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Boia 38

Name

Summary

Boia 38 held a small estate in central Devon TRE assessed at 1½ virgates; no TRE value is given in DB, but in 1086 the value was 10s.  It is likely that Boia’s lord was Beorhtric 36.

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Devon	Phil. ref. 1,72	Vill Down St Mary	DB Spelling Boia	Holder 1066 Boia 'of Down'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William, king	1086 Subtenant Eadwulf	Fiscal Value 0.38	1066 Value 0.50	1086 Value 0.50	Confidence D	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Boia 38’s small estate probably lay in central Devon but its precise location is uncertain.  It is called Vlwardesdone in DB and Oluuardesdona in Exon 109b, with the context of the latter entry suggesting a location in Tawton Hundred.  The forms derive from Old English Wulfweardes-dūn, but no such place-name has survived or is otherwise recorded and there are at least twelve places in OE ‑dūn recorded from (North) Tawton Hundred before c.1500 (Gover et al. 1931-2: 355-76).  It may represent a part of what became Down St Mary (Thorn and Thorn 1985: 1,72 Notes) and this has been adopted for mapping purposes, but supporting evidence is lacking.

The entry for Vlwardesdone comes at the end of the king’s fief in DB and after fifteen entries under a heading for lands held by Beorhtric 36 TRE that later passed to Queen Matilda (Matilda 2). In Exon the entry for Oluuardesdona occurs in the midst of the corresponding entries for Beorhtric 36’s (and hence Matilda 2’s) estates, and the immediately preceding entry is for Beorhtric’s estate at Lapford.  The context of both records strongly suggests that Boia 38’s estate should be seen as another of those which passed from Beorhtric to Queen Matilda after the Conquest; this is further supported by the fact that an unidentified Doune has the same later descent as Lapford (contra Thorn and Thorn 1985: 1,72 Notes).  It is therefore likely that Beorhtric was Boia’s lord.

It has been suggested (Thorn and Thorn 1985: 1,72 Notes) that Boia 38 may be the same person as Boia 39, a priest of Bodmin who held land in Cornwall in 1086.  However, although the name Boia appears to have been uncommon in general use the estates of both Boia 38 and Boia 39 are small and are more than 50 miles apart, and an identity between the two men cannot be considered likely.

Bibliography

Gover et al. 1931-2: J. E. B. Gover, A. Mawer and F. M. Stenton, The Place-Names of Devon, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1931-2)

Thorn and Thorn 1985: C. Thorn and F. Thorn, eds., Domesday Book 9: Devon (Chichester, 1985)