Orme [Latin: Ormus] de Davenport, the earliest recorded member of his family, was living circa 1154 when he was one of the witnesses to two twelfth-century charters.[1]
The Domesday Book recorded Gilbert the hunter was lord of Davenport settlement in 1086.[2]
Orme was the father of Richard of Davenport who married Amabilia, daughter of the second Gilbert Venables.[3]
During the lifetime of Gilbert de Venables, the manor of Davenport was given to Orme, who settled there and assumed the name of this place. [4]
Ormus de Davenort witnessed a charter by Gilbert de Venables, who had married the granddaughter of Wolfric de Hatton. [5]
Fact from fiction: There is no evidence of when Orme de Davenport was born, that he was the original grantee of Davenport, or that he was of Norman blood.[1] There is also no evidence that there was more than one person named Orme of Davenport.[1]
Domesday Book interpretations: Open Domesday says in 1086 "Gilbert the hunter" was the immediate lord over the peasants in Davenport as well as its tenant-in-chief holding the land directly from the Crown,[2] whereas PASE Domesday says "Gilbert de Venables" was the subtenant in 1086 of tenant-in-chief Earl Hugh.[7]
The Early History of the Davenports of Davenport: Amzi Benedict Davenport's history of the Davenport family (1851) with supplement (1876)[8] is "a very unreliable book for the pre-1500 period," according to Highet.[9]
"Shortly afterwards, this will was given, either by the Norman grantee, or by his grandson (who appears to have succeeded him), to Orme, the ancestor of the DAVENPORTs, who [acquired by the custom of the times rather than] assumed, the local name, as is proved by his attestation to the curious charter subjoined.1 The date assigned to Orme de DAVENPORT by four pedigrees in the British Museum, and by the BRAMALL pedigree, is 20 Will. I; and it will appear from a consideration of subsequent deeds, that the fact of his being then living is not irreconcilable with calculations founded upon them."
1. the curious charter subjoined: "This charter is referred to in the account of Kinderton, and relates to the raising a villain of the manor of Eccleston to the rank of a free tenant of the barony of Kinderton: 'Sciant, &c. quod ego Gilbertus de Venables, concilio et consensu heredum meorum, relaxavi, concessi, (atq. liberum et quietum clamavi) Osmundum filium Gameli, de Eccleston, et omnes heredes suos, de sac et tol et gersinno,* et ab omni actione servili, et ab omni vili et consuetudine: atq. me dedisse, &c. sibi et heredibus suis, II bovatas terrae, scilicet unam in Eccleston, et alteram in Strettonia, pro III solidis annuatim reddendo, illas scilicet quas pater ejus ante eum habuit, libere, &c. excepto foraneo servicio, quod ad regem vel ad comitem pertinet. Pro hac, &c., Willielmus et Richardus de Etona dederunt unam marcam, et praedictus Osmundus dimidiam argenti marcam. Hiis test. Rogero de Utkinton, Radulfo de Brereton, Will'o et Ric'o de Eton, Gilberto de Wetenhale, Orm. de Davenport, Matheo clerico, et multis aliis.' Kinderton chartulary 2. Seal a falcon regardant, close, sinister.'"
* gersinno: "Gersinna mendose pro Gersuma his legitur. Ducange, vol. iii, 8vo. edit. Halae, 1784. Ibid. "Gersuma - apud forenses Anglicos pro fine, seu pecunia data in pactionem et rei emptae vel conductae compensationem - Gersuma praeterea pro delicti compensatione interdum legitur."
The charter given above, in which the name of Orme de DAVENPORT appears as witness, enfranchised Gilbert de VENABLES. It was written either during the reign of William II (William Rufus: reigned 26 September 1087 - 2 August 1100) or under that of Henry I (Henry Beauclerc: reigned .5 August 1100 - 1 December 1135).
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Featured National Park champion connections: Orme is 26 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 30 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 24 degrees from George Catlin, 25 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 33 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 25 degrees from George Grinnell, 33 degrees from Anton Kröller, 22 degrees from Stephen Mather, 30 degrees from Kara McKean, 28 degrees from John Muir, 24 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 36 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
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