Dodington Family History

Dodington Relationship with WilliamThe Conquorer

I have a document that appears to be from the Somerset Archeological Society, Volume XLV, pages 25-34, by Prebendary Coleman, entitled "The Descent of the Manor of Allerton". The reason for including a synopsis of this document here is that it describes some of the early history of the Dodington family.  The village of Dodington is near the village of Stringston, and both are mentioned herein.

My Synopsis of the relevant portions

In Domesday Book, the spelling was Alwarditone or Alunarditona.  The origin of the name is probably "Alward's town or ground (-ton)".  Both Domesday books give a survey of Allerton.  Before the Conquest, Ulnod held the land. After the Conquest the land was held by Ralph de Conteville (Radulfus de Continilla), who was the foster-brother of King William.  The land was in the old Hundred of Bimastane.  The Hundred stone used to be on high ground of Allerton, in Hundredstonefield, but it is long gone.

Ralph was the first ancestor of a long line of  de Contevilles, who were Lords of Allerton for nearly 300 years.  The name died in 1348, with Richard de Conteville, who had no male heirs.  Incidentally, Conteville (Comitis Villa) is a village in France, department of Eure, on the river Risle, a tributary of the Seine.  The de Conteville family had an alliance with the Dukes of Normandy for a hundred years before the Conquest.

Ralph was related to King William through his father Herluin's marriage to Herleva, who was the mother of William also.  After the Conquest, William gave many bequests to his relatives, which explains how Ralph came to own the Allerton properties.  Ralph also held lands in the Hundred of Bempstone and the Hundred of Melborne.

There are no exact records of Ralph's birth and death, but he probably died circa 1108.  His immediate successor is not known, but in 1162 Adam de Conteville is in the tax records as the Lord of Alwareton.

The manor of Stringston came into Adam's possession  by his marriage to Amelia de Stringston (temp. Henry II), daughter of Ranulph de Stringston.  Adam and Amelia had two sons, William and Hugh.  William settled nearby at Dodington, while Hugh stayed at Stringston. [even today, there is a road signpost pointing one way to Dodington and the other to Stringston].  William de Conteville took the name Dodington, which started the Dodington (surname) family tree.

 

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