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Stanmær 4

Name

Summary

Stanmær 4 was a free man with shares in two tiny holdings in south-east Suffolk TRE, perhaps of about 9½ acres worth 1s 8d; his commended lord was Northmann, and Stanmær himself shared with Beorhtmær the commendation of another small landholder, Beorhtric.

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 Suffolk	Phil. ref. 7,76	Vill Walton	DB Spelling Stanmarus	Holder 1066 Stanmær 'of Kirton'	Lord 1066 Northmann the sheriff	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Roger Bigod	1086 Subtenant Northmann the sheriff	Fiscal Value 0.02	1066 Value 0.03	1086 Value 0.03	Confidence C	Map
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 7,87	Vill Kirton	DB Spelling Stanmarus	Holder 1066 Stanmær 'of Kirton'	Lord 1066 Northmann the sheriff	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Roger Bigod	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.06	1066 Value 0.05	1086 Value 0.05	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Lord 2 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 Suffolk	Phil. ref. 39,5	Vill Hemley	DB Spelling Stanmar	Holder 1066 Beorhtmær son of Cwengifu	Lord 1066 Beorhtmær son of Cwengifu	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Ranulph brother of Ilger	1086 Subtenant William de Bosc	Fiscal Value 0.08	1066 Value 0.15	1086 Value 0.15	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Stanmær 4 was one of three free men who shared a tiny estate at Kirton, on a low peninsula between the rivulets and marshes of the Orwell and Deben estuaries in south-east Suffolk, the other two men being Grim and Beorhtric. Each man would have 6²/₃ acres if the estate was divided equally between them but it is more likely that they held it in common. Certainly the DB entry treats it as a single entity, recording that the men had one plough on their arable land and one bordar with his household to provide the workforce. DB also states that the three free men were in the commendation of Northmann, a local magnate who survived the Conquest and who held Kirton as the subtenant of the sometime sheriff, Roger 6 Bigod, in 1086. There is no reason to regard the three TRE holders as being other than tenurially related, however, because such shared small holdings were common in Suffolk in DB.

Indeed, it is probable that Stanmær 4 was also one of fifteen free men (the list does not include Grim or Beorhtric) who shared another small estate at Walton, at the head of the same peninsula and just 3 miles south-east of Kirton. Here the men shared 40 acres and two ploughs that they presumably worked themselves, there being no dependent peasant population recorded on the estate. The close proximity of the two estates and the rarity of Stanmær’s name commend this identification; and although DB omits the name of the lord to whom the fifteen men were commended the implication is that it was again Northmann, who held a larger estate at Walton both TRE and in 1086. 

Finally, a man called Stanmær shared with Beorhtmær the commendation of a free man called Beorhtric (not necessarily the same as Beorhtric, one of the co-holders at Kirton) who held 9 acres at Hemley, by the Deben estuary 2 miles to the north of Kirton. Again, the close proximity and the rare name render it probable that it was Stanmær 4 who held half of this man’s commendation.

These are the only instances of the name Stanmær recorded in DB and there is no reason to consider Stanmær 4 in connection with any other person or estate.