A
THE NORWOOD FAMILY PAGE
ORIGINS

NORWOOD-NORTHWOOD FAMILIES OF
KENT, WARWICKSHIRE, AND GLOUCESTERSHIRE

by

James G. Dempsey
Cincinnati, Ohio
1983

This article is copyrighted (1983) and is reproduced here with the permission of the author. Use of this material in any form without the express permission of the author is prohibited.


Jordan of Sheppey

and wife Cecily



        There are no known records of Jordan or references to him during his life time. Since a charter from his son Stephen (in the next chapter) about the year 1190 does not refer to him as being alive, we can only guess that he lived in the period of 1135 to 1190. Some writers suggest that his name implies that he changed his name 1 after having gone on a crusade, but Jordan is not an uncommon name anywhere in England at this time.

Kent events during this period:2

1130 8 May A rebuilt Rochester Cathedral consecrated in the presence of King Henry I. It was badly damaged by fire on the same day.
1135 Dec. Stephen of Blois, grandson of William I, landed at Dover to claim throne
1141 25 Dec. Stephen and Mathilda crowned at Canterbury Cathedral by Archbishop Theobald
1147 King Stephen founded Cluniac Abbey of Faversham
1151 May Queen Maud buried in Faversham Abbey
1153 Davington Priory founded for Cluniac Nuns by Fulk de Newenham
1154 25 Oct. K.Stephen buried in Faversham Abbey
1161 City of Canterbury consumed by fire.
1162 3 June Thomas a` Becket consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury
1168 Building of present Dover Castle begun. 8 Baronies to owe castle-guard service: Averanches, Fulbert, Arsic, Peverel, Port, Magminot, Crevecoeur and FitzWilliam.
1170 29 Dec. Thomas a` Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by 4 knights; Reginald FitzUrse, William Tracy, Richard le Bret and Hugh de Morville.
1179 23 Aug. St.Andrews Priory & Cathedral at Rochester damaged by fire.
1189 27 Nov. Great crusader's service held in Canterbury Cathedral, attended by King Richard I before departing on 3rd Crusade.
1192 Combwell Priory founded for Augustinian canons by Robert de Thurnham
1192 29 Oct. Stephen de Thurnham, seneschal of Anjou, appointed by king to bring Queen Berengaria and Joan of Acre back from Palestine to Chinon Castle
1200 Bayham Priory founded for Premonstratensian canons by Robert de Thurnham
1215 15 June The barons, led by Archbishop Stephen Langton force King John to affix royal seal to Magna Charta. This year the king directed a long siege of Rochester Castle, taken by undermining the keep.
   
   
        It is obvious how much the church dominated the lives and thoughts of the people of this age. After the fire in 1179, recorded in the Rochester archives by prior Osbern of Sheppey, probably a relative, is the gift by Cecily of a window over the altar of St. Peter for the rebuilt cathedral.3

        "Osbernus de Scapeia, postea prior, perfecit historias magister Petri, &
        breviarium de capella infumitorii, & Yfaiam glosatum Ascelini episcopi,
        qui erat in quatermis feat ligare, & librum de clastro anime.
        Fecit etiam pfalterium magnum quod est in choro cum catena, & per consilium
        ejus dedit domina Cecilia de Scapeia ealicem argenteum & deauratum, & albam
        paratam cum amictu suo de aurifrifo, & fenestram ad altare Sancti Petri,
        & duodecim denariotas redditus, Adquifivit partem de redditu in Darente-ford
        ad anniversarium partum & matrum, &c.
        & fecit fibi cameram juxta infirmitorum. Adquifivit etiam ab ercoribaldo
        longo redditum duorum solidorum in viculo Sancti Clementis, quem redditumad
        instentiam quorundam monachorum nostrorum extorifit a nobis Johannes Kixus"

        Translation:
        "Osbern of Sheppey, afterwards prior, created a history of Peter, and the
        burned chapel. ... He also made the great Psalter which is in the choir
        with a chain, and by his counsel the lady Cecily of Sheppey gave a silver
        and gilt chalice and a set of white vestments with its amice embroidered
        with gold fringe and a window for the altar of St. Peter and 12 pence rent.
        He obtained part of the rent in Dartford at the anniversary [date of their
        death] of her father and mother. And he made for himself a room next to
        the infirmary. ... "

In those same records she is listed as owing 12d. yearly for marsh in Upchurch.

        "Cecila de Scapeia dedit xii.d redditus de quodam marifco in Upchirche"4

Translation:

        "Cecily of Sheppey gave 12 pence for a certain marsh in Upchurch."4

        At a later date, probably around 1200, Cecily had a confirmation charter made to the church, confirming her father's grant, with the consent of her sons, William and Stephen. From the copy in the Rochester archives:5

"Carta Cecilae de Scapeia

        Sciant presentes et futuri, quod ego Cecilia de Scapeia affenfu & voluntate Willelmi & Stephani filiorum & heredum meorum, divino intuitu & pro falute anime mee, & ante cefforum meorum, & fuccefforum meorum, conceffi & presenti carta confirmaui, ecclesie sancti Andree de Rowcestra, & monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, in puram & perpetuam elemofinam, redditum XII.d quod pater meus Wlmarus eis dedit quando accepit societatem eorum, reddend. eis annuatum in die sancti Andree apostoli, & debent pervenire de marisco meo de Upecherche qui vocatur Grenewrthe. Et ego Cecilia, & predicti filij, & herdes mei Willelmus & Stephanus volumus ut monachi prenominati habeant & teneant prefatum redditum libere & quiete in perpetum. Et eundem redditum eisdem monachis contra omnes homines & feminas warantizabimus. Et ut hec nostra concesffio in perpetuum firma fit & stabilis, illam sigillorum nostroram appositione corroboravimus. Hiis testibus, Rob. de Silam, &c."

Translated:
"Charter of Cecily of Sheppey

        Know all men present and future that I, Cecily of Sheppey, with the consent and will of William and Stephen my sons and heirs, by divine inspiration and for the salvation of my soul and my ancestors' and my successors' have granted and confirmed by my present charter to the church of St. Andrew of Rochester and the monks serving god there in pure and perpetual alms the rent of 12 pence which my father Wlmar gave to them when he received their fellowship, giving to them each year on the day of St. Andrew the Apostle and bound from my inheritance of my marsh of Upchurch which is called Grenewrthe. And I, Cecily, and my aforesaid sons and heirs William and Stephen will that the aforesaid monks shall have and hold the aforesaid rent freely and quietly for ever. And we warrant the same rent to the same monks against all men and women. And so that this our grant shall remain firm and secure for ever we have confirmed that by the placing of our seals. These being witnesses--Robert of Silam, etc."


        The earliest surviving English court records begin about the year 1200. Two of these cases relate to Cecily and Stephen. Apparently by November 1202, Cecily had remarried to Roger, the Butler (pincerna). At which time she filed suit with Stephen of Cossington over 6+ acres in Sheppey that her brother, Elias de Kiveli, had held before he had gone on crusade to Jerusalem. This case went on for years. Cecily was also referred to as "of Greatness". Whether this was a now forgotten place in Sheppey, like Sherness and Shellness, or a reference to Greatness manor in Otford, is not yet known. If the various parties are related is speculative, however, because the property, variously given at 6+, 12, 21 or 22 acres is so small, it is probably a situation of argument over division of paternal property by many brothers or nephews. Only in Kent was family land divided equally among all the sons, or if no sons, all the daughters. This tenure of 'Gavelkind' quickly produced a patchwork of small, uneconomic plots.

        In the still surviving tax rolls are found:
Date Cecily owed She paid She still owed
Sept. 1198 40 marks 10 marks 30 marks
Sept. 1199 30 marks 5 marks 25 marks
Sept. 1200 25 marks 40 shillings 22 marks
Sept. 1201 22 marks 5 marks 17 marks
Sept. 1202 17 marks (missing)  


        Possible children of Jordan of Sheppey and wife Cecily.

        1. William de Northwood, taxed 10 marks in 1198. Occurs in 1211 with
Adam de Berkesore in a Christ Church Canterbury inquisition about land in Berkesore (Lower Halstow).6 Presumably the William de Sheppey mentioned with Stephen de Northwude in a fine of April 19, 1220 with Wulvina le Franceis over 24 acres of land in Upchurch.7

        2. Stephen de Northwood occ. 1198 dc. 4.21.12318

        ?3. Richard de Norwode occ. 1206 in court case with Stephen and Fediva.9

        ?4. Humphrey de Northwood. Property in Halstow. Dead by 1220.10

        ?5. Henry de Northwood occ. 1226, 1227 in Bedfordshire.11
a. Henry de Northwood Henry to collect taxes of the 10th in Bedford April 2 and 17, 1270. Attorney of Roger Mortimer12 in Ireland for 1 year, January 4 1278.13


FOOTNOTES


1 "With the Dead at Minster, Sheppey", John C. Norwood, in 'The Antiquary', vol. XLVI, march 1910 London p.105
2 Barracuda guide
3 "Registrum Roffense", p.121 BL R.R. 2061.K 1769, K.L.S.L Xkg for Osbern see also; Selden Society v.95 "Select Canterbury Cases" (1979), La Neve, 'Fasti' (1066-1300), ii, p.79
4 "Registrum Roughens", p.118
4 "Registrum Roughens", p.118
5 "Registrum Roughens", p.675 [BLEW Cottoning Dalmatian A.x.9]
6 (to be supplied at a later date)
7 (to be supplied at a later date)
8 (to be supplied at a later date)
9 (to be supplied at a later date)
10 (to be supplied at a later date)
11 (to be supplied at a later date)
12 (to be supplied at a later date)
13 (to be supplied at a later date)


Copyright 1983 © all rights reserved.
James G. Dempsey

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