When I turned up at Munich Airport on Friday evening the car hire lady awarded me an upgrade to a Golf Cabrio. A free convertible could only mean one thing: Heavy rain was expected over the weekend in Bavaria. However every dark grey cloud has a slightly less grey lining. Bad weather means more time to spend on the on-line version of the Duggleby Family tree.

Following the encouraging feedback to last week’s blog (thanks Vincent and Sally) I would like to share with you some more very early ‘Duggleby’ documents.

Let’s start with the last will and testament referred to by Vincent in his comments about the last blog. This is the will of William Duggleby or more precisely William Dyngelby of Brumpton from the 1391 Probate Register:

In the name of God Amen. On the Monday after the feast of St Botulph in the year of the Lord 1391, I William Dyngelby of Brumpton, make my will in this way. Firstly I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, the blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints and my body to be buried in my parish church of Brumpton. And for my mortuary payment I bequeath my best animal and forty shillings to be distributed amongst the poor and sick on the day of my burial, and six pounds of wax to burn about my body on the day of my burial. And to the fabric of the body of my aforesaid parish church 6 shillings 8 pence. And to the fabric of the Cathedral church of St. Peter at York 3 shillings 4 pence. And to the collegiate church of St John at Beverley 2 shillings. And to ornament the image of the Virgin Mary in the said church of Brumpton 18 pence. And to the three orders of mendicant brothers in the town of Scarborough 10 shillings to be divided amongst them in equal portions. And to the Augustinians and the Franciscans of York 6 shillings 8 pence to be divided amongst them in equal portions. And to the Carmelites and Dominicans of York 4 shillings to be divided amongst them in equal portions. And to each monk in the monastery of Malton 6 pence and to the nuns of Yedingham and Warkham 4 shillings to be divided amongst them in equal portions. And to Joan Salton, modre’ of Brumpton 12 pence. And to Joan Pacol 12 pence. And to Alice de Burton 12 pence. And to two sick pauper men of Snaynton 18 pence to be divided in equal portions. And to two sick paupers of Saldan’ 12 pence to be divided in equal portions. And will also that each and every pauper and sick person who comes to my house on the day of my burial shall have suitable food and drink, provided by my executors from my income. And to the high altar of my aforesaid parish church, according to the will of my executors aforesaid, 3 shillings 4 pence. Also I give and bequeath to Joan my daughter ten marks of sterling and half of all my utensils or ephemeral goods, whatsoever they pertain to. Also I give and bequeath to Emma my daughter ten marks of sterling and half of all my utensils or ephemeral goods, whatsoever they pertain to, under the condition that the aforesaid Joan and Emma should possess the said legacies and should not marry without the consent of William Forster my executor. And if it should happen that the said Joan and Emma, my daughters, or either of them, should die before they marry, their portion is to be distributed to the poor and the sick, considering God, by the said William, my executor. And to Lord William Forster, chaplain, 40 shillings. And to Ellen Herman 13 shillings 4 pence. And to the fabric of the bridge of Acomb 6 pence. And to the bridge of How’ 12 pence. And to the bridge of Yedington 12 pence. And to one suitable, honest chaplain to celebrate divine service in my said parish church of Brumpton for seven years after my death for my soul and the souls of my parents, friends and kinsmen, for his salary, to receive as my executors agree. And the same chaplain will, for the souls of the above said, celebrate an annual trental of St Gregory and ten usual feasts within the octave of the same and daily shall devoutly say this prayer: ‘God who is our great redeemer etc’ And to John Gentilman 12 pence. And to John Dyngelbyman 12 pence. And to Ralph Seke 12 pence. And to Hugh Bonde 3 shillings 4 pence. Also I give and bequeath 20 shillings to the upkeep of two candles to burn in my aforesaid parish church before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary there. The residue of all my goods not above bequeathed, my debts having been completely paid and the aforesaid legacies distributed I give and bequeath to my underwritten executors to use for the salvation of my soul and the aforesaid souls in distribution to the poor and sick as they will answer before the High Judge. I make these my executors, that is, Lord William Forster, Joan and Emma my daughters to perform and execute all the above said faithfully. In testimony of which I have affixed my seal to my present testimony. Dated at Scarborough on the day and in the year above said.

And the aforesaid will was proved on the 10 February 1391 and administration was granted to William Forster, chaplain, and Emma daughter of the said deceased, reserving the right of Joan, daughter of the same, when she should appear.

Clearly William Dyngelby of Brumpton held the church and those who served it in high regard. He did not have any male heirs but he was a man of considerable means and his two daughters were well looked after in the will. I tend to agree that the relatively modest sum given to John Dyngelbyman in the will indicates he might be a servant of the Dyngelby family.

We can find even earlier records of Duggleby generosity in favour of the church. Records in the Yorkshire Archaeological Archives include land charters dating from 1180-1200 in which the Church of St. Peter in York received a large gift from Thomas the son of Jollan de Duggleby

(iv) Cloughton

229. Gift by Thomas son of Jollan de Duggleby to the church of St. Peter, York, and the hospital of Jerusalem in equal shares of two tofts in Cloughton (parish Scalby) and 3 acres of his demesne there, making up any deficiency from a culture near the mill of Cloughton which is crossed in going to Burniston; and also common pasture for 240 sheep, 10 oxen, 10 pigs and 2 horses (c. 1180-1200).

In the original Latin text Thomas and Jollan’s names were spelled Thomam filium Joellani de Diuegelby (also spellt Dinegelby). If you do intend to do some research into very old documents keep in mind the many variations in the spellings of Duggleby. I have included many of these in the on-line family tree. Some familiarity with Latin and French can also be useful. In the above text the ‘tofts’ were villages or settlements of relatively small, closely packed, farms surrounded by land which was farmed by those living in the village. Many place names derived from the Viking era have ‘toft’ in them (e.g. Lowestoft). The term ‘demesne’ derives from the old French word ‘demeine’ which came originally from the Latin word ‘dominus’ used to describe the lord or master of a household. Here it describes the land which was retained by the lord of the manor for his own use under his own management (in other words this was land which was not left to sub-tenants to manage).

This document reinforces the impression that Jollan and the early Duggleby family included wealthy, influential and very religious people.

There are other 700 year old records showing that some ‘Dugglebys’ (here called Dinglebys) were involved in hunting wildlife in the King’s forest of Pickering – and sometimes getting caught. For example the records of the Duchy of Lancaster have the following entry from 1325:

John Malton, cousin to Sir John Moryn, William Tanton (possibly Touton or Teuton), chaplain, Walter and John Dingleby, on Monday, 15 November, 1325, slew a hind at Greendale, within the forest, and carried it to Sir John Moryn’s house, with his knowledge and consent. John Malton and Sir John Moryn are fined 13 shillings 4 pence and ; 3 pounds 6 shilling 8 pence respectively ; the rest are outlawed.

Clearly this will help to feed any romantic visions modern day Duggleby’s have that their forebears may have been outlaws. For those not familiar with this term, the most famous of the English outlaws was Robin Hood, something of a mythical figure with some stories placing him in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham and others claiming he was from Yorkshire. An outlaw was a man over 14 who did not pay a fine or turn up at the court when summonsed. They were banished to live outside of the law and had no rights. In most cases the outlaws lived in the forests which covered most of England at that time.

There are also some records from a slightly later period which indicate that Dugglebys from other parts of Yorkshire also had problems with the early English legal system. Consider for example the following information from the Court records in Hedon (near Hull) dating from 1419:

“Item 1: The presentment is, that John Tesdale, of Hedon, in Holderness, in the county of York, is culpable, on the 1 3th day of August, in the sixth year of the reign of king Henry the fifth within the liberties of the same town of Hedon, did sell a useless pair of sotulares (shoes without straps) for a boy, a crafty, deceitful trick upon the ignorant, for 3d. that is, to John Cusas, of Brustwick, and others, in the very highest gain, and to deceive the subjects of our lord the king. 

Item 2: The presentment is that Robert Dyngely, of the same town and county is culpable, that on the 1 1th day of November, in the sixth year of the reign of king Henry the fifth, Sec. within the liberty of the town of Hedon, he sold a pair of sotulares, called Bokile-shone (shoes with straps for buckles) for 8d. that is to say, to John Stoute, cf Tunstall, and others, for the very highest lucre, and against the statute of our lord the king, …..

…the sheriff causes to come the aforesaid John Tasdale, Robert Dyngelby, …., that they are before the aforesaid justices, at Hedon, on Tuesday next after the feast of St. Barnabas, the Apostle, next following.”

The spelling of the names of the accused varies within the document (Robert is referred to as either Dyngely or Dyngelby). In the 1800s we will again see that other Duggleby’s became involved in the shoe trade (William Duggleby – 1804-1876: Master Shoe maker in Bishop Wilton, East Riding of Yorkshire).

Finally for this week I would like to share with you another interesting document about the early Dugglebys. This the information comes again from a religious source: The register of William Melton, Archbishop of York from 1317 – 1340. It refers to a special dispensation given to the son of John Roberti de Duggleby at around the same time as some of the other Dugglebys (above) were being outlawed.

” 265: Dispensation of Robert de Dodington son of John Roberti of Duggleby, clerk of York diocese, de solute genitus, for illegitimacy and to be promoted to all orders and to hold a benefice even with cure of souls, reciting letter of Berengar, bishop of Tusculum and papal penitentiary, Avignon, 7 May, the third year of pontificate (1319) Bishopthorpe, 4^th May 1322.”

Quite frankly I am not quite sure whether this dispensation was given because Robert himself was illegitimate or whether it gave him dispensation to commit illegitimacy!

Let me leave that question with you as I draw this week’s blog to a close. Certainly the 1300-1400s were interesting times for our Duggleby forebears.

I will try and share other documents with you in future blogs and please keep checking the on-line Duggleby Family tree to see how the latest version is developing. The first 4 pages covering the period from 1086 to the 1600s can be downloaded in a PDF document by double clicking on the light blue text below:

130707 First 4 pages of Chris Duggleby Family Tree from 1086

Greetings from Bavaria to the global Dugglaholics,

Chris Duggleby