Durand (Carpenter) the Carpenter (abt. 1045 - aft. 1086)

Died after 1086 after about age 41 in Dorset, England [uncertain]

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Biography

Durandus Carpentarius (Durand the carpenter) was listed in the Domesday Book as holding 3 plots of land in Dorset. He held Wilkswood (Wilceswde, Wilchesode) as a sub-tenant of the unnamed wife of Hugh FitzGrip, and Afflington (Alfrrunetone) and Moulham (Moleham) as tenant-in-chief, under the King.^[1]

Nothing more is known about Durand the carpenter, though his name suggests he is Norman or Anglo-Norman, and an assumption has been made that he would have been a prosperous and respected tradesperson probably involved in the many building works after the Norman conquest. As such his birth date has been estimated at about 1045.

Equally no spouse or children are known, though he may have been the ancestor of "Gerard 'the carpenter' of the thirteenth century and the De Moulham" family.^[2]

Research Notes

Name

Technically the Last Name at Birth (LNAB) for this profile should be Unknown. Carpenter has been retained to avoid adding to the large number of Unknown profiles.

Improbable Genealogy

J. Hatton Carpenter's article 'The Carpenter family of England and the United States' published in the Utah genealogical and historical magazine, Apr 1925 (image 15 of 55) proposed without any real evidence that Guillaume, Vicomte de Melun, who participated in the first crusade and had the nickname 'the Carpenter' was the ancestor of the English Carpenter family.

At some later date, Durand as well as two other carpenters who are recorded in the Domesday Book, Rayner and Stephen, were proposed to be the sons of Guillaume de Melun. This is certainly incorrect. Given Guillaume de Melun is fighting in the First Crusade in the late eleventh/early twelfth centuries, he would be at least of the same generation as Durand, Rayner and Stephen, if not from a younger generation.

Nor should we consider Durand, Rayner and Stephen to be brothers. They held land in different Counties in the Domesday Book; Durant as noted above in Dorset, Rayner in Hertfordshire^[3] and Stephen in Wiltshire.^[4] There is no source that connects all three or any one to another. They presumably have in common that they were all successful, respected carpenters, but that is all.

Sources

1. ↑ Domesday Book: A complete translation, Alecto Historical Editions edited by Ann Williams & G.H. Martin (London: Penguin Books, 1992). pp. 225 & 229.
2. ↑ Page, William, ed. The Victoria History of the County of Dorset, vol. 2 (London: Archibald Constable, 1908), p. 335 (note 36); digital images, Internet Archive Texts (https://archive.org/details/victoriahistoryo02page/page/335/mode/1up? : accessed 6 November 2022).
3. ↑ Keats-Rohan, K.S.B., Domesday People: A prosopography of persons occurring in English documents 1066-1166. Vol 1, Domesday Book (Suffolk, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999). p. 356.
4. ↑ Keats-Rohan, Domesday Book, p. 422.

See also:

• ‘Durand 15 - Domesday Book database', in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, https://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=47728 : accessed 6 November 2022..
• Keats-Rohan, K.S.B., 'Durand Carpentarius' in Domesday People: A prosopography of persons occurring in English documents 1066-1166. Vol 1, Domesday Book (Suffolk, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999). p. 181.