earls. He is usually
described as sheriff of Lincolnshire, being named as a sheriff in the Lincolnshire folios; but it would

make more sense if he were sheriff of Yorkshire, where the political weight of a magnate-sheriff -
the only such one in Anglo-Saxon England - would have been needed. A late tradition states that
Merleswein was given an official position in the north by Harold in the aftermath of Stamford Bridge.
Merleswein provides the classic case of an antecessor supplying title to a Norman baron.
Virtually the entire fief of Ralph Paynel came to him from his officially designated predecessor,
Merleswein; and the apparent exceptions can be explained. Ralph's holding at Sandburn was illegally
acquired according to the Canons of York, while those at Broughton and Scawby, previously held by
Grimkel, had in fact been in Merleswein's possession in 1066, granted to him by Grimkel in an
attempt to evade forfeiture. Ralph's only other holding was at East Carlton, where his predecessor
was a Thorkil. This may have been the exception proving the rule; but it is also possible that
Merleswein was Grimkel's overlord, these not normally being recorded in the circuit in which
Northamptonshire lay.
The only holdings of Merleswein which did not devolve upon Ralph Paynel were those which would
have intruded into the territorial blocks allocated to others: the Count of Mortain's Cornish fiefdom,
Count Alan's honour of Richmond, and the royal manor of South Petherton. There is no reason to
doubt that the Merleswein's who had held parts of these territories was the sheriff, Merleswein, the
only man to bear that name in Domesday Book.
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2. BRICTNOTH/SWEIN (1066)  ROGER (1086)
1809 Translation: II Manors “In Tavelesbi Swen and Brinot had one carucate of land and a half to be
taxed. Land to two ploughs and a half. Roger, a vassal of Roger of Poictou’s, has there one plough,
and four villanes and five bordars, and three sokemen who plough with fi ve oxen. There are four
mills of sixteen shillings and four-pence, and seventy-eight acres of meadow.”
1924 Translation: 2M * “In Tavelesbi Swen and Brinot had 1 ½ carucates of land (assessed) to the
geld. There is land for 2 ½ teams. Roger, Roger of Poitou’s man, has 1 team there (in demesne) and 4
villeins and 5 bordars and 3 sokemen ploughing with 5 oxen. There are 4 mills there rendering 16
shillings and 4 pence, and 78 acres of meadow”.
On-line database:
 Value:
 Households: 4 villagers. 5 smallholders. 3 freemen.

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 Plough land: 2.5 plough lands (land for). 1 lord's plough teams. 0.6 men's plough teams.
 Lords in 1066: Brictnoth; Swein.
 Lord in 1086: Roger.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Roger of Poitou.
ROGER OF POITOU was born in Normandy in the mid-1060s and died before 1140. He was an Anglo-
Norman aristocrat, who possessed large holdings in both England and through his marriage
in France. He was the third son of Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel de
Bellême. The appellation "the Poitevin" was for his marriage to an heiress from Poitou. Roger
acquired a great lordship in England, with lands in Essex, Suffolk,
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire and North Yorkshire
The principal part of the Lordship was in what was then called inter Mersam et Ripam, that is,
"between the Mersey and the Ribble" and is now part of divided into Lancashire, Merseyside, and
Greater Manchester. After 1090, he also assumed the title 1st Lord of Bowland. Before 1086, he had
married Almodis, daughter of Count Aldebert II of La Marche in Poitou, and sister and presumptive
heiress of Count Boso III who was childless and unmarried.
Around 1091 Roger's brother-in-law Boso died, but Roger was apparently preoccupied with Norman
and English affairs, and his wife's uncle Odo became count of La Marche. In 1092 Roger acquired a
large part of what is now north Lancashire. These grants gave Roger effective control of all the lands
north of the River Ribble to the River Lune, which formed a natural border between the secure
Norman lands in England and the strongly contested Scottish frontier lands in Cumberland. Due to
long established lines of communication across Morecambe Bay, Roger also assumed authority over
the regions of Furness and Cartmel; these remained a part of Lancashire until as recently as 1974.
The expansion of Roger's lands followed his support of King William II Rufus's invasion of Cumbria in

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AD1092, where Dolfin of Dunbar probably ruled as a vassal of Scottish King Malcolm Canmore.
Dolfin was driven out and the Anglo-Scottish border was established north of Carlisle.
Roger also acquired the great honour of Eye centered in Suffolk
In 1088 he led a military force against William de St-Calais, bishop of Durham, at the request of
William Rufus when the bishop was implicated in a revolt against the king; Roger also negotiated
with the bishop on the king's behalf before the bishop went to trial. Roger's father Roger de
Montgomery died in 1094. In 1094 Rufus sent Roger to hold the castle at Argentan in Normandy, but
Roger surrendered it to Philip I of France on the first day of the siege; Roger and his men were held
for ransom and purchased their freedom. Though Philip I was an ally of Curthose, it is thought that
this action was less a betrayal of Rufus and more a result of Roger's dual vassalage between the King
of England and the King of France. Roger did not lose his English lands as a result of this action but
held no position in Rufus' government from this point. Roger continued to be loyal to Rufus but in
1102 joined his brothers' failed rebellion against Henry I of England in favor of Robert Curthose. As a
result Roger de Poitou lost his English holdings. The King put those in Craven into the governance
of Robert de Romille.
Roger then went to his wife's holdings in Poitou. Almodis's uncle Odo was ousted as count of La
Marche in 1104, and subsequently the sons of Roger and Almodis are styled as count. In 1109 Roger
was permitted to briefly return to England to the court of Henry I though did not recover his earlier
English holdings. After ca. 1109, Roger appears to have either lost interest in governing in La Marche
or lost the political power itself as he is only seen once in the documents of La Marche as his wife
and sons held the authority in the region.
3. ERIK, BROTHER OF TOSTI (1066)  GODARD (1086)
1809 Translation: Manor “In Tavelesbi Edric had one carucate of land to be taxed. Land to 12 oxen.
Godard, a vassal of Gozelin’s, has there one plough and four sokemen with one oxgang of this land,
and ten villanes with one plough and a half, and three mills of fi fteen shillings, and sixty-one acres of
meadow. Value in King Edward’s time sixty shillings, now one hundred. Tallaged at sixty shillings”
1924 Translation: M “In Tavelesbi Edric had 1 carucate of land [assessed] to the geld. There is land
for 12 oxen. Godard, Gocelin's man, has 1 team there [in demesne], and 4 sokemen on (de) 1
bovate of this land, and 10 villeins with 1 1/2 teams, and 3 mills rendering 16 shillings, and 61 acres
of meadow. T. R. E. it was worth 60 shillings; now 100 shillings; tallage 60 shillings”
On-line database:

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 Taxable units: Taxable value 1 geld units.
 Value: Value to lord in 1066 - £3. Value to lord in 1086 - £5.
 Households: 10 villagers. 4 freemen.
 Plough land: 1.5 plough land (land for). 1 lord's plough teams. 1.5 men's plough teams.
 Lord in 1066: Erik brother of Tosti.
 Lord in 1086: Godard.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Jocelyn son of Lambert.
ERIK OF TEALBY 3 - The name Erik occurs on ten holdings in Domesday Book. There are sufficient
links between them to suggest that they refer to a single individual, despite being spread between
three counties and devolving upon several tenants-in-chief. The present entry and its dependencies,
held by Swein, Erik and Tosti, is connected to another group held by Erik centred on Tealby by the
intermediate tenure of one Rainer the deacon, the Tealby group in turn being connected to another
holding of Erik by soke in Willingham. Keelby, the final holding in Lincolnshire held by Erik, is just a
few miles away from the main group of his properties. Thistleton, by contrast, is some distance from
the Lincolnshire holdings; and Catworth and Sawtry in Huntingdonshire even more so. But Sawtry
provides a possible link between the three counties. The claims for Huntingdonshire state that the
Tosti who had held Sawtry was the brother of Erik, a claim confirmed by the Ramsey Chronicle ( Early
Charters of Eastern England, p. 235 no. 323). As already noted, the main group of Erik's holdings in
Lincolnshire were entered under the names of Erik, Tosti and Swein. It seems probable that this Erik
and Tosti were the same men as the Huntingdonshire brothers. Their extensive properties (and this
Tosti may have been the Tosti holding several other Lincolnshire holdings) makes the Ramsey
Chronicle's description of Tosti as unus ex baronibus regis Edwardi ('one of King Edward's barons')
comprehensible. Thistleton is almost midway between the Huntingdonshire and Lincolnshire
holdings and would have provided a useful staging point.
4. ROLF, SON OF SKJALDVOR (1066)  LOSOARD OF ROLLESTON (1086)
Land of Bishop of Baieux
1809 Translation, page 446: “In Tavelesbi Rolf had half a carucate of land to be taxed. Land to one
plough. Losoard, a vassal of the Bishop’s, has there 1 plough, and 3 villans with 3 draft oxen, and
one mill of two shillings, and another mill which belongs to Grosbi (Grasby). Value in King Edward’s
time twenty shillings, the same now.”
1924 Translation: M “In Tavelesbi Rolf had half a carucate of land [assessed] to the geld. There is
land for 1 team. Losoard, the Bishop's man, has 1 team there [in demesne], and 3 villeins ploughing

with 3 oxen, and 1 mill rendering 2 shillings, and another mill which belongs to Grosbi . T. R. E. it was
worth 20 shillings; now the like amount”.
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On-line database:
 Value: Value to lord in 1066 £1. Value to lord in 1086 £1.
 Households: 3 villagers.
 Plough land: 1 plough land (land for). 1 lord's plough teams. 0.4 men's plough teams.
 Other resources: 2 mills, value 0.1.
 Lord in 1066: Rolf son of Skjaldvor.
 Lord in 1086: Losoard of Rolleston.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Bishop Odo of Bayeux.
5. HUGH (1066)  IVO TALLBOYS OR TAILLEBOISE (1086)
1809 Translation: “In Osgotebi and Tauelebi inland 2 oxgangs, and one oxgang soke of this manor, 3
oxgangs of land to be taxed. Land to 6 oxen. There are 4 sokemen and one villane who plough with 6
oxen, and there is one mill of three shillings, and 3 acres of meadow”.
1924 Translation, page 485: “In Osgotebi and Tauelebi there is inland [2 bovates] and sokeland [1
bovate] of this manor, 3 bovates of land [assessed] to the geld. There is land for 6 oxen. 4 sokemen
and 1 villein plough there with 6 oxen, and there is 1 mill there rendering 3 shillings, and 3 acres of
meadow”.
On-line database:
 Head of manor: Claxby & Normanby le Wold.
 Value:
 Households: 1 villager. 4 freemen.
 Plough land: 0.8 plough lands (land for). 0.8 men's plough teams.
 Other resources: Meadow 3 acres. 1 mill.
 Lord in 1086: Hugh.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Ivo Tallboys.
 Places mentioned in this entry: Osgodby; Tealby.

IVO TAILLEBOIS - a powerful Norman nobleman, sheriff and Tenant-in-chief in 11th century England.
Ivo Taillebois was most probably from Taillebois, a small hamlet in Saint-Gervais de Briouze,
Calvados. He sold land at Villers to the Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen and donated a church of
Christot in Calvados. The latter diploma was attested by his brother Robert. Another brother, Ralph
Taillebois, was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Ivo succeeded him as sheriff after Ralph's death
shortly before 1086.
Ivo was among the followers of Duke William of Normandy who invaded England in 1066 and is
listed on the Battle Abbey Roll. He shared in the distribution of lands among the Norman Barons,
and received the lordship of Kendal as his allotment of the spoils. It consisted of a large portion of
Northern Lancashire and Southern Westmorland. His centre of power, however, appears to have
been in Lincolnshire, where he probably became High Sheriff of Lincolnshire after the downfall of
Merleswein in 1068. He married Lucy, probable daughter of Turold, the Sheriff of Lincolnshire before
the conquest and subsequently Countess of Chester, from whom he received all her ancient family
domains, thus making him one of the most influential nobles in England in his day. In 1071, King
William, with Ivo leading his army, besieged the Isle of Ely where the rebel leader Hereward the
Wake was based. Later, after Hereward, who had escaped capture during the siege, was caught and
imprisoned, Ivo dissuaded William from freeing him.
In the Domesday Book he appears as a tenant-in-chief also holding Bourne and many of its manors.
William Rufus further endowed him with the lands of Ribblesdale and Lonsdale in Cumbria on the
border with Scotland, possibly for his service as a royal steward. He was also granted the Barony of
Kendal by William Rufus, consisting of a sizable portion of Westmorland. Ivo attested several
charters for William the Conqueror before 1086, including the abbey of St. Armand and the abbey of
St. Peter, Ghent, and several for William II Rufus including the abbey of St. Florent, Saumur and the
abbey of St. Mary, La Sauve Majeure.
Ivo had at least two daughters. Lucy who married the Earl of Chester, Ranulph le Meschin and
Beatrix, who married Ribald of Middleham, son of Eudo of Penthièvre, and was probably his only
legitimate child. According to the analyst Peter of Blois, Ivo and Lucy's "only daughter, who had been
nobly espoused, died before her father; for that evil shoots should not fix deep roots in the world,
the accursed lineage of that wicked man perished by the axe of the Almighty, which cut off all his
issue." Peter did not like Ivo.
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6. JAULFR (1066)  RAINER OF BRIMEAUX (1086)
1809 Translation: “In Tavelesbi Rayner has one mill and four acres of land, and one villan who
belongs to Sisse (Sixhill).”
1924 Translation: “ In Tauelesbi Rayner has 1 mill and 4 acres of land, and 1 villein who belongs to
{tacet in) Sisse [Sixle]”

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On-line database:
 Head of manor: Sixhills.
 Value:
 Households: 1 villager.
 Other resources: 1 mill.
 Lord in 1066: Jaulfr.
 Lord in 1086: Rainer of Brimeux.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Rainer of Brimeux.
7. ROLF, SON OF SKJALDVOR (1066)  ALFRED OF LINCOLN (1086)
Land of Alured of Lincoln
Translation (1809): “In Tavelesbi Alured has one mill with the soke of the Bishop of Baieux”
Translation (1924): “In Tauelesbi Alfred has 1 mill in the soke of the Bishop of Bayeux”
On-line database:
 Other resources: 1 mill.
 Lord in 1066: Rolf son of Skjaldvor.
 Lord in 1086: Alfred of Lincoln.
 Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Alfred of Lincoln.
Reference documents
1. Bawden, W.:“Dom Boc. a Translation of the Record Called Domesday, So Far as Relates to
the County of York, Including Also Amounderness, Lonsdale, and Furness, in Lancashire; and
Such Parts of Westmoreland and Cumberland as Are Contained in This Survey. Also the
Counties of Derby, Nottingham, Rutland, and Lincoln, With an Introduction, Glossary”, 1809
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CsI2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA636&lpg=PA636&dq=dom+boc
&source=bl&ots=f5mpzwlnBP&sig=0yyoR1W8jVmdBvSmSORgkAQZToc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=12
ZvUvTrAdGg0wWSv4GICA&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=dom%20boc&f=false
2. Forster, C.W. and Longley, T.: “The Lincolnshire Domesday and the Lindsey Survey”, The
Lincoln Record Society, 1924.

3. “Open Domesday – the first free on-line copy of the Domesday Book”. Site created by Anna
Powell-Smith. Domesday data created by Professor J.J.N. Palmer of the University of Hull
http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TF1590/tealby/
4. Palmer, J.: “Domesday DataSet- A collection of data about and around the 1086 Domesday
book. The dataset was originally lodged in the repository by Professor John Palmer in 2008”.
https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:domesdayDisplaySet
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Tealby - Lords of the Manor: 1066 to 1086

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