Siward Strange (abt. 1050 - abt. 1110)

Born about 1050 in England

Descendants

Died about 1110 at about age 60 in England

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Biography

Note: This profile's primary function is as the ancestor of the Lestrange family of Litcham. (This Siward apparently never used any surname.) This profile also explains some records which may or may not represent that Siward, or a close relative with the same name, such as his father.

• He might be the Siward mentioned in Domesday Book in Norfolk in 1086 without surname. This was apparently a bailiff of William de Noyers, and was mentioned in connection with at least two specific places later associated with the two later Lestrange families, Bittering and Hunstanton.
• He might therefore also be an ancestor of the Hunstanton Lestranges, and the link between the two later Lestrange families of Norfolk. The simplest speculative proposal, by Cecil L'Estrange Ewen, is that Siward is the father of Rolland (apparently also sometimes referred to as Rivallon) Lestrange, who is the earliest known person in that family.
• He might also be Siward (without surname) who signed a charter of Alan fitz Flaad, probably made about 1109-1121. Also present, and in a higher position, was "Rual~ ext^ãneo".

Ancestor of the Lestranges of Litcham. The Litcham family claimed an ancestor named Siward who lived in about the time of King Henry I. For information about this Litcham family see Carthew and Le Strange, and the profiles of the descendants.

The antiquarian of Norfolk, Francis Blomefield referred to the family in many places without always being careful to avoid confusing them with the Hunstanton family. He apparently saw documentation which no one else has located, and so Eyton, Carthew, Le Strange and L'Estrange Ewen all used him as a source to supplement surviving medieval records:^[1]

LAUNDITCH HUNDRED. Takes its name from a Long Ditch with a bank that divides (as it is said) the two parishes of Longham, and Beeston, and runs north and south; where at the crossing of it by the Norwich road, the hundred court was anciently kept; and was given by the Conqueror to Alan son of Flaald, ancestor to the barons of Clun in Shropshire, (and Earls of Arundel after,) and granted by the said Alan to Siward, with the hundred of South Greenhow, and (as some records say) confirmed by William (Fitz Alan,) son of Alan, to Durand, son of Ralph, son of Seward, on his paying 6l. per ann. rent for the two hundreds, and 8s. per ann. for lands in Wellingham, Sutton, and Bittering.

Alan, son of Flaald, had also with this (by grant of the Conqueror) the great lordship of Mileham, of which Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury was lord before the Conquest, and probably of this hundred also.

Alan fitz Flaad was probably not yet based in England during the time of William the Conqueror and Domesday Book (see below), but it is interesting that Blomefield connected Siward the ancestor of the Litcham Lestranges to such an early period.

Eyton accepted that the Litcham Lestranges descended from a Siward who lived in the time of King Henry I, although he saw the Hunstanton Lestranges as a different family.^[2]

Research notes

Domesday. The Siward mentioned in Domesday in Norfolk was not a major land-owner. He does not appear in many standard lists in a clear way. For example he has no entry in Keats-Rohan. This Siward was associated with what had been the 1066 lands of Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It has been suggested he was bailiff of William Noyers, who took over many of Stigand's possessions in Norfolk, under King William.^[3]

Cecil L'Estrange Ewen in the 20th century was perhaps the first to propose a link to a Siward in Domesday Book (1086), for both Lestrange families. He wrote:

Siward is a common name, but Siward, the grandfather of Durand le Strange, may be Siward who occurs in Domesday Book (f. 135b) in Hunstanton (Smethden hundred), and (f. 136b) as holding lands in Bittering (Launditch hundred), both of which places came to the Le Stranges. There is also a Seward witness to the grant of Alan fitz Flaald (Reg. Castleacre, Harl. MS. 2110, f.20; Facs. in Le Strange Records, 6).^[4]

As explained by L'Estrange Ewen we also have a clear record of this Siward holding land himself under complicated circumstances in two places. In both cases there is reference to a woman (perhaps the same one) who held land at the time of King Edward the Confessor, which was later held by Ralph the Earl. (Ralph de Gael, a Breton earl had rebelled and lost his English lands.) In 1086 Godric was claiming her lands, but Siward was holding them. (Godric may be Ralph's old steward, sometimes called Godric dapifer, who continued to manage areas after his old lord left.) Perhaps he was only mentioned because of this special discussion. From the translation from VCH Norfolk Vol.II:

Hunestanesteda [Hunstanton] was held by Stigand T.R.E. ; then 2 ploughs on the demesne, when W[illiam] received it 1 1/2 and now the same; then as now 16 villeins and 4 bordars. Then 3 serfs, afterwards and now 1, and 8 acres of meadow. Then 2 ploughs belonging to the men, afterwards and now 1 1/2 ; then 1 mill, half a fishery. Then 1 rouncey and now the same (similiter) and 2 beasts. And [f. 136.] 14 swine and 44 sheep, and 4 sokemen (with) 60 acres. Then it was worth 70 shillings, afterwards and now 110. Here used to belong (jacebat) T.R.E. 1 freewoman (with) 30 acres of land ; afterwards Ralf the earl had (this) for 3 years before he made forfeiture, and when he made forfeiture. Afterwards Robert Blund held (this) and Godric (held it) to farm for 30 shillings with other land. Siward has once more (iterum) joined this (illam) to this manor and does not pay Godric the farm ; and W[illiam] de Noiers has added 4 sokemen of St. Benet's with 4 acres of land. The whole is 1 league in length and half (a league) in breadth and pays 6 pence (for a geld) of 20 shillings whoever may hold there.^[5]

...and...

In Britringa [Bittering] 7 acres of wood and 1 acre of land on which are 4 bordars. This Godric reclaims to the fee of Ralf the earl, and a certain woman who held it T.R.E. is willing to undergo the ordeal (ferre judicium) that it is released from pledge. This is held by Siward in pledge.^[6]

There are various other entries with similar names, so the the freewoman might for example also be the widow, who had fallen into poverty, mentioned in another part of Bittering/Mileham that Godric was apparently managing to hold, while having to pay her taxes for her:

In Mulcham [Mileham] and in Britringa [Bittering] is 1 ploughland and 12 acres which Aluin a freeman held ; now a certain widow holds it : then (there were) 2 ploughs, now none. And 1 sokeman (with) 24 acres of land. Then as now half a plough, and 3 sokemen (with) 15 acres and half a plough T.R.E. All this was then worth 20 shillings. Now (she) pays nothing, because she has nothing (nichil habet) and yet (tunc) Godric pays the tax (censum) for it.^[7]

It is relevant to note that John Le Strange of Hunstanton inherited two main parts of Hunstanton out of several which are mentioned in Domesday Book (approximately 1086) ^[8] Ralph fitz Herlewin, his mother's father, was holding one part in 1086, but it is striking that apparently the other part which the Lestranges would one day hold was being held by a man named Siward, the name name that the Litcham Lestranges gave to their ancestor. The Hunstanton Lestranges also held a part of Litcham.

While Hunstanton became the home of one Lestrange family, Bittering later was a property of the Litcham Le Stranges, and they certainly claimed a Siward ancestor in the time of Henry I, roughly contemporary to Riuallon. Domesday was of course somewhat earlier, but still this could be the same person, and he could be older than Rolland. The book of Hamon L'Estrange Owen shows many examples of the two families interacting and owning neighbouring lands.

(Norfolk Domesday also mentioned Siwards in Sheringham, Salthouse, and East Beckham. These appear to be the same as Siward Barn, an Anglo Saxon known from historical records and a landholder in several counties. But as a rebel, he lost his lands. See for example here.)

Charter of Alan fitz Flaad. The charter of Alan in favour of Castle Acre which mentions a Siward is reproduced facing page 6 of Hamon Le Strange's Le Strange Records.^[9] It is Castle Acre charter number IX in Monasticon Anglicanum Vol.V (1825 ed.) p.51.^[10]

Round thought it was made early in the reign of Henry I (1106-1135). Refining, Alan was granted Norfolk land in 1100 by Henry I, or certainly playing a role at the English court by 1101, and his wife claimed dower in 1121.^[11] Trying to refine more, Eyton noted that Henry I made a confirmation charter for Castle Acre in 1109 which did not mention Alan's, so it was presumably after then.^[12] Furthermore Eyton (p.346) noted that Alan's wife is a party to the charter, and she must have married him before 1105 given that their eldest son had to have been by then.

In conclusion it was probably made about 1110-1120. This a long time after Domesday book.

Siward is the last witness listed. The listing: Hamone, Waltero capellano, Rualdo extraneo, Gorhanno, Oddone, Ginrico, Renrico de Pagrave, Turstano de Acra, Sewardo.

If we compare to the charter of Alan whereby Sporle church was granted to St Florent in Anjou, with very similar witnesses, Round estimates it simply to have been made before 1122.^[13]

Ancestor of the Lestranges of Hunstanton? It is obvious that the two Lestrange families are likely to be related. The idea was apparently older than Eyton, because he mentioned it as something others proposed.^[2]

Hamon Le Strange rightfully felt the question remained open (as indeed it still does). He wrote:^[14]

That a considerable degree of confusion should exist between the le Stranges of Hunstanton and Ness, and those of Litcham, is not to be wondered at, considering that, in the latter half of the twelfth century, both held under Fitz Alan, both had an interest in Litcham, and that the name of Ralph was used by both families. Whether any, and if any, what degree of relationship existed between them, has been a puzzle which even genealogists as painstaking as Eyton and Carthew have been unable to solve. Indeed, not much has been added to what was known to Blomefield [...] writing in 1775

As already noted, Cecil L'Estrange Ewen pointed to a Siward being a witness together with Rolland in a charter for Castle Acre. We can add that Durannus similarly witnessed a charter of Rolland's son John.^[15] L'Estrange Ewen reminds us (as can be seen by reading through the records collected by Hamon Le Strange):

...it is not unlikely that Siward and Roland were kinsmen, certainly for many years their families kept up a friendly association. The descendants of Siward held lands principally in Norfolk under the suzerainty of the Fitz Alans, but never attained to the importance of Roland's posterity, who founded several noble and powerful houses. Roland greatly enhanced his family's fortune by marrying Maud (Matilda), daughter and, in her issue, heiress of Ralph, son of Herluin...

The simplest and most obvious version of L'Estrange Ewen's suggested scenario appears to be that the Domesday Siward might be father to Rolland.

Sources

1. ↑ Blomefield (Parker ed) An essay towards a topographical history of the County of Norfolk (under "Launditch Hundred"). 1808 edition on British History Online p.456; 1775 edition on Hathitrust: Vol.V p.971
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume 10, p.260
3. ↑ Charles Johnson (1906) "Introduction to the Norfolk Domesday" Victoria County history of Norfolk Vol.II p.13.
4. ↑ 'Observations on the Le Stranges With Some Corrections of Prevalent Genealogical Errors' written by Cecil L'Estrange Ewen in 1946. It can be found on WorldVitalRecords, and extracts here, and here.
5. ↑ Norfolk Domesday f.135b-f.136 on p.63
6. ↑ Norfolk Domesday f.137 on p.64
7. ↑ f.121 on p.49
8. ↑ The Open Domesday website shows 5 parts of Hunstanton: http://opendomesday.org/place/TF6841/hunstanton/
9. ↑ Hamon Le Strange Le Strange Records page 6
10. ↑ Castle Acre charter number IX in Monasticon Anglicanum Vol.V (1825 ed.) p.51
11. ↑ See Johnson and Cronne eds Regesta regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154 547 & 548 p.13, p.163
12. ↑ Eyton, (1856) "The Houses of Fitz-Alan and Stuart: Their Origin and Early History" The Archaeological Journal, 13, pdf pp.340-1
13. ↑ Round, (1899) Calendar of documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol.1. A.D. 918-1206, p.414 St Florent charter 1149
14. ↑ Hamon Le Strange p.46.
15. ↑ Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol.X p.260 footnote 3, and Hamon Le Strange p.5.