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Beorhtgifu 7

Name

Summary

Beorhtgifu 7 was a small landowner in south Essex with 2½ virgates worth about 20 shillings.

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 Essex	Phil. ref. 24,9	Vill Wickford	DB Spelling Bricteua	Holder 1066 Beorhtgifu 'of Wickford'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Swein of Essex	1086 Subtenant Thorkil the reeve	Fiscal Value 0.63	1066 Value 1.00	1086 Value 0.84	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

The name Beorhtgifu appears twice in Essex, at places 23 miles apart, but there is no reason to think that the same woman was involved at both (contra Freeman: IV, 723, 736). The larger of the two holdings was ½ hide and 15 acres at Wickford, on the river Crouch in south Essex. Wickford was divided in 1066 into as many as twenty separate holdings, all but one of which were of 1 hide or less. Beorhtgifu’s was one of six which fell into the hands of the sheriff Swein of Essex (Swein 9) and were merged as a single manor for Swein’s tenant Thorkil, kept distinct from two other smaller holdings and the principal manor at Wickford, also in Swein’s hands (Essex 24:9–12).

In 1066 Beorhtgifu farmed her land with 1 plough and had 20 acres of wood and 2 bordars and a villan as tenants.

Bibliography

Freeman: Edward A. Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England, its Causes and its Results, 6 vols, revised edn (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1875–9 [I and II in 3rd edn, 1877; III and IV in 2nd edn, 1875–6; V and VI, 1876–9]