Wulfræd 49

Wulfræd ‘of Checkendon’ (Oxfordshire), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Wulfræd
Wulfræd 50

Summary

Wulfræd 49 held two moderate estates in south Oxfordshire TRE assessed at 8 hides and with a value of £8; it is possible that his successor in 1086, Alfred 104, was his son.

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
Oxfordshire 43,1 Littlestoke Vlfred Wulfræd 'of Checkendon' - Alfred nephew of Wigot - 3.00 4.00 3.00 C Map
Oxfordshire 43,2 Checkendon Wluredus Wulfræd 'of Checkendon' - Alfred nephew of Wigot - 5.00 4.00 3.00 C Map
Totals

Profile

Wulfræd 49’s largest estate was at Checkendon in the hills of south Oxfordshire, where the southern end of the Chilterns causes a great loop in the River Thames from Wallingford round to Henley. A slightly smaller estate at Littlestoke, by the Thames 4 miles to the north-west of Checkendon, was also held by a Wulfræd and passed to the same post-Conquest successor; and, given this proximity and succession, it is probable that Wulfræd 49 was the TRE holder of both estates even though the name was fairly common and was spelt differently in the two DB entries. In both entries Wulfræd was described as having held freely (libere tenuit) TRE, but no further information is given.

It is, however, worth considering his successor Alfred 104 in more detail. He is described in DB as ‘Alfred the nephew of Wigot’ and these are the only two estates that he held in 1086 as tenant-in-chief, although it is likely that he held others as the subtenant of various successors to his presumed uncle Wigod of Wallingford (Wigod 4; Williams 1995: 100-2; Keats-Rohan 1999: 143). It is possible, as Williams suggests, that Wulfræd 49 was Alfred’s father but that by 1086 his son was identified by reference to Wulfræd’s more famous relative (brother?) Wigod. If so, then like Wigod he was also perhaps a kinsman of King Edward (Edward 15; S 1148; Harmer 1952: 336-7, 368-70, 522-3, 577), although it is unwise to speculate further on this point.

Checkendon lay only 15 miles from the estate of Wulfræd 50 in Buckinghamshire and, given the size of Wulfræd 49’s holding, this is close enough for all three estates to have been held by the same man. Against this possibility, however, are that Wulfræd was a fairly common name and that Wulfræd 50’s estate had no demonstrable connection with Alfred or with Wigod and his successors. On balance it is more likely than not that Wulfræd 49 and Wulfræd 50 were different people. All the other estates held TRE by people of that name were about 50 miles or more away from Checkendon and there is no reason to associate Wulfræd 49 with any of them.

Bibliography


Harmer 1952: Anglo-Saxon Writs, ed. F. E. Harmer (Manchester, 1952)

Keats-Rohan 1999: K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, Domesday People: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1066-1166. I: Domesday Book (Woodbridge, 1999)

Williams 1995: A. Williams, The English and the Norman Conquest (Woodbridge, 1995)