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Name
Summary
Distribution Map
Property List
Profile
Bibliography
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Bil 2
Bil ‘of Shipton’ (Glos.), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5
Name
Summary
Bil 2 had a small estate in central Gloucestershire TRE, which was assessed at 3 virgates with a value of 10s, and over which he had the power of alienation.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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucestershire | 68,6 | Shipton Solers | Bil | Bil 'of Shipton' | - | Ansfrid de Cormeilles | - | 0.75 | 0.50 | 0.50 | B | Map |
| Totals | ||||||||||||
Profile
Bil 2 represents the only occurrence of this name in DB and Old English bil(l) ‘bill, blade, sword’ is very rare as either a simplex name or the first element of compound ones (e.g. Searle 1897: 106-7), which may be why von Feilitzen (1937: 202) suggested that the DB form might instead represent a name such as Old Norse Bildr. However, evidence for insular use of Bildr is also extremely rare and requires the loss of ‑d‑ to be explained, whereas the Old English personal name Bil is evidenced from Gloucestershire place-names that include one pre-Conquest example (Smith 1964-5: 3 95, 137; 4 204) and provides a far simpler and more likely explanation for the DB form.Bil 2’s small estate was among a group of five estates, all called ‘Shipton’ in DB, lying along a small tributary valley of the river Coln in the Cotswolds of central Gloucestershire. The later manorial descents of these estates suggest that Bil’s is to be located at what became Shipton Solers (VCH Glos. IX: 187-208). DB records that he ‘could go where he wished’ with his land, indicating that he had the power of alienation over it and was not a dependent tenant.
Bibliography
Smith 1964-05: A. H. Smith, The Place-Names of Gloucestershire, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1964-5)
Searle 1897: W. G. Searle, Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum (Cambridge, 1897)
VCH Glos. IX: GN. M. Herbert, gen. ed., C. Davidson, A. R. J. Jurica and E. Williamson, eds., A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume IX – Bradley Hundred. The Northleach area of the Cotswolds (London, 2001)
von Feilitzen 1937: O. von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book (Uppsala, 1937)