Filston in Shoreham A Note on the Place Name MacMichael

FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME By N. H. MACMICHAEL, F.SA. IN his recent paper on " Place-Names and Early Settlement in Kent " Dr. P. H. Reaney remarks that a few place-names [with tun] preserve the name of a post-Conquest lord of the manor. By way of an example he mentions Filston Hall in Shoreham, which is Vielston in 1203 and contains the French name Viel (from the Latin Vitalis). Dr. Reaney then says that the place is " named from the family of Simon Vele of Shoreham who is mentioned in 1292 but the family must have been here a century earlier "-1 However, it seems possible that the modern Filston preserves the name of a known historical person of considerably greater interest than Simon Vele or his family. A fine was levied in 1248, when Bartholomew de Oteringebyr' demanded of Hamo de Vieleston the customs and services for the free tenement which Hamo held of him in Vieleston. Hamo did not acknowledge but granted for himself and his heirs that they would render a sore sparrow-hawk yearly or 2s., and 40s. for a scutage of 40s., when it should happen ; moreover, Hamo gave 2 marks for arrears. The Archbishop of Canterbury, by his seneschal, put in his claim.2 In the previous year there had been a fine by which Wilham de Schoford, by Wilham son of William de Schoford, demanded of Bartholomew de Oteringebyr' the customs and services for the free tenement which Bartholomew held of him in Vieleston, namely as one knight's fee, which service Bartholomew did not acknowledge. Bartholomew granted for himself and his heirs that they would do to William and his heirs the service of a knight's fee, and he gave £7 for arrears. Wilham for himself and his heirs thereupon acquitted Bartholomew and his heirs of all damages said to have been caused before the date of the concord.3 From these two fines it will be seen that at the middle of the thirteenth century Filston was held by a family who derived their name from it and held it of Bartholomew de Oteringebyr', who in his turn held it of Wilham de Schoford as a knight's fee. 1 Arch. Cant., LXXVI, 68 ; cf. P. H. Reaney, The Origin of English Place- Names (London, 1960), pp. 48, 60. 2 Kent Arch. Soc. Records Branch Vol. XV, Calendar of Kent Feet of Fines (Ashford, 1956), p. 198. Cf. ibid., p. 389. 3 Ibid., p. 195. 133 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME The Rev. Thomas Streatfeild noted in the possession of " Mr. Petley "x a dateless charter, which stated that Richard de Otringeberi granted Vielestun to his brother Hamo, as one knight's fee, and Hamo de Otringeberi, son and heir of Richard, confirmed it. Furthermore, the son of Hamo, the grantee of Vielestun, was called Simon de Vielestune.2 As to the date of this charter, we may note that Richard de Oteringeberge held 2 fees of Walter de Mayenne in 1166.3 Richard evidently died some time before 1182, because his son Hamo's gift of Wateringbury church to Leeds Priory was confirmed by Walter, Bishop of Rochester (1148-82).4 Simon de Vieleston and Hamo de Otringebir' were hving in 12035 and 12056 respectively. Hamo's successor seems to have been Gilbert, who occurs in 12207 and was father of Bartholomew de Oteringebyr'8 mentioned above. The family which called itself ' de Vielestun' in the thirteenth century was therefore a branch of that of Oteringebery, and their common ancestor apparently flourished in the middle of the twelfth century. The origin of the Oteringeberys seems to be unknown, but that of their immediate overlords at Filston, the Schofords, will now be considered, for theirs is indeed a remarkable pedigree. In about 1235 William de Soford held 4 fees in Kent of the honour of Gloucester.9 Filston was held in 1210-12 by the Countess of Clare (the Gloucester heiress) of the Archbishop of Canterbury as one fee.10 The chain of tenure of the manor would therefore seem to be : the Archbishop — the Countess of Clare — Shoford — Oteringebery — Vielestun. In 1264 the Earl of Gloucester agreed with Archbishop Boniface that, as part of the customs and services associated with the performance of the offices of High Steward and Chief Butler at the Archbishop's enthronement, he owed homage and the service of four knights for Filston (Vyelestun) and three other manors, with suit at the Archbishop's court, in the case of Filston, at Otford.11 1 Probably Charles Robert Carter Petley, Esq., of Riverhead, Sevenoaks. Hasted says that the Petley family had owned Filston. 2 British Museum Additional MS. 33882, ff. 48b-49. A transcript of the charter is in Additional MS. 34105 (f.360) with other Petley papers. 3 The Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Series), I, pp. 195-6. 4 John Thorpe, Registrum Roffense (London, 1769), pp. 213, 676. 6 Curia Regis Rolls, 1201-3, p. 166. « Ibid., 1203-5, p. 251. ' Ibid., 1219-20, p. 340. 8 Leeds Cartulary, Kent Archives Office U 120/Q 13, f.l. 9 The Book of Fees, II, p. 684. The date (1242-3) assigned is a little too late, because several names differ from those in the 1242-3 list. That Earl Richard (of Cornwall) held the fees of his wife's dower seems to date the list 1231-1239/40. i° The Red Book of the Exchequer, II, pp. 472, 727. " E. Hasted, The History . . . of Kent, II (Canterbury, 1782), pp. 324-5 ; cf. W. Somner, The Antiquities of Canterbury (ed. N. Battely, London, 1703), Appendix to Supplement, p. 20. 134 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME Wilham de Schoford can in fact be shown to have had an eleventhcentury forebear of some distinction, who was named Viel or Vitalis. It is my suggestion that this man gave his name to Filston. Dr. W. G. Urry, who has estabhshed the first four generations of the pedigree, mainly from the family's connexion with Stourmouth and Canterbury, concludes that the S(h)oford family were of the same line as Vitahs, and in what follows I am much indebted to his paper.1 By the kindness of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester I am able to quote from their archives. Vitalis, or Viel, 'de Canturberie' (Domesday Monachorum, f. 2b). In 1086 he held Swalecliffe and Sifflington [in Ditton] of Odo of Bayeux, of whom he also held a yoke in the hundred of Whitstable.2 Of the Archbishop's manor of ' Northewode ' alias ' Nortone ' [Whitstable] he held land in Thanet, at Makingbrook [in Heme] and in Stourmouth (Ezilamerth), together assessed at 3 sulungs, 1 yoke and 12 acres.8 He also held a yoke of land of ' Estursete ' [Westgate of Canterbury] and one sulung of Wingham, both being manors of the Archbishop.4 In addition he had a sulung and half a yoke of the Abbot of St. Augustine's manor of Preston near Wingham.5 In about 1095 he held 3 knights' fees of the Archbishop.6 However, Vitalis has a far greater claim to fame than many Domesday sub-tenants, for most authorities seem to accept his identity with the man of that name portrayed on the Bayeux Tapestry. In this case he is one of the 27 men for whom there is proof that they were the Conqueror's companions.7 The date of his death is unknown. He had issue : (i) Hamo, of whom presently ; 1 W. Urry in Annates de Normandie (8e Annee—No. 2, May, 1958), pp. 130-5 ; the whole paper (pp. 119-38) has been reprinted as The Normans in Canterbury (Canterbury Archseological Society Occasional Papers, No. 2, Canterbury, 1959), hereafter cited as Urry, Normans. 2 Domesday Book, I, ff. 7, 10 ; Domesday Monachorum, f. 6b. 3 D. Mom, f. 2b ; D. Book, I, f. 3b. 1 Ibid. 6 D. Book, I, f. 12b. 0 D. Mon., f. 7 ; for the date of the list and some notes on Vitalis, see D. C. Douglas, The Domesday Monachorum of Christ Church, Canterbury (R. Hist. Soc, London, 1944), pp. 63-4, 57. 7 E. A. Freeman, History of the Norman Conquest (London, 1867, etc.), I l l, pp. 457 and n., and 570-1 ; F. R. Fowke, The Bayeux Tapestry (London, 1898), pp. 23, 117-18 j J. H. Round in The English Historical Review, XXX (1915), p. I l l ; D. C. Douglas in History, XXVII (1943), pp. 133-4 ; G. H. White in The Genealogists' Magazine, IX, p. 419 ; D. C. Douglas, The Domesday Monachorum • . • , p. 57 ; E. Maclagan, The Bayeux Tapestry (London, 1945) pp. 13, 27 ; Sir Frank Stenton, F. Wormald and others, The Bayeux Tapestry (London, 1957), pp. 21, 24, 33 ; Urry, Normans, p. 12. 135 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME (ii) a son who became a monk, apparently at Rochester ;x and perhaps (iii) Maud who married Wilham Cauvel (or Calvel), probably the Canterbury Borough-Reeve of that name. They had issue Ralph, and many other sons.2 Hamo FitzViel. Before 1107/8, in the time of Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, he gave to the bishop and the monks there the church of Stourmouth (Sturmutha) and all the tithes of his demesne, for his soul and those of his parents and because his brother had become a monk.3 He held Bodsham (Bodesham) [in Elmsted] of the Abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, in 1111, when on the part of Hamo [II] the Sheriff [of Kent], Dapifer Regis, together with Fulbert de Cilleham and Hugh his knight he witnessed the Abbot's grant to the Dapifer of the land which Anfred Masculus, the Clerk, once held.4 Between 1116 and 1118 Wilham, the King's son, issued a writ to the Sheriff of Kent commanding him to order Hamo FitzViel and honest men of the neighbourhood of Sandwich, whom Hamo has nominated, to make a report concerning a ship belonging to the Abbot of St. Augustine's.6 At some date probably after 1129 he witnessed Robert de Crevequer's grant of certain churches to Leeds Priory,6 and before 1136 he was present at Archbishop William's confirmation of this gift.7 John, lord of Denstead (Denstede) [in Chartham], gave the canons of Leeds all the tithes of his land of Denstead, and his lord Robert de Crevequer, with Daniel his (Robert's) son and Hamo FitzViel, witnessed the grant.8 By a tradition recorded in the early thirteenth century he built the church of St. Edmund Ridingate, Canterbury, and endowed it with land. Since he was also a benefactor of the Hospital of St. Laurence, 1 See below. 2 Urry, Normans, p. 16, quoting Curia Regis Rolls, 1206-6, pp. 202, 243, where Hamo, son of Vitalis, is said to have given to William Cauvel, in marriage with Maud his sister, land at Iffin [in Thanington] to be held as the eighth part of a knight's fee. Cf. below, p. 137. 3 Textus Roffensis, ed. T. Hearne (Oxford, 1720), p. 167, quoted in part by Douglas, The Domesday Monachorum . . . , p. 67n. ; cf. Urry, Normans, p. 12. * The Black Book of St. Augustine, ed. G. J. Turner and H. E. Salter (London, 1915 and 1924), II, p. 462. 6 C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne, Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum (Oxford, 1956), II, p. 143 (no. 1189). 6 " . . . ego Robertus de Crepito Cordepro salute anime mee etpro salute auunculi mei Hamonis Dapiferi concessi et dedi in perpetuam elemosinam Canonicia apud Ledes . . . Hiis teslibus. Roysa vxore mea. Helyafratre meo. Hamonefllio Vitalis . . ." (Leeds Cartulary, as above, f. 3b. ; cf. Monasticon Anglicanum, edn. of 1846, VI, p. 216). Hamo Dapifer was apparently still alive in 1129 but dead in 1130 (Douglas, Domesday Monachorum . . . , p. 55). 7 Leeds Cartulary, f.3b. ; Archbp. William died in Nov. 1136. 8 Leeds Cartulary, f.6. 136 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME Canterbury,1 which was founded in 1137^ he was presumably alive at that date. He was dead in 1142.3 He had issue : (i) Wilham, (ii) John, and (iii) Gilbert. William FitzHamo. Not later than 1142 he informed John, Bishop of Rochester, that he had given to All Saints' Church at Stourmouth (Stormuha), for the health of his soul and that of his wife and for the redemption of the souls of his father, mother and ancestors, the land of Mlmar the Red, free and quit from all service for the cemetery of St. Giles of Sarre (Sucerre). The witnesses included Helewis, Archdeacon of Canterbury, Robert de Sedwanz and Geoffrey (Gosfridus) his brother,4 and John and Gilbert (Gislebertus) brothers of William FitzHamo. An equestrian seal in light-brown wax, somewhat rubbed and with the legend gone, is attached to the deed.5 He gave to Leeds Priory the church of St. Peter at Ditton, for the health of the souls of himself, of his wife, his sons and his father and mother. To this grant were witnesses amongst others Sibyl the donor's wife and John his brother.6 He also granted to Leeds the tithes, which pertained to the demesne of Chilston (Childestune) [in Boughton Malherbe], and Eadwin de Blecchindenne with his tenure. The grant was made with the assent of H. his heir and was witnessed by his sons, with Helte Fitz- Richard and others.7 In 1166 he held 3£ fees in Kent of Wilham, Earl of Gloucester, of the old enfeoffment,8 and he is probably to be identified with the Wilham FitzHamo, who in 1169/70 quitclaimed to the Priory of St. Gregory, Canterbury, the wardship of his kinsman Ralph Cavel and his land at Iffin (Githinges). Gilbert FitzHamo, knight, was a witness.9 1 " Hamo filius Viel de Soford qui fecit ecclesiam sancti Edmundi cui assignauit iiijor acras terre ad panem benedictum. Qui venit conquestu Anglie et assignauit ecclesie sancti Laurentii vnam acram ad idem officium cuius filius dicebatur Willelmus qui fecit ecclesiam sancte Marie de Bredene et eiusfilius dioitur iste Willelmus deSoford miles comitis Glouceslr' " (quoted from the St. Laurence Cartularies by Urry, Normans, pp. 13-14, and discussed). Cf. Arch. Cant., L, 46-7. 2 Arch. Cant., L, 33-5. 3 John II (of Seez), Bishop of Rochester, to whom William FitzHamo's charter is addressed, died in 1142. 4 Apparently the earliest Icnown mention of the family of Septvans. 5 Rochester Chapter Archives, B.1120. 6 Calendar of Charter Rolls, 1257-1300, p. 298. 7 Leeds Cartulary, f.2b. 8 The Red Book of the Exchequer, I, p. 189. 0 The Cartulary of the Priory of St. Gregory, Canterbury, ed. A. M. Woodcook (Camden 3rd Series, LXXXVHI, 1956), pp. 107-8. Cf. above, p. 136, and Urry, Normans, pp. 16-17. 137 ISA FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME By an early thirteenth-century tradition he built the church of St. Mary Bredin in Canterbury.1 He was dead by Michaelmas, 1171.2 Sibyl, his widow, in 1173 gave 8 marks of 40 marks which she owed for having her dower at Stourmouth (Sturemua).3 She was quit of this payment in 1177,4 but the date of her death is unknown. William FitzHamo had issue at least two sons.5 Hamo FitzWilliam, son and heir of William FitzHamo.6 Before Michaelmas, 1171, he rendered £6 of the relief of £18 15s., which he owed for 3 | fees held of the Archbishop of Canterbury.7 He confirmed his father's grant of the church of Ditton to the canons of Leeds.8 As ' Hamo son of Wilham de Sturem'', not later than 1184, he quitclaimed to St. Augustine's Abbey all his right in the church of St. Edmund Ridingate, and the witnesses included Gilbert FitzHamo.9 Before Michaelmas, 1187, he had given to Alan de Valeines a moiety of the land of Stourmouth as half a knight's fee.10 He may be identical with the " Haimo de Sohtford " who was one of many witnesses in 1176 to a concord made between the Abbot-elect of St. Augustine's and his men of Thanet.11 The date of his death is unknown. His wife may possibly have been Emma de Scohford or Schofford, against whom and Wilham her son in 1195 Adam the Butler was contesting 2 parts of a fee in Scohford.12 William FitzHamo was tenant in a suit brought in Easter Term, 1198, by Hugh 'de Bosco' and Margery his wife concerning a half-fee in Soford, and in Hilary Term next following there was a suit pending between Hugh 'de Bosco' and William de Sioford' concerning one knight's fee in Soford'.13 1 See above, p. 137, note 1. 2 Pipe Rollr-n Henry II (Pipe Roll Soc), p. 142. 3 Pipe Roll^-19 Henry II (Pipe Roll Soc), p. 87. 4 Pipe Roll—23 Henry II, p. 204. 6 " Huius donacionis mee et concessionis filii mei testes sunt . . . " (Leeds Cartulary, f.2b—grant of Chilston tithes by William FitzHamo). 6 " Testimonio et assensu filii mei .11. qui est hcres meus " (Ibid.). 7 Pipe Roll—17 Henry II, p. 142. 8 William, Abbot of Lessness (Lines) and Pfaris], Archdeacon of Rochester, were among the witnesses (Rochester Chapter Archives, B.1296, new ref. : T 12/2 j printed in Thorpe, Reg. Roff., p. 318). 0 Black Boole of St. Augustine, II, p. 642 ; cf. Urry, Normans, p. 13. " Pipe Roll—33 Henry II, p. 208. Alan ' de Sturmue ' held an eighth of a fee in Stourmouth of the Archbishop in 1210-12 (Red Book, II, pp. 724, 469). 11 British Museum Campbell Charter, vi. 6. Facsimile and transcript in G.F. Warner and H. F. Ellis, Facsimiles of Royal & Other Charters in the British Museum (London, 1903), No. 57. 12 Pipe Roll—7 Richard I, p. 8 ; cf. Chancellor's Roll—8 Richard I, p. 287. 13 Curia Regis Rolls, I, pp. 34, 80. 138 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME William de Soford, " miles comitis Gloucestr' ",1 alias 'de Ditton', grandson and eventually heir of Hamo FitzWilham. According to the note, which was written on a charter of c. 1200,2 the name of this William's father was William. The latter is stated to have been the son of " Hamo filius Viel de Soford ", and taken literally the note seems to mean that " Hamo . . . venit conquestu Anglie ". This is clearly very improbable, if not impossible, for chronological reasons and it has apparently been disproved by the foregoing account. A possible way of explaining the discrepancy would be by supposing that the two Hamos had been taken to be one person, and this resulted in a loss of two generations. The tradition of the Sofords' descent from a companion of the Conqueror was nevertheless preserved. In a surviving but undated charter3 Wilham de Soford, for the love of God and for the soul's health of himself, his wife and all his nearest relations and friends, grants to the church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas of Leeds (Ledes) and the canons there, half a mark of a rent of his in Canterbury at Red[ingate]4 together with his body. The first witness is Master Ralph de St. Martin. In 1230/1 William 'de Shoffordia' claimed against the Prior of Leeds the advowson of the church of Ditton (Dittona). The Prior said that the advowson pertained to him, because by a chirograph which he showed of a fine made in the court of King H. the grandfather between the canons of Leeds and Hamo Fitz William, this William's grandfather5 whose heir he (Wilham) is, after the death of two clerks the advowson ought to remain to the canons. The Prior also showed latters patent from Wilham to the Bishop of Rochester disclaiming all right in the advowson. William said that it was uncertain whether or not the fine was made. The Prior recovered the presentation.6 William de Soford held 4 fees in Kent of the honour of Gloucester in c. 1235.7 In 1242-3 Wilham de Sofford held a half-fee in Ditton of the Earl of Gloucester. Wilham de Sifflatun held a half-fee [Sifflington] in the same place [i.e. Ditton] of William de Ditton and he of the same Earl, and William de Branton held a quarter-fee of William de Ditton and he of the same Earl.8 In 1246, as William 'de Ditton', he gave a carucate of land in Shoford to Wilham de Shoford, his son and heir, in free marriage with 1 See above, p. 137, note 1. 2 Urry, Normans, p. 14. 3 Rochester Chapter Archives, B.2096 (new ref. : T 10/4). 4 Ridingate, as confirmed by a (?) 15th-century endorsement : De redditu apud Rediggate. 6 Not uncle as in Kent Records, XV, p. oxxii. The Latin is auum. 0 Bracton's Note-Book, ed. F. W. Maitland (London, 1887), II, pp. 378-9 (Case 481). 7 The Book of Fees, II, p. 684. Cf. above, p. 134, note 9. 8 Ibid., pp. 672, 663. Sifflington had been held by Vitalis in 1086. 139 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME Margaret, daughter of Alan de Maydenston.1 In 1247 he levied the fine concerning Filston with Bartholomew de Oteringebyr'.2 He was apparently ahve in 1248/9, when Robert de Sevanz was said to have held 2 fees of him in Essex,3 but he was dead in 1252/3.4 He had at least two sons : (i) Wilham, his heir, and (ii) Ralph. William de Shoford, son and heir. He married in 1246, as above said, Margaret or Margery (called ' de Bukingeherst'), daughter of Alan de Maydenston. He died without issue,5 apparently in or before 1252/3, when his brother was holding the Essex fees.6 At the levying of the aid to knight the Lord Edward in 1254 the tenants of the lands which were of William de Schoforde were said to have held one fee in Stourmouth (Stormuhe) of the Archbishop.7 His widow was dead in 1259 without issue.8 Ralph de Ditton, or Shoford, brother and heir.9 As Ralph 'de Suford' two fees in Great Wigborough, Essex, were held of him by Robert de Sevaunz in 1252/3.10 In 1254 Ralph de Schoforde held the same fees in Ditton as those listed in 1242-43,11 and in 1262 Ralph de Ditton held 3£ fees in Ditton, Wigborough and Sifflington of the Earl of Gloucester.12 Such is the descent of Vieleston's thirteenth-century mesne-tenant from a man named Viel. Admittedly there is no contemporary evidence that Viel himself held the manor, to which the earhest reference seems to be the Petley charter alluded to already. However, if the name did originate with him, it might be significant were a connexion to be found with a holding in the neighbourhood of Shoreham. Professor Douglas has suggested that the one fee [which was Filston] held in 1210-12 by the Countess of Clare of the Archbishop of Canterbury might have represented a fee held by her ancestor Hamo 1 Kent Records, XV, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, 192, 282. 2 Ibid., p. 195. 3 Calendar of Inquisitions post mortem, I, p. 39. 4 Ibid., p. 68. 6 Arch. Cant., I l l , pp. 247-9, 268 ; Calendarium Genealogicum, ed. C. Roberts (1865), I, p. 86. 6 Cal. of Inq. p.m., I, p. 68. 7 Arch. Cant., XII, p. 206. 8 Ibid., I l l , 247-9, 268. 0 Ibid. 10 Cal. of Inq. p.m., I, p. 68. " Arch. Cant., XII, pp. 224-5. 12 Cal. of Inq. p.m., I, p. 155. 140 FILSTON IN SHOREHAM : A NOTE ON THE PLACE-NAME the Sheriff from the Archbishop's predecessor c. 1095.1 Recalhng that the Sheriff's descendant the Earl of Gloucester in 1264 had to do suit of court for Filston at the archiepiscopal manor of Otford,2 it is interesting to find that the Domesday Monachorum records Hamo as holding land of Otford manor.3 Vitalis' grandson, Wilham FitzHamo, held of Hamo the Sheriff's greatgrandson Wilham, Earl of Gloucester, 3£ fees of the ' old enfeoffment ',4 that is, made before 1135. In 1086 Hamo the Sheriff's manors included Brasted, held of the Archbishop, and Ditton, held of Odo of Bayeux.5 In 1264 Brasted, like Filston, was one of the manors held by the Earl of Gloucester in return for serving as the Archbishop's Steward and Chief Butler.6 Ditton had come to Vitalis' family by the time of his grandson, and though nothing is known about the wife of Vitalis, his son and greatgrandson were both named Hamo. Hamo FitzViel has a high position, in one case preceding Elias de Crevequer, in the witness-lists of the grants to Leeds by Robert de Crevequer, nephew of Hamo Dapifer,7 and the Shoford/ Ditton family were notable benefactors to the Priory. 1 Douglas, The Domesday Monachorum . . . , p. 55. 2 Hasted, op. cit., II, p. 324. 8 D. Mon., f. 3. 4 The Red Book of the Exchequer, I, p. 189. 6 D. Book, I, ff. 4, 7. 0 Hasted, loc. cit. 7 Leeds Cartulary, f. 3b ; quoted above, p. 136, note 6. 141