A.D. 1120 - 1450

The Danvers of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire were the elder branch of the family, and sprung from Ralph de Aluers, of Dorney, Marlow and Hitcham, who died early in the twelfth century (see the table of descent in Chapter One).  This branch failed in the male line with the death, in the year 1439, of William Danvers, of Winterbourne, Berkshire.  This chapter shows that research amongst ancient records since Vincent’s time has enabled us to make additions to his work.  We begin with a brief sketch of the descent of the manors of Marlow, Little Marlow, and Dorney, in order to show how it came about that some of the leading families of an early period in English history were associated with the Danvers family in the affairs of Marlow and Dorney.

DESCENT OF THE MANOR OF MARLOW

In the Domesday record we find the manor of Marlow (Merlawe) held by Queen Matilda, and we find no mention there of the existence of more than one manor in Marlow.  Ralph and Roger held lands in Marlow of Milo Crispin, and Mr Langley, in his History of the Hundred of Desborough, assumes that this holding constituted the manor of Widmer, which, as well as the manors of Harleyford and Seymours, were from a very early period manors in the parish of Marlow.  But Mr Langley provides no evidence as to the date when these manors were constituted.

Widmer

If Widmer was not a manor at the time of the Domesday record, it shortly after became such, and on the death of Milo Crispin fell to the Crown, from whose possession it passed into that of the Knights Templars.  On the dissolution of the Order, Widmer was granted to the knights of St John of Jerusalem.  At the time of the Domesday Survey Widmer was a considerable hamlet, having a mansion and some twenty houses.  The Templars build here a house with a chapel.  The latter remains, and judging from the style of the architecture, dates from about the middle of the twelfth century.  On the north side are two lancet windows, on the south the remains of three Decorated windows.  The east window, now blocked up, is also of the Decorated style.  The chapel is thirty-eight feet long by seventeen broad, and beneath is a crypt of late Norman work, consisting of two aisles divided by four arches resting on massive round pillars.  The building is used as the dairy and storehouse of the adjacent farmhouse, the walls of which appear to include portions of an ancient building which may be coeval with the chapel.16.1

Another manor in the same Hundred as Marlow, that of Desborough, is in Domesday Book called ‘Berlawe,’ and was held by Tedaldus of the Bishop of Bayeux.  It is quite possible that ‘Berlawe’ ought to have been written ‘Merlawe,’ for it is known that mistakes were made by clerks who copied the original returns, and Mr Langley assumes that this ‘Berlawe’ was the manor of Little Marlow.

Marlow

As regards the history of Queen Matilda’s manor of Marlow, it passed from her possession into that of her son, Henry I, who bestowed it upon his natural son, Robert, Earl of Gloucester; hence Marlow became one of the fiefs of the honor of Gloucester.  Robert’s predecessor in the earldom was Robert Fitzhamon, who married the Conqueror’s niece, Sybil, and was therefore kin to William Rufus, from whom he received the Earldom of Gloucester.  It was this Robert Fitzhamon who founded the Abbey of Tewkesbury, to atone, so it is said, for wrongs done by him to the English race.  He left no son to inherit his vast possessions, and Henry I gave his heiress, Mabell, in marriage to his son, Robert, whom he created on the occasion Earl of Gloucester.  The proud daughter of Fitzhamon would not receive as her husband the nameless man—albeit, the King’s son—till his father had raised him to the earldom.  This Robert was the great Earl of Gloucester, the faithful and chivalrous supporter of his half-sister, the Empress Matilda, and her son, afterwards Henry II.  He died in the year 1147, leaving as his successor his son, William, who died in the year 1183, leaving as his heiresses three daughters—Mabell, Amice, and Isabel.  Mabell married Almaric de Montfort, Count of Evreux, who in right of his wife became Earl of Gloucester, but dying childless, the earldom, and with it the manor of Marlow, went to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hertford, who received it in right of his mother, Amicia, heiress to her sister, Mabell de Montfort.  Gilbert was the first joint Earl of Gloucester and Hertford.

Isabel, the youngest sister of Mabel and Amicia, married Prince John, who, however, on coming to the throne, divorced her.  Their daughter, Eleanor, married William Marshall (Mareschal), second Earl of Pembroke of that name, and their daughter, Isabel, married her cousin, Gilbert de Clare, son of Amicia, whose son and heir, Richard, died in the year 1262.  It was his widow, Maude, who, in the year 1263, was one of the patrons of the priory of Little Marlow.  Maude took as her second husband Ralph de Monthermer, who in right of his wife became titular Earl of Gloucester.  With William Danvers he was, in the year 1299, co-patron of the priory.

Little Marlow

As regards Little Marlow, it appears to have become at a very early period an apanage of the honour of Wallingford.  Assuming that ‘Berlawe’ of the Domesday Book is ‘Little Marlow,’ the manor belonged, in the year 1086, to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and, on the forfeiture of his lands by William Rufus in the year 1088, it was annexed to the honour, and fell under the suzerainty, first of Milo Crispin, and then of Brian Fitz-Count.  It was probably during this period that the Danvers family obtained, if not the manor, lands in the village.  Vincent calls Ralph Danvers ‘of Little Marlow,’ and there is a tradition, repeated by three or four of the genealogists of the family, that Ralph and his son, Roland, were dapifers, stewards, of the honor of Wallingford, of which Milo and Fitz-Count were lords.  The honour of Wallingford, on the death of Brian Fitz-Count,16.2 was seized by the King, and from him passed to his son, Richard I, on whose death the honor came into the possession of John.  With John’s daughter, Eleanor, the honor, or certainly some of the estates appertaining to it, passed to her husband, the Earl of Pembroke, and went with their heiress, Isabel, to Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford.  In the year 1244, Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, and Sir Ralph Danvers, were joint patrons of the Priory of Little Marlow.  In the early part of the thirteenth century the families of Danvers and Neyrunt held lands in Little Marlow, and in the year 1328 William Danvers is called, in the Bishop of Lincoln’s Institutions, ‘Dominus’ of Little Marlow, while in the year 1324 he and Milo Beauchamp held fiefs in Little Marlow, which they had from their ancestors—in the case of Milo Beauchamp in the female line, the Neyrunts.  In 10 Edward III (1336) John de Stonor died seised of Little Marlow, and in the 36th year of the same reign Edward le Despencer was Lord of Marlow and one of the patrons of Little Marlow Nunnery.  In 46 Edward III (1372) Hugo Danvers, son of William Danvers, remitted to John Attchul of Wouburne his right in the manor of Little Marlow, and in 15 Richard II (1391) John Danvers of Stanton Derby released the manor of Little Marlow to Thomas Chebrey.  Before the dissolution the manor was vested in the prioress of Little Marlow, and on the dissolution of the nunnery was granted to Bisham Abbey.  The lands went to Lord Williams, then to Wilmot, then to the Borlase family, which became extinct in the male line in 1688, and the manor went, with a daughter, to Arthur Warren, and then passed through many hands.16.3  John Pattison Ellames, Esq., J.P., was lord of the manor in 1894.16.4

LITTLE MARLOW

Church and Manor-House

The village of Little Marlow is situated on the north bank of the Thames, and about a mile and a half east of Great Marlow.  The church and the neighbouring manor-house stand between the village and the river.  The church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is mainly Perpendicular, and consists of chancel and south aisle, nave and aisles, and west tower.  The oldest part is the chancel, which is Norman and Early English, the font is also Norman.  The church was restored in the year 1866, when the removal of a plaster ceiling exposed the original timber roof.  The manor-house, ‘a large old structure,’ writes Lysons, was rebuilt in the year 1800, but not entirely, for lately, on removing the wall of one of the bedrooms, the arch of a fireplace was uncovered, which a competent architect affirmed to be of the period of Henry IV.  The house also possesses an ancient underground passage, which connects the present cellars with a pond which formed a part of the moat.16.4

Priory

About a mile to the east of the church are the scanty remains of the priory of Little Marlow, situated in low ground near the river, hence, no doubt, its old name, ‘de Fontibus de Merlawe.’  The house was a small priory for Benedictine nuns, and was dedicated to St Mary.  All that remains of it is a building which may have been the granary, and possibly a portion of one wall which forms the gable end of the farmhouse that now occupies the site.  In dry weather the foundations of the hall and of the church may still be traced.  As late as the year 1709, a considerable portion of the buildings remained, and on the east wall of the church might be seen a painting of the Blessed Virgin attended by two saints, as also some armorial bearings.  The hall was twenty yards long by five yards wide, and as the community was a very small one, numbering no more than six sisters, they must have been much given to hospitality to require so large a hall.

Founder of Little Marlow Priory

As regards the founder of this religious house there is much difference of opinion.  Lipscomb says it is involved in obscurity.  Browne Willis16.5 thinks the year 1218 that of its foundation.  Mr de Gray Birch, who has written on the subject,16.6 dates the foundation during or before the reign of John.  The foundation has been ascribed to an ancestor of Henry III, but on no better grounds than that Henry gave land to the house, for the deed of gift16.7 shows nothing to support this theory.

The circumstances which bear upon the vexed question seem to be these: The priory was founded in, or possibly a little anterior to, the reign of King John—Langley thinks about the year 1220.  The evidence for so early a period as John’s reign is a charter in the chartulary of Missenden Abbey,16.8 which is stated to be of the age of John, in which the prioress of Little Marlow is mentioned.  ‘Ego, “A” [sic.] priorissa de fontibus de Merlawe et ejusdem loci humilis conventûs.’  Now, at that time the Danvers family had been for many years settled in Little Marlow, and were in all probability lords of the manor, and, as were their near descendants, owners of one mediety of the church.  In the year 1196 died Sir Roland Danvers, and in the year 1212 died his brother Ralph, both of them leaving children who were under age, and Ralph, if not Roland, a widow also.  Their families were placed respectively in the custody of the Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Jordan de Valoines.  In the year 1230 Agnes Danvers is patroness of the priory, and consents to the election of Matilda Danvers.  We have therefore good grounds for believing that this Agnes was widow of Roland or Ralph, and very probably mother of Matilda.  Is it not more than probable that Agnes, who at the time was the only patroness of the house, was its founder, and very possibly the first prioress, and the ‘A.’ priorissa of the charter just now mentioned?  In the year 1244 Sir Ralph Danvers, son and heir of Sir Roland, and Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, were joint patrons of the priory, and we may well suppose that Agnes Danvers before her death sought to safeguard the recently- founded community by placing it under the joint patronage of the powerful Countess of Gloucester, by descent suzerain of the honour of Wallingford, of which the Danvers family held their fief.  In the year 1298 William Danvers, son or grandson of the Ralph just mentioned, took a part in the election of a prioress, and in the year 1305 he and the Countess of Gloucester were joint patrons, and this is the last mention which we have discovered of the connection of the Danvers family with the affairs of the priory.  The last prioress was Margaret Vernun, who in 26 Henry VIII (1534) was made Abbess of Malling, in Kent.  Her former house was transferred to Bisham Abbey, but preparatory only to the dissolution of both houses in the year 1537.  A lease of the lands of the nunnery was granted at the dissolution to John Titley and Elizabeth Restwold, and the lands were alienated in 3 and 4 Philip and Mary (1555 and 1556) to Lord Williams of Thame and Henry Norreys.

None of the registers of the house remain; an impression of the seal was appended to a deed of 22 Henry VII.  It represented the Blessed Virgin Mary, bearing in her lap the infant Jesus, and sitting, crowned, upon a throne between two slender figures who supported an ornamental arch.  In the exergue in a niche was a half-length figure of an ecclesiastic adoring the Saint.

DORNEY

Descent of the Manor

Dorney,16.9 another of the earliest possessions of the Danvers family in England, is a Buckinghamshire village, situated on the north bank of the Thames, about two miles west of Eton.  Before the Conquest the manor was held by Aldred, a vassal of Earl Morcar’s.  In the Domesday record Ralph holds it of Milo Crispin.  This Ralph we believe to be the Sir Ralph Danvers whom Vincent and other genealogists tell us held the manor of Milo Crispin, as of the honor of Wallingford.  In the year 1244, and again in the year 1265, Sir Ralph Danvers presented to the Rectory, but it would seem that at this period Sir Ralph gave the Dorney estate, with his daughter Alice,16.10 to Richard Neyrunt, the advowson of the church and some land in the village remaining to Ralph’s son, who alienated these also.  The latest mention that we have of the family in connection with Dorney is in the year 1331, when a certain Robert,16.11 called ‘le Priour,’ sold a messuage and curtilage in Dorney, which he had by gift from Alice Danvers, probably Ralph’s widow.  From the Neyrunts the estate passed to the Beauchamps and the Canes; in the Nomina Villarium, 1316, Milo de Bello Campo (Beauchamp) and Nicholas de Cane have Dorney and Hitcham.  Since then the manor has passed through many hands, but was finally bought, in the year 1629, by Sir James Palmer, with whose descendants it remains.

Church and Manor-House

The church, which stands on the outskirts of the village, between it and the river, consists of nave, chancel, and tower—the latter late Perpendicular, the rest of the church Decorated and Perpendicular.  But in the walls of the nave and chancel are windows and doors, now blocked, rudely constructed of rough stones, which must be of very ancient work, antedating the font, which is a fine specimen of late Norman work.  One is inclined to suggest that Ralph de Alvers, mindful of the fine font in the church of his paternal home, placed this font in Dorney Church; but whether this be so or no, doubtless in it were baptized more than one of the Danvers family of Dorney.  The manor-house, known as ‘the mansion,’ stands close to the church, and at one time was ‘a very great house.’ Part of the fabric is of ancient architecture.

Burnham Abbey

Within a short distance of the village are the picturesque ruins of Burnham Abbey, of which part is now incorporated in a modern dwelling-house.  The Abbey was founded by Richard, King of the Romans and Earl of Cornwall, in the year 1265, for Augustinian nuns, and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  To the Abbey the advowson of Dorney Church passed after its alienation by William Danvers.

DANVERS OF LITTLE MARLOW AND DORNEY

In Contemporary Records

Unfortunately we have not in the case of the Buckinghamshire family of Danvers, as in that of their Oxfordshire relatives, registers such as those of the Abbeys of Thame and Eynsham to help in settling the order of descent.  Yet the institutions of the Bishops of Lincoln to the rectories of Dorney, Little Marlow, and Little Marlow Priory, give us some assistance; and we learn from two authentic documents, first, that in the year 1291 the rectory of Little Marlow16.12 was in two medieties, one of which belonged to the family of Beauchamp, the other to that of Danvers; secondly, that in the year 1346 William Danvers and Milo de Bello Campo (Beauchamp) held a fief in Little Marlow in capite of the honor of Wallingford, which their ancestors held before them.16.13  From the Bishop’s Institutions we learn that in the year 1230 Agnes de Auvers was patroness of the Priory of Little Marlow, and consented to the election of Matilda de Auvers as prioress.16.14  In the year 1244 Dominus Rad. de Auvers, Miles, presented to the rectory of Dorney.  In the year 1237 the Bishop of Carlisle, having custody of the heirs and lands of Richard Neirunt (or Nernuit), presented to the mediety of the rectory of Little Marlow.  In the year 1249 Sir Milo Neirunt presented.  In the year 1263 the Countess of Gloucester and Sir Ralph de Anuers were the patrons of the priory.  About this time Sir Ralph died, and it was probably before his son came of age that the Bishop of Lincoln presented in the year 1270.  In the year 1274 the Bishop presented to the Neirunt mediety of the rectory of Little Marlow.  In 1290 Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester, exercised the patronage of the Priory, and in 1299 he and William Danvers were patrons.  Seven years later William Danvers presented Robert Danvers to his mediety of the rectory of Little Marlow, and in the year 1305 took a part in the election of a prioress in conjunction with the Countess of Gloucester and Hertford.  In the years 1291 and 1296 William Danvers presented to the rectory of Little Marlow, while Sir Milo de Bello Campo (Beauchamp) presented in the year 1299, 1300, and 1330.  In the year 1328 William Danvers presented to his mediety on the decease of Robert Danvers; and after the year 1330 the presentation to Little Marlow Rectory passed out of the hands of the families of Danvers and Beauchamp.  Sir John Stonor presented in the year 1341, and the presentation to the church was subsequently, and until the time of the dissolution, in the hands of the prioress of Little Marlow.  Somewhat earlier, circa 1330,  the Danvers family also lost the right of presentation to Dorney Rectory.  In the year 1306 John de la Bere and others presented, and shortly after the right of presentation fell into the hands of Burnham Abbey.

Sir Ralph and Roger Danvers

The earliest members of the Danvers family whom we find settled in Buckinghamshire are the brothers Ralph and Roger de Alvers of Dorney, Hitcham, Marlow, and Soulsbury, sons, so we are told by Vincent and other genealogists, of Roland Danvers, the companion of the Conqueror.  These brothers we have identified (Chapter Two) with the Ralph and Roger whom we find in Domesday Book holding as sub-tenants in the places mentioned.  The family had also at a very early period lands in Berkshire, which had been brought into it as dowry with the Saxon heiress whom one of its members wedded.

Sir Roland de Alvers and Armorial Insignia

Sir Ralph left two sons, Roland and Geoffrey, the latter the progenitor of the Danvers of Oxfordshire.  Roland, the elder son, we identify with the Roland de Aluers of the Liber Niger Roll of the year 1165.  In Vincent’s pedigree the shield of this Sir Roland de Alvers is figured, gules a chevron or between three mullets or; and many antiquaries would assert that Roland was the earliest member of the family to bear armorial insignia upon his shield, such insignia, as they would affirm, not having come into use till the middle of the twelfth century.

Sir Ralph Danvers of Little Marlow

Sir Roland was, according to Vincent, followed by his son, Sir Ralph, of Little Marlow; and this may be the Rad. de Aluers who, with his son Roger, is among the witnesses to a charter given by William de Bray to the Templars.16.15  The charter is not dated, but the old way of spelling the name and the place of the charter in the register point to a period at least as early as the latter half of the twelfth century.16.16

Roland Danvers of Little Marlow

This Sir Ralph of Little Marlow left two sons, who divided the inheritance.  The elder, Roland, became of Little Marlow, Bucks, and the younger, Ralph of Wynterbourne, Berks.  This last-mentioned Roland is no doubt the Roland de Aluers of the Scutage Roll of the year 1186, which may be found in the Liber Niger.  He is also in all probability the Ruel de Alvers, son and heir of Radulphus de Alvers, who appears in an early charter, given by the latter to the Templars for the good of the soul of his wife Royes, lately buried at Bicester.  The charter 16 concerns a virgate of land in Cowley, Oxford, and amongst the witnesses are, besides Roland, the son and heir, a Thomas de Alvers, Peter and Robert de Sandford, Reginald de Huggenden, Bernard de Burnham, Robert Taylard, and Galfridus, son of Selfred.  This Roland also is no doubt the Ruel de Anuers whose name we find in the ancient register of Oseney Abbey, in a deed which was an agreement, made in the year 1183 or 1184, between certain knights who are named therein.  Amongst them are Thomas de Druval, whose name is found as a witness in some of the deeds in the Thame Abbey register, Ruel de Anuers, Godfrey de Bella Aqua, and Robert de Witefeld, Vic. (Sheriff) Oxon.  This signature gives us the date of the deed, as Robert de Witefeld was Sheriff of Oxon 29 and 30 Henry II (1182 and 1183).  Roland’s name also appears in the Pipe Roll of Oxon and Berks of 27 Henry II (1180).16.17  He died in the year 1196, as in the Pipe Roll of Bucks and Beds of that year we find Jordan de Valoines and Robert, his son, paying to have the custody of Roland’s children and their inheritance.16.18  This Roland was probably the husband of Agnes Danvers, first patroness and foundress of Little Marlow Priory.

Ralph Danvers of Dorney and Little Marlow

Roland was followed by his son Ralph, whom we find in Oxon Pipe Roll of 8 Henry III (1223),16.19 and in a Scutage Roll of the year 1228 holding two fiefs of the honor of Wallingford; and this is no doubt the Sir Ralph Danvers who, in the year 1244, presented to Dorney Rectory.  It may have been the same Sir Ralph who presented to Dorney in the year 1265; but we incline to think this Ralph was followed by another Ralph, the Ralph of a Buckinghamshire fine,16.20 dated 1281, in which Ralph, son of Ralph Danvers, sells land in Little Marlow to Ada Averyl, and that this younger Ralph was the father (possibly the brother) of the William Danvers who was undoubtedly the representative of the family in Dorney and Little Marlow in the latter part of the thirteenth century.  But if there were two Ralphs in succession, it was the elder one who was the father of Alice, wife of Richard Neirunt—the Ralph who appears in the Testa de Nevill in a document of the year 1234.16.21  He also is the Ralph of a charter, a copy of which is preserved in a Queen’s College, Oxon, MS.,16.22 and runs as follows: ‘Ricardus Neyraint salut: Sciatis quod ego assensu Alicia uxoris et Milonis heredi mei concess: Radulpho filio meo et heredis suis totam terram meam de Crowlton quod Radulph de Auvers dedit mihi in maritag.  cum Alicia filia sua.’  Richard Neirunt was son-in-law of Ralph Danvers; and as we learn, from the Bishop’s Institutions, that Richard was dead in the year 1237, Ralph Danvers cannot have been born later than the year 1190.  Another charter given by the younger Ralph is preserved in a manuscript16.23 in the British Museum, in which Ralph, son of Ralph Danvers, confirms to Richard, son of Walter, son of Robert de Chipenham, a messuage and three acres of land and an acre of meadow, which Edmund le Velle, of Dorney, formerly held of him, Richard rendering to him a pair of white kid gloves at Easter, or a gift, or a penny at his will, in place of all service.  The seal has an impression of a man on horseback, with a hawk on his fist.

William Danvers

Ralph was followed in Dorney and Marlow, about the year 1270, by William Danvers, whom we find in the year 1299 one of the patrons of Little Marlow Priory.  It would appear that about the year 1274 he ought to have presented on a vacancy occurring in the rectory of Dorney.  This he had failed to do, and is called to account by his neighbour, the Prioress of Little Marlow,16.24 who petitions the King that she may be allowed to present a fit person to the rectory of Dorney, William Danvers having failed to do so.

About the same time William Danvers has a suit against Alan Botiller concerning lands in Marlow, and in the year 1272 he is at law with the Abbot of Medmenham.16.25  Again, about the year 1275, we have him in Court, not altogether this time on his own account, but as a witness called by Alice Danvers, late widow of Ralph Danvers, and probably the mother of William Danvers,16.26 and this suit is also with the prioress.  Other suits in which William was engaged are on record in the De Banco Rolls of the period.  In the year 1296 he presented a Robert Danvers to the rectory of Dorney, and William Danvers of Little Marlow appears in a Bucks Lay Subsidy Roll of 31 Edward I (1302).16.27

The Second William Danvers

In the year 1322 William Danvers was a King’s assessor in the county of Buckinghamshire,16.28 and this may possibly have been William Danvers, son of Ralph, then an old man.  But it is more likely that it was his son, another William, whom we find in the Book of Aids of Edward III (1347) holding with Milo de Bellocampo (Beauchamp) lands in capite in Little Marlow, which their ancestors formerly held ‘per inquis.’

After this second William we have been unable to trace, with any certainty, the descent of the family in Little Marlow, while in the Close Roll of 1372,16.29 we find Hugo Danvers, son of William, remitting all his rights in Marlow to John Attchul.  Then, in 1391,16.30 we find John Danvers, of Staunton,16.31 Derby, releasing to Thomas Chebrey and others the manor of Little Marlowe, a manor which the family had held for upwards of four hundred years.  In all probability both Hugo and John were the sons of William Danvers of the Book of Aids of 1347, and with them the family disappeared from Buckinghamshire.

Neirunt Family

We have already seen that Alicia, daughter of Ralph Danvers of Dorney, married Richard Neremit.  The name is spelt in many different ways, and sometimes in two or three ways in as many lines of a manuscript: Neremit, Nernit, Neirunt, Neyruit, Nairemit are only a few variations of it.  The name illustrates the remark in the introduction to the printed folio volumes of Parliamentary writs, that ‘in combinations of letters formed by parallel strokes, such as m, n, u, i, the eye is unable to develop the elements of which the group is composed; a name may be Hauvill, or Hanvil, or Hannil, or Haunil, or Hamul.’  The name Neiremet appears in that form, and as Nairmere in copies of the Battle Abbey Roll.  Its most ancient form was de Nemore, from nemus, a wood, or grove.  The name was changed by early English Latinists into ‘de Bosco’ (boscus, a wood), and shortened into Bose.  Probably descendants of the family are amongst us under the name of Wood.

The earliest authentic notice of the family which we find is in 1162.16.32  Then we have, in Bucks, the name spelt in two different ways—Milo Nerenuit and Neremit.  In the Pipe Roll of 1164 we find the same name.  Then, in 1166, we have in the Liber Niger, holding a fief in Bucks, Richard Neirenuit.  In the year 1200, Liber Rubeus, we have Rad. de Auvers and Milo Neremit together.  Rotuli de finibus, Simon Neruit holding a fief in Bucks.  In the year 123716.33 we have the Bishop of Carlisle in charge of the lands and heirs of Richard Neyrunt, and this is the Richard who gives the charter already noticed, in which he mentions his wife Alice, daughter of Ralph Danvers, and their heir Milo.  Next, in the year 1249,16.33 we have this Milo presenting to his mediety of the rectory of Little Marlow, and we find him also mentioned in a Scutage Roll of 19 Henry III, holding half a fief in Bucks.16.34  Milo had a daughter Isabel,16.35 who married (Reginald) de Bello Campo, whose son, Milo de Bello Campo,16.33 we find presenting to the Neyrunt mediety of the rectory of Little Marlow in the year 1299.  In the year 1316 we find in the Parliamentary Writs Milo de Bello Campo is one of the lords of Dorney and Hitcham, holding, no doubt, the lands which were once those of the Danvers family.

William Danvers

In the last year of Edward III (1377),16.36 William Danvers, late Esquire of the King’s Chamber, receives £10 in part payment of £43, due to him in the King’s wardrobe, as well for his wages in the war, as for robes, restocking his horse, and his passage back.  And in the Pipe Rolls of Berks for 1 and 3 Richard II (1377 and 1379) appear payments from William Danvers, Custodian of the Town and Castle of Porchester.  In all probability these entries refer to the same individual, and that it was this William whose daughter Janet16.37 married a John Cleet, and became, as we shall see, mother of the Alice Cleet who married Edmond Danvers, of the Berkshire family.

BERKSHIRE BRANCH OF THE DANVERS FAMILY

Torold, son of Geoffrey the Saxon Thegn

We learn from the Liber Niger that in the year 1165 Ruel de Alvers held two fiefs in Berkshire of the honor of Wallingford, and that the same fiefs were held by him, or by a successor having the same name, in the year 1187.  These fiefs the family held from the Norman conquerors of the land, but they also held lands in Woghfeld in the same county, which they inherited from their Saxon ancestress, the daughter of Torold,16.38 the son of Geoffrey.  The manor of Woghfeld remained with them till the year 1320, when Thomas Danvers sold it to Roger Mortimer.16.39

Of Torold, the son of Geoffrey, we can learn nothing further than that his daughter married one of the early members of the Danvers family,16.40 carrying to him as dowry Woghfeld manor.  No doubt he was a Saxon of the Saxons, dwelling in the heart of what was once the kingdom of Wessex, and on lands which his forefathers won from the Britons in the sixth century.  Not far from the ancestral home was fought, in 870, the great battle of Ashdown, in which Alfred with his Saxons attacked and defeated the Danes.  The site of the battle has not been determined, but a tradition places it on Blewbury Hill, and holds that where, beneath the hill, the ancient church of Aston-Torold now stands, Alfred’s elder brother, Æthelred, remained in prayer while the battle raged.  Aston-Upthorpe, which is practically one village with Aston-Torold, once belonged to the family of Danvers, and was held by them early in the thirteenth century; possibly they obtained it from their Saxon ancestress.  That her forefathers fought in the great battle there can be little doubt; nidering would have been then thegn who remained at home when the King was warring close at hand for the life of the kingdom.  And if her father, two centuries later, was a Berkshire thegn, he must have been present at an even more eventful battle, that of Senlac.

Sir Ralph Danvers of Winterbourne

Sir Ralph Danvers, of Little Marlow and Dorney, whom we distinguished as the father of Roland and Ralph, was the last of the family who held the Buckinghamshire and Berkshire estates conjointly.  After his time the family tree divides itself into two branches, and we have now to consider that of Berkshire, the founder of which, following Vincent’s table of descent, was ‘Sir Raufe, of Wynterbourne.’

In the year 1201 Ralph de Auvers paid thirty marks to have his lands in Berkshire,16.41 of the honor of Wallingford, a payment for which the Bishop of Norwich is in some way responsible.16.41  And in the same year, 1201, we find Ralph paying five marks for transport—possibly this was to Ireland, for in the year 1210 we find Ralph in Dublin, or he may have gone to Ireland in 1210 with his friend John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich.  For this year King John, having wrung from the Jews the cost of an expedition, sailed for Ireland, taking with him, as his principal civil adviser, his favourite, Bishop John de Grey.  The Bishop remained in Ireland as Viceroy till the year 1214, and with him probably Ralph Danvers, who we suspect died fighting for the English Pale.  He was in Dublin in the year 1210, when we find him in the Rotuli de Prestito receiving payment from the King’s treasury there.16.42  Not long after Ralph died, and in the year 1212 we find William de Cornhull, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, paying to the King £100, a large sum of money in those days, to have the custody of the lands and heirs of Rad. de Auvers, and the right of marriage of his wife and children and this ‘salvo rationabile testamento predicti Radulphi.’ 16.43  In the roll the entry is under Berks and the honor of Wallingford, but Ralph appears to have held possessions in Bucks also, for in the Rotuli Lit. Claus, 351, of the year 1218, the custodian of the honor of Wallingford is to give charge of the lands which were those of Rad. de Auners in Merlawe and Dorney to Petro de Bosco (de Nemore, Neremit).

Robert Danvers

Ralph Danvers was succeeded by his son Robert, concerning whom we find many notices in the records of his time.  In or before the year 1224 he married Muriel, daughter of Alan de Dunstanville.  Alan had three sons, Walter, Alan, and Geoffrey, and four daughters, Muriel who married Robert de Auvers or Daunvers, Emma who married Thomas Englefield, Cecilia married to William Basset, and Alice married to De Baseville.  The members of his wife’s family went to law with Robert Danvers regarding pannage which he claimed in certain woods that were part of the estate of Muriel’s father, and also regarding lands in Shiplake which Robert claimed as belonging to his wife’s dowry, but the Court decided that Muriel ought to have her portion according to her marriage settlement.  The dates of these and other notices16.44 of Robert Danvers extend from the year 1224 to the year 1246, and from these we gather that Robert Danvers was lord of several manors in Berkshire, including those of Wynterbourne, Chilton, Aston-Upthorp and Woghfeld, and that he had lands in Telrugg and Colrigg in the same county, and in Shiplake in Oxon.

Robert Danvers was a magistrate and coroner of the county of Berkshire—the latter, at the period, an office of considerable dignity and importance.  By the statute of Westminster the coroner was to be a knight of 100s. rent; and ‘he ought to be the wisest and discreetest knight that best would and might attend upon such an office.’

In the year 1246 the Close Roll contains an order to the High Sheriff of Berkshire to elect a coroner in the place of Robert Danvers.  The cause of the vacancy is not mentioned, but it was no doubt owing to Robert’s death, for we find no subsequent mention of him in the records.

The Second Robert Danvers

Vincent and other genealogists tell us that Robert was followed by Thomas Danvers, who enjoyed the same estates as the Robert just mentioned, viz., Woghfield, Wynterbourne, Chilton, and Aston-Upthorp; but he must, we apprehend, have been grandson or grandnephew of Robert, not son, for while Thomas died in the year 1323, Robert was married in or before the year 1224; moreover, we find no mention of Thomas in the records till the year 1272, and he can hardly have been born before the year 1250.  The mistake has, we believe, arisen owing to Thomas’s father bearing the same name as his grandfather— another Robert Danvers, but an individual less concerned than his father in the business of the county, and consequently little mentioned in the records of the period.  Yet we think he may be found there, and may be identified with a certain Robert Danvers,16.45 the husband of Amicia, who in the year 1253 is concerned in a friendly suit regarding lands in Litelcote, which appear to have formed part of Amicia’s dowry.  This Robert Danvers appears in a Berks Fine16.46 in 1311 in a matter regarding the advowson of the Chapel of Wocfeld.  He, too, is probably the man of the name who appears in the Pipe Roll of 56 Henry III (1271) as holding lands in the Hundred of Windsor, and who again in the Close Roll of 126816.47 is concerned in a dispute at Stratford-Mortimer,16.48 a place which is very near Woghfield.

SIR THOMAS DANVERS OF WINTERBOURNE

The next member of the Berkshire family is Sir Thomas Danvers, who died in the year 1323.  The first notice of him which we have been able to find is in the Berkshire Pipe Roll of 1 Edward I (1272), in which his name appears twice.

He was probably born about the year 1250, and as he died in 1323, he can scarcely be assumed to be the son of Robert and Muriel who were married before the year 1224; but he held the same manors as did Robert, those of Wokefield, Winterbourne, Aston, and Chilton, and may have inherited them from him either as his grandson or grandnephew.

Favourite of Edward I

Sir Thomas was a knight, and a favoured knight, of Edward I; his name with his arms—gules, a chevron or between three mullets or—is found in a list of king’s knights which is copied into Harleian MS. 6589:  ‘All these knights served in the tyme of King Edward 1st, and were with him in all his warres in Scotland and elsewhere against Robert le Bruis, usurper.’  Another chronicle places him amongst those who were with the King ‘ubique.’  And the King found in Thomas not merely a valiant knight, but a man also after his own heart, wise in council and resolute in action, one who might be trusted to second him in his determination to establish law and order throughout the realm.  Therefore, in the year 1285, Edward raised Thomas Danvers, though but a country gentleman, to the office and dignity of Sheriff of the two counties of Berkshire and Oxford, an office which Thomas Danvers held during four successive years.16.49

Office of Sheriff and Pipe Rolls

The office of Sheriff was at the period one of great importance.  ‘In those times (1263) the Sheriffs of counties were usually men of high rank and great power in the realm.  To them the King frequently committed, together with the counties, his castles and manors within their bailiwick.  They provided the castles with ammunition and other necessaries; they stocked and improved the manors; the King, in fine, generally trusted them with the collection of his revenues and various other powers and jurisdictions.’ 16.50  Each year the Sheriffs made up the accounts of their counties, and these are known as the Pipe Rolls, which ‘are perhaps, all things considered, the most interesting series of records extant.  For each year there is a great brown roll, broad, long and unwieldy, containing as a general rule as many skins as counties.’  ‘They comprise yearly accounts of all the taxes collected in the different counties of England of fines, reliefs, escuages, etc., paid by the tenants in capite, whereby their descents may be easily traced, of sums paid to the King for having justice, or for liberty to commence suits at law.’ 16.51  The series from the time of Henry II is almost perfect.

Military Service

After Thomas gave up the shrievalty, in 1289, we have a record of him in a Bucks Fine of 17 Edward I which connects him with Chilton, and in 1297, if not earlier, he is again in military service.  In the Parliamentary Writs,16.52 Thomas Danvers (‘or de Auvers, or Anuers, or Auners, or Daunvers’), as holding lands and rents of £20 yearly and upwards, is summoned to perform military service with horses and arms beyond the sea; to muster at London on July 7, 1297.  The King had determined to carry an army to the relief of his allies in Flanders, and summoned the whole military force of the kingdom to meet him at London on July 7, and in August he set sail for Flanders; but the expedition was a failure, and not long after his return the King went to Scotland to avenge himself and his kingdom on the victorious Wallace.  We have no record of the presence of Thomas at the battle of Falkirk, but in the year 1300 he is returned from the counties of Somerset and Dorset as one of those holding land of £40 yearly and upwards who are to perform service against the Scots, to muster at Carlisle; and in 1301 he is again summoned (Parliamentary Writs) to muster at Berwick-on-Tweed.

Mary de Polhampton (Danvers)

In the year 1306 Thomas is at home, and is a King’s Assessor in Berkshire; and in 1307, the first year of the reign of Edward II, is again Sheriff of Berks and Oxon, and is so in the fourth, fifth and sixth years of the new King’s reign.  An inquisition, dated 1331, states that Richard de Polhampton of Balsdon, and Mary his wife, were living in the house of Thomas Danvers, at Winterbourne, when, in 1308-9, Thomas de Polhampton was born, and that Thomas Danvers was the child’s godfather; probably Mary was his daughter.

In Contemporary Records

In the Rotuli Originalia of 5 Edward II (1311) Thomas is mentioned as custodian of Oxford Castle.16.53  Doubtless he was present at the King’s coronation, in the preparations for which he had helped, for we find in Devon’s Exchequer Issues a record of an indenture between the clerk of the works and Thomas Danvers, late Sheriff of Oxford, regarding the carriage of timber and planks from Bustlesham (Bisham) to Westminster for the King’s palace against the coronation, and for cloth purchased at Abingdon to cover the said palace.  We may note that Thomas’s colleagues during his shrievalties were Richard Damory (whose brother, Roger, drew Edmund, the son of Thomas, into rebellion) and Philip de la Beche, whose granddaughter married Thomas’s grandson, Robert.

In the year 1313 Thomas Danvers and his wife, Agnes, appear in a Berkshire Fine16.54 regarding his lands in Oxenwode and Forstbury, and in 1316 he appears in the Nomina Villarum as lord of the manor of Aston-Upthorp, while in the same record his son, Edmund, is lord of Chilton.  In the same year Thomas is mentioned in the Parliamentary Writs as lord of Winterbourne, Aston and Upthorp in Berks, and of Stanbridge and Puttelworth in Hants.16.55 In the year 1320, as we learn from two of the charters which are included in the register of Roger Mortimer,16.56 Thomas Danvers sold to him the manor of Woghfeld, and lands and tenements in Stratfield Mortimer, Strafeld Say, Burghfeld, Schevyngfeld, and Lek-Hampstead Banastre.  Thomas Danvers is mentioned in three or four MSS. as holding lands in Chester, and in a list of knights, temp. Edward II (1307-1327), given in Dodsworth MS. 35, p. 102b, he appears as one of those of the county of Chester.  His arms, as there given, are gules a chevron and three rowels or.  Close Roll of 9 Edward II (1315),16.57 Thomas Daunvers, knight, without the King’s leave, has sold to William de Beche forty acres of land in Beaumaris, North Wales.  In 1322, as we learn from the Parliamentary Writs, Thomas pleads that he is blind and ill and unfit for military service, and in the following year he died.

Those who know the Berkshire Downs and the pleasant villages—such as Aston, Chilton, and Winterbourne—which nestle in their hollows, will agree that the lines of Thomas Danvers fell to him in pleasant places; and the old knight as he rested in his manor-house at Winterbourne might solace himself with the memory of the glorious days in years long past, when in many a hard-fought field he rode near the greatest King that since the Conquest England had known, and won from him distinction and reward.

Contemporary Events

Thomas Danvers died in the year 1323, leaving three sons, Edmund, William, and Richard, and, in order to understand their position, it is necessary to recall very briefly some of the events of the preceding years in England.  In the year 1321 the King’s favourites, the Despensers, had regained their power, while the Marchers, amongst whom the chief was Roger Mortimer, in alliance with the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster and other nobles, had risen against the King.  The King, by interposing his forces between those of the Marchers and Lancaster, had obliged Mortimer with many of his companions to surrender, and he then, with the Despensers, marched northwards in pursuit of Lancaster.  At Borough Bridge Lancaster was defeated, and with many barons and knights surrendered to the King.  Amongst these were Roger d’Amauri, or Damory, of the great Oxfordshire family of that name, and Edmund Danvers.

Edmund Danvers

One hundred knights and fourteen bannerets were made prisoners, about half a dozen fled beyond the seas; all the captured bannerets and fourteen knights were executed along with their leader Lancaster.  Of the rest, some compounded for their estates, some gave security, and some were discharged ‘for charity and love of God.’  Roger Mortimer was imprisoned, but after two or three years managed to escape to France; Edmund Danvers, probably because of his father’s loyalty and services to the Crown, was amongst those who were pardoned.  In the Parliamentary Writs for 1321, Edmund Danvers, one of the followers of Roger D’Amory, obtains a pardon, which, however, was afterwards revoked, and the revocation originated in this way.  The elder Despenser was made Earl of Winchester, and obtained, as a part of the spoil of the defeated nobles, the manor of Dadington.  Whereupon Edmund Danvers with many others—as he is mentioned by name16.58 he was most likely the leader of the band—forcibly entered the manor, and for this offence a Special Commission was appointed to try him, at the suit of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, and the King.  Again Edmund escaped with his life, but his lands were confiscated, and he himself was either imprisoned or banished.  And so it happened that Edmund Danvers was absent at the time of his father’s death, and that he was not mentioned in the disposition of the estates, his brothers, Richard and William, appearing as their father’s heirs.

Sons in Contemporary Records

When Thomas Danvers died, his powerful neighbour, Roger Mortimer, was a prisoner in the Tower, and his estates had been forfeited to the Crown; and in consequence of this we find two petitions to Parliament16.59 from Richard and William Danvers regarding payment due to them for the manor of Woghfield, which Roger Mortimer bought from their father, which payment Robert de Hungerford, the Guardian of Forfeitures, would not suffer them to obtain.  They therefore pray for a remedy; and in answer to their petitions, an ‘Inquis. ad quod damnum’ 16.60 was taken before William de Hardene and Ralph de Bereford, in the presence of Robert de Hungerford, as to whether Roger de Mortuo Mari (Mortimer), in payment for the manor of Woghfield, had granted to William, the son of Thomas Danvers, 100s. yearly rent from the lands and rents which belonged to Roger in Newbury.  The jury say that Roger Mortimer did make this grant, and that the lands from which the rents would come are held by service from the Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk; and they say that the aforesaid William ought to have the rent from the date of making the agreement—namely, March 24, 15 Edward II (1321).  There is a similar inquisition and finding in the case of Richard Danvers.  That the finding of the jury was acted on by the Crown appears from the Rotuli Originalia, in which is an entry of 9 Edward III (1335) to the effect that Roger Mortimer’s estates having been forfeited, and his heir being a minor, William Danvers is to keep custody of the lands in Newbury.

WILLIAM DANVERS AND MARGARET DE BORHUNTE (LOVEL)

William Danvers married Margaret, daughter and heiress of John Lovel, and widow of Thomas de Borhunte, of the Hampshire family of that name.  The estates of the de Borhuntes were in the neighbourhood of those of the Danvers family at Stanbridge and Puttelworth, and were, like them, held on condition of aiding in the defence of Porchester Castle in time of war.

Masters of the Royal Buckhounds

Margaret’s father, John Lovel, was Master of the Royal Buckhounds, and held in right of his office the manor of Little Weldon, in Northampton.  This office and manor Margaret carried to both her husbands.  By her first husband she had one son, John de Borhunte, who married Mary de Roches, and died in the year 1359, when his widow married Sir Bernard Brocas.  Professor Burrows, in his History of the Brocas Family, tells at length the story of the acquirement by Sir Bernard of the Mastership of the Buckhounds, and two fines, which we happened to light on, complement his narrative.  William Danvers survived his wife, Margaret Lovel, and himself died childless in the year 1361, when the Hunter’s manor and office devolved on Mary, the widow of Sir John de Borhunte, now married to Sir Bernard Brocas, with reversion to the Lovel family on her death.  Now, Sir Bernard wished to keep the office and manor for himself and his heirs, and he therefore proceeded to buy the reversion from a certain Maude Lovel, and this is the object of the fine.16.61  The suit, heard at Westminster, was between Sir Bernard Brocas, Chevalier, and Maude Lovel, concerning the manor of Little Weldon and the bailiwick of the Mastership of the Buckhounds, which Sir Bernard and his wife Mary hold for the latter’s life.  Maude in court recognises the right of Sir Bernard and Maria to the manor and bailiwick, and concedes them.  Further, as after the death of Mary they would revert to the heirs of Maude, she by this agreement settles them to the heirs of Sir Bernard, to hold of the King by the service proper to the manor, and her herself and heirs warrants to Sir Bernard the manor and bailiwick, and for this concession she receives from Sir Bernard Brocas 200 silver marks.

The other fine is an earlier one16.62 and is a good example of one of the legal methods of the day.  The suit is heard at Westminster, and is between William Danvers and his wife Margaret, and Richard Danvers.  William and Margaret recognise in court the right of Richard to the manor of Little Weldon and the Mastership of the Buckhounds; and then by present agreement Richard concedes the manor and office to William and Margaret for life, and on their death, should they have no children, to John de Borhunte, Margaret’s son, and to his wife Maria, with reversion should they have no children to the right heirs of Margaret.  In the year 1361 William Danvers died, and his post-mortem inquisition16.63 states it was taken at Little Weldon, and that William died seised of the manor, which he has as the gift of Richard Danvers.  Really, he held the manor jure uxoris; but under the fine just quoted he held it as the gift of his brother, and had, which was the object of the process, received in open court a settlement of the estate and its reversion.  William’s inquisition16.64 goes on to state that he and his wife left of their own no children, and that John, the son of Margaret, died leaving no child, and that his widow had married Sir Bernard Brocas.  There the jury left the matter; they do not—probably because they were unable—declare who is the heir.

RICHARD DANVERS

Richard Danvers outlived his elder brother, and also his eldest brother Edmund and Edmund’s son and heir, Robert, so that Edmund Danvers, son of Robert, son of Edmund, brother of Richard, was Richard’s heir,16.65 and was at the time aged sixteen years and more.  Edmund, though Richard’s heir, did not receive the landed property of the family in Hampshire, for the day before Richard’s death he enfeoffed Sir John de Scures, Roger de Englefield and others, of his lands in Borhunte and Southwick on condition that they should appropriate the lands on his death to the use of the prior and convent of Southwick.  Some six years after Richard’s death, on the intercession of William of Wykeham, who was specially interested in the Priory Church as the place of burial of his parents, the King conceded the estate to the convent.16.66

EDMUND DANVERS

Amnesty

Edmund Danvers we left in banishment or in prison, but he was one of the many nobles and gentlemen who were amnestied on the accession of Edward III, and was restored to his estates in Winterbourne, Chilton, Aston, and Leckhampsted,16.67 and became one of the knights of the shire in the second, third and fourth Parliaments of the reign.

Family

Edmund was twice married, first to Alicia,16.68 and secondly to Isabel, widow of Sir John de Swanland, who survived him.16.69  By his first wife Edmund had two sons, Robert and Edward.  In the Hustings Rolls of the City of London are several notices of Edmund Danvers of Wynterbourne, Berks, and his wife Isabel, widow of Sir John de Swanlande, of London, draper.16.70

Chilton

Chilton was no doubt Edmund’s home in the early years of his married life.  ‘Lord of Chilton’ he is called in the Parliamentary Writ of 1316.  Chilton Danvers the village is called in the fine which mentions Edmund and his wife Alicia.  The village is about four miles west from Aston-Torold, and is reached thence by a pleasant walk across the Berkshire Downs.  Quite suddenly one passes from the almost treeless, though cultivated plain into the circular hollow in which nestles the village, surrounded not long ago by a belt of trees, of which only some remain.  In the hollow, the picturesque cottages built of bricks, now of the finest and richest red colour, are scattered irregularly amongst gardens and orchards, dominated by the ancient village church.  The church, though small, is very interesting, and has been reverently restored, all the ancient parts of the fabric being, where possible, left untouched.  Thus the open roof shows the massive oak beams, which are no doubt coeval with the oldest part of the fabric, and therefore of the Early English or Transition period.  The manor-house of Edmund Danvers has of course long since disappeared, but the present manor-house no doubt marks its site.

ROBERT DANVERS

Edmund died before his brother Richard; he left two sons, Robert and Edward, of who, Robert, the eldest, succeeded him.  Robert married Alice, one of the sisters and heiresses of John De la Beche of Aldworth.

De La Beche Family

The sisters and brother were the children of Sir John and Isabella de la Beche.  John, son of John, died in 1340,16.71 and the jury say that Joan whom Andrew de Sakevill took to wife is aged twenty-eight years, and Isabella whom William Fitz Elys took to wife is aged twenty-four years, and Alice whom Robert Danvers took to wife is aged twenty-two years, and that they are the sisters and heirs of John, lately deceased.  The full-sized recumbent effigy of this John de la Beche is one of the grand series of monuments which even in their present mutilated condition adorn Aldworth church.  ‘Every one of them,’ writes the Vicar of Aldworth, ‘a poem in stone, exhibits with great artistic skill characteristic personal distinctions.  They illustrate, to a remarkable extent, the costume and armour of the period’ (circa 1315-1346).16.72

Death of Robert Danvers

Robert Danvers died September 25, 1361.  We learn from his post-mortem inquisition16.73 that he had lands in Winterbourne, Aston, Chilton, Chebreye, Oxenwode and Compton.  His heir was his son Edmund, aged sixteen years and more.

EDMUND DANVERS, SON OF ROBERT

Edmund Danvers, son of Robert, and born in the year 1345, and in March, 1366, when he would come of age, he left for foreign parts, after enfeoffing of his lands his uncle, Edward Danvers, his father’s brother.  Notice of this Edward Danvers and his wife Isabel, daughter and heiress of Thomas Spicer of Abingdon, may be found in the Hustings Roll of the City of London, of the year 1353.  It is not improbable that Edmund went to join the Black Prince in Aquitaine.

It would seem that shortly after Edmund’s departure his uncle died, and then, either in consequence, or because a rumour of his [Edmund’s] death had reached England, a formal inquisition regarding his estates was held at Abingdon.16.74  The jury had little or no information before them, and say that they do not know when Edmund died, or who was his heir.  However, Edmund returned and died at home, when an inquisition was duly held,16.75 and his heir is his son William, aged at the time fourteen.

Marries Alice Cleet

Edmund must have married when about twenty-one years of age; his wife was Alice, daughter of John, son of Richard Cleet, and Alice Danvers,16.76 daughter or widow of a William Danvers.16.77  With his wife Edmund Danvers obtained the manor and advowson of Wyke or Staneswyk,16.78 which descended to his son William, and was devised by William’s wife, Joan, to Magdalen College, Oxford.  Hence it happens that amongst the muniments of that college are many records of the Berkshire branch of the Danvers family.

Family of Edmund Danvers

Edmund Danvers left three sons, William, his heir, Thomas and Edmund.  After his death his widow married Sir Richard Adderbury16.79 of Donnington Castle, near Newbury.  There probably Alice’s sons were brought up, and in the reign of Henry V (1413-1422) we find Thomas Danvers giving a charter, dated at Donnington Castle, in which he calls himself Thomas Danvers, son of Edmund and brother of William, son and heir of Edmund, and releases to John Hyde his rights in lands at Denchworth, which belonged to John Cleet, father of the Lady Alice, his mother.

Edmund Danvers

We have said that Edmund Danvers and his wife Alice, besides their sons William and Thomas, had a son Edmund.  This, however, is only an inference from two documents of the period; one of these16.80 is a power of attorney, dated 1394, by which Edmund Danvers and Henry Ingepenne empower Philip Shipiere to give service to William Danvers and Joan his wife of the lands in Berks and Wilts, which they received as a gift from them.  The other document is a fine16.81 of 1401, which mentions Edmund Danvers and his heiress, Margaret, wife of Evesham of Eton.

WILLIAM DANVERS, SON OF EDMUND

William, the eldest son, and heir, of Edmund Danvers, was born in the year 1367, in the latter part of the reign of Edward III, lived through the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, and died in the seventeenth year of the reign of Henry VI.  We find him mentioned in the year 138216.82 as son of Edmund Danvers, son of Alice, and one of the heirs of Edward De la Beche.  The inscription on his monument stated that he was sub-treasurer of England, and as such he may frequently have met in London his far-away cousin, Sir Robert Danvers, judge, and lord of Culworth.  In the year 1422 we find Robert and his wife Alice16.83 buying land of William and his wife Johanna.  In the year 1427 William Danvers is mentioned in the post-mortem inquisition of Richard Windsore as holding of him the manors of Collerug, or Coserig, Wokefeld, and Chilton, in Berks (Collerug, Winterbourne, Leckhampsted, were manors in the parish of Chebrey, or Chieveley).

Marries Joan

William married Johanna, who appears to have been related to Matilda, daughter of Sir Ralph Ufford, and wife of the Thomas de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who died in 1371.  Amongst the deeds belonging to Magdalen College, Oxford, is a release,16.84 dated 1408, from Matilda de Vere, Countess of Oxford, to William Danvers and Joan, his wife, of all actions against them, while in her will Joan provides for prayers for the souls of her husband and of Matilda de Vere.  Their names we have seen coupled in other ancient deeds.

Death

William Danvers died in the year 1439, and was buried in the chapel of St Francis in the Grey Friars’ Church, in London.  His wife died in January, 1457, and was buried in her husband’s grave.  Their tomb remained in the church until its post-reformation desecration and destruction.16.85  Here also were buried the queens of Edward I and Edward II, and of David Bruce, and with them many great nobles famous in their day.  After the surrender of the house of the Grey Friars in 1539, the magnificent church of the convent remained for a time unoccupied, but not dismantled.  In 1546 the monuments, the altars, and the woodwork remained, but every available part of the interior was filled with wine, which had been captured at sea from the French.  Then by the King’s gift the church was to become the parish church of Christchurch-within-Newgate; and on the King’s death it was in great part dismantled, and all the monuments and gravestones were sold for £50, or thereabouts.

Robert Danvers and Alice Browne

William Danvers and his wife Joan had two children, a son, Robert, and a daughter, Eleanor.  Robert married Alice Browne, but died young, leaving no children, and on his death we find his father, William, disposing of estates to be held in trust for his daughter Eleanor and for Alice, the widow of his son.  In a deed16.86 he conveys to trustees, William Dayrell and others, all his lands and tenements in West and East Compton, Oxenwode, and Boteneshaw, in the parish of Hampstead Ferrers, with lands in Whitney, Tylehurst, Warfield, and Reading, and in Little Forstebury, to execute his last will, and in case of his dying intestate, to convey the lands to his daughter Alianore, and failing her issue, to his right heirs.

In another deed, dated 1427,16.87 William Danvers conveys to Thomas Kyngeston, John Golofre, John Cotesmore, William Brocays, and others, his manors of Wynterbourne Magna, Aston Thorold, and Chilton, with all his lands in Chilton, and his manor of Wyke, with the advowson of the chapel, to hold on condition that they enfeoff his wife Joan for the term of her life, and to carry out the provisions of his last will, that all the said manors should be sold, and the proceeds laid out in behalf of the souls of himself and his wife, and in works of charity.  Then in 142316.88 we have a deed under which his feoffees are to enfeof his wife of his manor of Wynterbourne Grey, Aston Thorold, and Chilton, and of all his other lands in Wynterbourne, Oxenwode, Mottesfount, Little Forstbury, and other places, which would come to his feoffees on the death of Alice, wife of his deceased son Robert.  There are several other documents amongst those in the possession of Magdalen College from which it appears that these estates were eventually divided between the colleges of St Mary, Winchester, and St Mary Magdalen, Oxford.16.89

Amongst the Harleian charters is one16.90 of William Danvers, from which we learn that Alice, daughter of John Browne, formerly held the manor of Lekhampstead conjointly with her husband, Robert, son of William, who is now dead without heirs; and the above manor and other lands are given to trustees to hold for Alice for her life, and, should she die childless, to pass to William’s rightful heirs.  William Danvers’ signature is appended and also his seal, a fine one in red wax.  It bears the Danvers arms, a chevron, with three mullets, pierced, of five points.  The shield is suspended by a strap from a tree, and within is a gothic carved panel; encircling the shield ‘Sigillum Willelmi Daunvers.’

Will

The date is 5 Henry VI (1427).  William’s will,16.91 a short Latin one, is at Somerset House, was made on December 14, 1439, and was proved January 31, 1440.  From the will it appears that William Danvers (de Aunvers) lived at Winterbourne Danvers, Berks, and he leaves his goods there to his wife Johanna.

With William Danvers the Berkshire branch of the family in the male line came to an end.

JOAN DANVERS

Joan Danvers survived her husband many years, and was careful to carry out his wish, that in default of heirs his lands should be devoted to religious uses.

William Waynflete and Magdalen College

In a deed dated 1457,16.92 Joan Danvers conveys to William, Bishop of Winchester, her manors of Wynterbourne Danvers, Winterbourne Grey, Winterbourne Magna, Aston Thorold, and Chilton.

The following quotation is from Chandler’s Life of William of Waynflete: 16.93  ‘The hall which he founded at Oxford, as soon as he was raised to the mitre, had met with an early benefactress, Joan Danvers, relict of William Danvers, Esq.  To this lady the manor of Wike, with its appurtenances at Ashbury, in Berks, had descended from Rafe Stanes, to whom it was given by fine 14 Edward III (1340).  She granted it, on July 17, 1453, to Waynflete and others.  The next day the feoffees let it to her for the annual payment of a red rose, and vested the sole right in Waynflete by release.  The president and society entered into an obligation, on May 24, 1454, to celebrate exequies cum nota for her soul, and for the souls of her husband and of Matilda de Vere, Countess of Oxford.’

Manor of Wyke

The inquisition of Joan Danvers is No. 46 of 37 Henry VI (1458), and relates to the disposition of her manors as explained above.  Further, it shows that the manor of Wyke came to the family, not by inheritance, but by gift from Ralph de la Stanes, who had it from Gilbert de la Stanes.  Ralph married Alice, sister of John, and daughter of Richard Cleet, and he and his wife dying without children, the manor was to pass to John Cleet, who was father to the mother of William Danvers.

Will

The will of Joan Danvers,16.94 a Latin one, is preserved at Somerset House, and is very interesting, if only as an illustration of the feelings and customs of the times.  Freely translated and somewhat epitomized, it runs as follows:

‘In the name of God, Amen.  I, Joan Danvers, late the wife of William Danvers, Esq., do make my will in manner following: I give my body to be buried in the church of the brethren of the Order of St. Francis, London, in the grave wherein the body of my late husband, William Danvers, lies.  I give to each brother of the said house of the Order of St. Francis, London, being already in holy orders 12d., and to each novice 6d.  I bequeath to the high altar of the mother Church of Sarum 3s. 4d.  I give the ring16.95 with my profession of widowhood to the image of the Crucifix near the north door of St Paul’s, London, to remain there among other jewels.  I give to Sir John Causham, monk of Goring, to pray for my soul, for the soul of my late husband, also for that of the Lady Matilda de Vere, Countess of Oxford, 20s.  I will that my executor find two chaplains for one year, or one fit chaplain for two years, to celebrate in the Church of St. Francis, London, to sing St. Gregory’s trental [an office for the dead, consisting of thirty masses rehearsed for thirty days successively].  I will that my executors after my death do sell all my goods for money, and that with the money they pay all my debts and those of my late husband.  The residue of my goods I wish to be distributed amongst poor people who in the judgment of my executors need it; also towards the repair of ways, bridges, and paths, especially a lane by the side of Wynterbourne, in the way towards Boxcore (Boxford) in Berks.  To be my executors I ordain Master Robert Roke, clerk, and Sir Lawrence Stafford, chaplain, and Robert Danvers, one of the justices in commune loco of the lord the King, to be the supervisor of my will.  The residue of all my goods I give to the said Master Robert and Sir Lawrence.’

The will is dated June 16, 1453.  There is a codicil, dated January 5, 1457, giving legacies to servants as follows:

‘ffirst that John Normavile my Cooke haue alle vessells in my Kecchyn that war delyuered him be Indentur that is to saye potts pannys Spetre and Pewtre vessell that were in his Kechin the day of Passage.  And also a Reward of money aftre the discrecion of Maister Robert Rooke, Principalle of myn Executours.  And of his good beryng.

‘Also I wille that John Tegalle haue the Blak bed, wt Selour, and Testor and Covering.  And also alle the Litille bed that I lye oon, that is to say federbed blankettes Shetis and Pelowe.  Also a Rewarde of Money aftre ye said Maister Robert discrecion.  Also I will that my seruantes that lie in my bedding that they haue the same bedding that they occupie, and iche of theim haue a payre of Shetis moo than the paire that iche of them occupieth.  Also I wil my Seruaunds that is to say John Moris and Mawde Cookes haue Reward in syluer aftre the discrecion of the forsaid Maister Robert.

‘Also I woole that Avice that was sum tyme wt me haue in money xiijs. iiijd.  Also I wol that my Cousin wonyng by the welle wt iij bokettes haue xiijs. iiijd.  It’m I wol yat Isabelle fferour that wonys in Southweke haue vjs. viijd.  It’m I will that my Confessour haue xxs.’

NOTES TO CHAPTER SIXTEEN

16.1 Records of Bucks, vol. iii, p. 122.

16.2 J. H. Croft’s Chronicles of Wallingford Castle.

16.3 Langley’s Desborough.

16.4 In 1894, the Little Marlow manor-house was the residence of J. P. Ellames, J.P., lord of the manor of Little Marlow, who provided the details regarding the house.

16.5 MSS., vol. x, Bodleian.

16.6 Mr de Gray Birch’s English Topography.

16.7 Close Roll, M. 11, 14 Henry III (1229).

16.8 Harleian MS. 3688, folio 92b.

16.9 Lipscomb’s Bucks, vol. iii.

16.10 Pedigree of Danvers in Mr Camden’s handwriting, Bodleian MS., 4162; also Vincent’s pedigree of the family in College of Arms.

16.11 Ancient deeds (Record Office), A. 112.

16.12 Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV, A.D. 1291.

16.13 Books of Aids of 20 Edward III (1346).

16.14 Extracted from the original rolls, which are at the Bishop’s palace at Lincoln.  The rolls do not commence till during the time of Bishop Hugo de Wells, 1209-1235.

16.15 Register of Preceptory of Sandford, Oxon, fol. 26b, Bodleian Library.

16.16 Register of Sandford Preceptory (Bodleian MS.), folio 15b.

16.17 Dodsworth MS., Bodleian, vol. xv, pp. 69b, 109b.

16.18 Dodsworth MS., Bodleian, vol. xii, pp. 92, 168.

16.19 Dodsworth MS., Bodleian, vol. xv, pp. 69b, 109b.

16.20 55 Henry III (1270), No.5.

16.21 See also Scutage Roll, in Harleian MSS. No. 313, of 19 Henry III (1234), Rad. Danvers half a fief in Dorney, Milo Neyrunt half a fief in Merston, Henry Danvers part of fief in Wigham.

16.22 Queen’s College, Oxon, MS., Coxe, 159.

16.23 Additional MSS., No. 5527, folio 75b.

16.24 De Banco Roll, No. 12, 3 Edward I (1274).

16.25 De Banco Roll, No. 7, of 2 and 3 Edward I (1273 and 1274), M. 99, d. Patent Roll of 1 Edward I (1272), M. 10, d, 32.

16.26 De Banco Roll, No. 8 of Edward I (1279).

16.27 Also in Lay Subsidy Roll, Divers Counties of 28 Edward I (1299) (239/247).

16.28 Parliamentary Writs.

16.29 Close Roll, M. 16 46 Edward III (1372).

16.30 Patent Roll, M. 22 15 Richard II (1391).

16.31 Subsidy Roll, 10 Henry VI (1431), William Danvers holds land in socage, in Staunton, Derby, No. 5, (91/59), M.2 Dod’s MSS., 37 and 38, fol. 260, 4 Henry IV (1402), manor of Galton, in Derby, belongs to Edward Danvers.

16.32 Pipe Roll of 9 Henry II (1162).

16.33 Institutions of Bishop of Lincoln.

16.34 Testa de Nevill, and Harleian MS., No. 313.

16.35 Vincent’s pedigree of Neirunt in College of Arms; Vincent 56, No. 132.

16.36 Devon’s Issues of the Exchequer, p. 204.

16.37 Here Macnamara calls ‘Janet’ the daughter of William Danvers, but on page 16–12, he calls her ‘Alice’ the daughter or widow of William Danvers. -Ed.

16.38 Abbrevat. Placitorum, p. 75.

16.39 Release in the original Norman-French in Additional MS. 6041, folio 14.

16.40 Victoria History of the Counties of England tells us that Torold had three sons, Miles, Nicholas, and Richard, all probably dying without issue.  Nicholas was holding the manor of Winterbourne in 1156 and his heirs were his two sisters who apparently married Ralph Danvers and Maenfel of Bolney.  By 1207 Ralph’s elder son, Roland Danvers, was disputing with Nicholas de Bolney about land at Wokefeld.

This places the marriage considerably later than either Phillpots (Roland, the Norman knight) or Macnamara (Roland, grandson of the Norman knight) have suggested (refer p. 2-8).

Vincent describes the Ralph Danvers suggested in the Victoria History of the Counties of England as ‘Sir Raufe, of Wynterbourne’ and this is the first mention in the pedigree of the Winterbourne estates. -Ed.

16.41 Rotuli Cancellar, vol. i, p.  266; and Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, p. 467.

16.42 Rotuli de Prestito, Hardy’s edition.

16.43 Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, p. 467.

16.44 Except Rotuli Finium, vol. i; Coram Rege Rolls of Henry III in Harrison’s notes in Record Office, vols. i and xxviii; Plea Rolls of 27 Henry III (1242), Hilary term, M. 4 dors.; Pedes Finium, Berks, 25 Henry III (1240); Rye’s Norfolk feet of fines, 24 Henry III (1239); Close Rolls, 10 Henry III (1225), m. 13 dors.; 22 Henry III (1237), m. 23 dors., m. 21 dors., m. 14 dors.; 29 and 30 Henry III (1244 and 1245); Pipe Roll, 9 Henry III (1224), Nov. Oblat.  See also Miss Emily J. Climenson’s History of Shiplake.

16.45 Bucks Fine of 38 Henry III (1253).

16.46 Berks Fine, 1b of 5 Edward II (1311).

16.47 Close Roll M. 14d 1268, 43 Henry III (1258).

16.48 Dodsworth MS. 35, fol. 113b.  Robert Danvers, temp. Henry III (1216-1272), has son and heir Thomas, and other four children, Michael, Roger, Isabel and Agnes, who died s.p.  The same MS. gives a Robert Danvers as the father of the William Danvers who married Emma Chevauchesul, and as its authority charters of Eynesham Abbey; this by the way (see p. NO TAG).

16.49 Deputy Keeper of Records, 31st report, list of sheriffs.

16.50 Madox’s History of the Exchequer, p. 634.

16.51 Records and Record Searching, by W. Rye.  London, 1888.

16.52 Parliamentary Writs, vol. i, p. 563.

16.53 See also Close Roll, 5 Edward II (1311).

16.54 Berks Fine No. 9 of 5 Edward II (1311).

16.55 See also Lay Subsidy, Berks 73/5, temp. Edward I (1272 - 1307).

16.56 Harleian MS. 7, fol. 60b, and Additional MS. 6041, fol. 14.

16.57 Close Roll Membrane 7 of 9 Edward II (1315).

16.58 Parliamentary Writ, 1322.

16.59 Record Office, Nos. 2467 and 2470.

16.60 No. 125 17 Edward II (1323).

16.61 Northampton, No. 28, of 40 Edward III (1366).

16.62 Northampton, book 301-350 15 Edward III (1341).

16.63 William Danvers’ post-mortem inquisition; No. 66, part i, 35 Edward III (1361).

16.64 Close Roll of 22 and 27 Edward III (1348 and 1353), William Danvers sells to Henry de Sanson lands and tenements in Holbenham juxta Hampsted-Marshall, Berks, and to the King the manor thereof.

16.65 Post-mortem inquisition of Richard Danvers, No. 56, 36 Edward III (1362).

16.66 Abbrevat. Rotuli Originalia, vol. ii, p. 304.

16.67 Rolls of Parliament and Nomina Villarum.

16.68 Berks Fine of 2 Edward III (1328).

16.69 PM Inquis. of Isabel, No. 13 of 38 Edward III (1364).

16.70 Rolls of A.D. 1351 and of 1353 and 1358.

16.71 PM Inquis., No. 17 of 13 Edward III (1339), and Berkshire fine of 8 Edward III (1334).  Other fines relating to members of the family are Berks, No. 6 of 14 Edward III (1340), and Northampton, No. 63 of 26 Edward III (1352).

16.72 Fourteenth Century Monuments in Aldworth Church.  Reading, Berks Chronicle Office, 1883.

16.73 Post-mortem inquisition of Robert Danvers ; No. 57, part i, 36 Edward III (1362).

16.74 Inquisition regarding the estates of Edward Danvers; No. 21 of 41 Edward III (1367).

16.75 Post-mortem inquisition of Edward Danvers ; No. 18 of 5 Richard II (1381).

16.76 Berks (Oxon?) Fine of 14 Edward III (1340), Mag. Coll., Staneswyk 6.  Close Roll, 40 Edward III (1366), M. 24, Edmund Danvers, son and heir of Robert Danvers of Wynterborne, releases his rights in the manor of Hakenorton and advowson of the chapel which came to him on the death of his uncle, Edmund de la Beche, Archdeacon of Berks.

16.77 Cf. Clarke’s Hundred of Wanting, p. 87.

16.78 Joan Danvers’ post-mortem inquisition; 46 of 37 Henry VI (1458).

16.79 Clarke’s Hundred of Wanting.

16.80 Staneswyke, 41, Magdalen College.

16.81 Divers Counties, of 3 Henry IV (1401).

16.82 Inquis. of Edward De la Beche, 5 Richard II (1381).

16.83 Sir Robert Danvers, Recorder of London, had two wives; Agnes Delabar and Katherine Barentyne. It is probable that the Robert mentioned here is Robert, son of William Danvers of Winterbourne, and his wife Alice Browne who are mentioned on page 16–13.  -Ed.

16.84 Magdalen College, Oxford, deeds, Staneswyke, 41.

16.85 Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. v, p. 288.

16.86 Miscellaneous, 114, Magdalen College.

16.87 Magdalen College, Staneswyke, 10.

16.88 Staneswyke, 66 and 67.

16.89 Berks Fine, 9 of 9 Henry V (1421), a settlement by William Danvers and his wife Joan upon Robert Danvers and Alice Brune, who apparently were not yet married.

16.90 Harleian charter 49, c. 16.

16.91 William Danvers’ will; Luffenam, 27.

16.92 Magdalen College, Miscellaneous, 124.

16.93 Chandler’s Life of William of Waynflete, p. 86.

16.94 Joan Danvers’ will; Stokton, 11.

16.95 In the Middle Ages it was a common practice for widows to take a vow of chastity, receiving a peculiar robe and ring.  Archaeologia, vol. xl., p. 307.

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Digital edition first published: 1 Mar 2020             Updated: 12 Jul 2023                garydanvers@gmail.com