 |
Saxon owner or governors, -
Leofric, Algar; - notices in Domesday Book, - Edwin and Morcar's revolt. -
Robert De Stafford and his property. |
|
Source:
"The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent" John Ward, 1843 |
"we.. hazard a bare conjecture, that in the name of Penkhull,
the last syllable contains a corrupt memorial of the Hall of some Saxon Thane (thane - man who held land from an English
king or other superior by military service)….
The
earldom or dukedom of Mercia, (one
of the largest kingdoms which arose out of the Saxon domination, and in which
Staffordshire was included), remained and office of the first rank, after the
union of the whole monarchy, by Egbert (AD 827).
During
a great part of the reign of Edward the Confessor, this title was held by the
wise and patriotic Leofric, the husband of Lady Godiva - Leofric died in
1057, and was succeeded by his son Algar, who is mentioned in Domesday as
having held considerable portions of the royal demesnes in this part of
Staffordshire, in the reign of King Edward.
Algar
died seven years before the conquest, and his sons Edwin and Morcar, (Earls of
Mercia and Northumberland), ..took up arms on behalf of their enslaved
countrymen in the year 1071, and Edwin being betrayed into the hands of the
Normans, met an untimely fate; when his estates were, of course confiscated
and most of those in Staffordshire remained in the King's hands at the
Domesday survey. The devastating vengeance which William inflicted on the
English revolters, may probably account for the immense tract of waste lands
in Staffordshire, mentioned in Domesday, where about thirty lordships are
specified in succession, including Biddulph, Endon, Bucknall, Shelton Cheadle
and its vicinity; to which list is added the ...observation "All this
land of the King is waste!"
There were also many lordships of other proprietors lying waste: among which
was Fenton, consisting of three carucates, or plough lands, ..
Allward was tenant in capite (or lord), and at the same time held two
carucates under cultivation, in Burslem belonging to Robert de
Stafford, as chief lord.
Robert de
Stafford
He was a relative of the
Conqueror, - his father Richard was standard-bearer of Normandy, and was descended
from Malahusius, uncle of Duke Rollo.
This Robert held no less than
one hundred and fifty lordships at the time of Domesday, of which more than
half lay in Staffordshire, including Norton-in-the-moors, Chell, Madeley,
Burslem, Hulton, and Rushton, in this immediate neighbourhood. He, with his
brother Nigel, came in with the Conqueror, whose kinsmen they were, and
he liberally rewarded both out of the spoils of the English proprietors.
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