Notes on the fate of Harold II's family members after 1066 as found at
http://members.tripod.com/~GeoffBoxell/family.htm
Other sources:
Walker, Ian W. Harold, The Last Anglo-Saxon King. Sutton Publishing, Ltd.: Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, 1997.
Howarth, David. 1066, The Year of the Conquest. Penguin Books: New York, 1981.
I have never read John Cheesman Norwood. G. Marion Norwood Callam refers to him and his manuscript, “Freedom’s Romance,” as well as George E. Cockayne’s Complete Peerage as well as many other sources in her discussion of the descent of the Norwood family from Harold II, King of England..
The main problem we have with the descent of the Norwood family from the son of Harold II who is supposed to have become Jordanus de Sheppey is with dates. Jim Dempsey writes: “There are no known records of Jordan or references to him during his life time. Since a charter from his son Stephen ...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 after having gone on a crusade, but Jordan is not an uncommon name anywhere in England at this time.”
1135 to 1190 is not the generation of Harold II’s sons. According to Ian Walker's biography of Harold, Harold's sons were beginning to come of age by 1066, so Wulfnoth (Jordanus) probably reached 20 by around 1076 or so. He was captured in 1066 and imprisoned by the Normans until 1087 when he was freed on amnesty, probably at around 30 years of age. The math is clear. By 1100 he was about 43, already old for the times, and by 1135 he was 78. If he lived to be 100, he died by around 1154. These facts alone tell us that Harold’s son, Wulfnoth (Ulf, Alnod), while he may have gone off on the First Crusade with Robert Curthose and may have changed his name to Jordanus, was not the husband of Cicely, daughter of Wlmar, and could not have been the father of Stephen de Northwode.
In The Norwoods III, p. 24, Mrs. Callam states that Stephen de Northwode was born “towards the end of the 11th century, but records of Cicely and her sons Stephen and William occur after 1200, so this birth estimate cannot be right. In addition, on page 22, she states that Jordanus de Sheppey died at Salisbury in 1126. If he was Harold’s son Wulfnoth, he was around 70 years old, which is reasonable, but it is not reasonable that his widow and sons were alive 73 years later, in 1200.
So, Wulfnoth Haroldson may have been Jordanus, but he could not have been the Jordanus who married Cicely and fathered Stephen and William de Northwode. The question is, is the subsequent Jordanus a descendant of Harold II’s youngest son? The answer to that question cannot be worked out here.
With 30 years as a generation, if Ulf/Wulfnoth/Alnod/Jordanus was born around 1054, then the generations would follow: 1084, 1114, 1144, 1174, 1204. Based on this, Sir Stephen de Northwode should be 3 to 4 generations later than Jordanus de Sheppey. Working backwards, if Stephen was around 70 in 1200, born ca 1130, then Wulfnoth was pushing 80. It would be far more likely that he was a grandson of Wulfnoth. Since he was probably not 70 years old in 1200, he would be more likely to be a great grandson or even great great grandson of someone born in 1054.
Furthermore, The Norwoods III indicates that Sir Stephen de Northwode was born in 1120 and died in 1196 (at a great age?) (p. 24). This cannot be right if the court records in ensuing years involving him, his brother William, and their mother, Cicely, are. Furthermore, Archaeologia Cantiana, referenced by GMNC, has Stephen’s son, Sir Roger, succeeding to his father’s holdings in the 41st year of the reign of Henry III, 1257. Roger de Northwode is supposed to have been born in 1190 and died in 1286, but 1190 has a question mark before it in the text.
It is much more likely that Stephen was born around 1175 and died in 1256. Sir Roger was probably born after 1195 and lived to be quite old at age 91 or was somewhat younger, born in 1200 or so, still living to a ripe old age.
These things being true, we don’t know who the Jordan, husband of Cicely and father of Stephen and William de Northwode, was, but he was not the youngest son of King Harold II.
Following is a summary of what happened to Harold’s family after his defeat in 1066.
What happened to Harold’s family after Hastings?
Gytha, Harold's mother held out at Exeter in Devon during 18 days in winter, 1067, then fled before the city capitulated in the absence of support from local thegns. She went with her daughter Gunnhild and granddaughter, Gytha (dau. of Harold), to the island of Flatholme in the
Bristol Channel. Went on to Flanders to seek refuge with Count Baldwin VI. (Harold's brother Tostig was married to Baldwin's Aunt Judith.) Entered the convent of St. Omer with Gunnhild. Died in 1087.
Wulfnoth, Harold's brother was a hostage in Normandy from 1052 until his death in 1094
Harold's children after the conquest
Gunnhild daughter of Edith Swanneshals at Wilton convent until August, 1093,
when abducted by Alan the Red, Earl
of Richmond, who had received
lands of her mother's. She "took up
with" his brother, Alan the Black,
after Alan the Red's death.
Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury
tried unsuccessfully to get her back to
Wilton.
Gytha daughter of Edith Swanneshals on island of Flatholme, Bristol
Channel in 1067 with paternal
grandmother. Married Prince
Vladimir Monomakh of Smolensk,
Russia and later Grand Prince of
Kiev. She bore at least 8 sons and 3
daughters. A grandson became King
of Denmark. She died 7 May 1107.
Godwine son of Edith Swanneshals fought to overthrow William in 1068: recruited Norse mercenaries in Dublin and assaulted Bristol (lost), Somerset. Returned in 1069 to take Exeter (failed), raided Somerset and Cornwall, finally defeated by Norman Count Brian, returned to Ireland
Edmund son of Edith Swanneshals Godwine and Edmund went to Denmark, court of King Swein (d. 1074). No more word of them after 1074.
Magnus son of Edith Swanneshals disappears after Somerset battle, possibly ended up in Sussex.
Ulf son of Edith Swanneshals captured by the Normans and imprisoned throughout William I's reign. Freed in an amnesty in 1087and knighted by Robert Curthose, William's eldest son. His
fate is unknown but he may have
fought with Robert in the First
Crusade.
Harold son of Alditha b. at Chester 1067. Taken by mother
to Dublin, traveled to Norway,
received well by King Magnus,
participated in Magnus's assault on
Anglesey, never more heard of.