# Are Any Family Properties (in the "Domesday" Book) Still in those Families? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584 "2005-02-05T23:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/1 "2005-02-05T23:31:47Z")
Whn William conquered England in 1066, he had an inventory of all the property he stood to gain. This was inventoried in a list called the “Domesday Book”. Are any of the original families that owned these properties still around? If so, what happened to their lands? And, how accurate are the descriptiopns in this list? Can any of them be seen today? Do title searches in England go back to 1066? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/2 "2005-02-06T04:02:19Z")
The Domesday book was actually compiled from 1085. [You can see the original at the National Archives in Kew.](http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/museum/item.asp?item_id=1) Some territorial sections of the book are actually on-line, too, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/3 "2005-02-06T12:33:36Z")
Well, I think Windsor Castle is still held by the same family… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/4 "2005-02-06T13:28:03Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Well, I think Windsor Castle is still held by the same family… No. They’re German immigrants. There goes the neighborhood… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/5 "2005-02-06T15:07:37Z")
Actually, I’m pretty sure that Windsor Castle itself postdates Domesday. 🙂 However, “in the same families” can mean a variety of things: handed down through the male line in strict primogeniture, kept “in the same family” through male descent although inheritance by cousins occurred, inherited through heiresses from an ancestor, etc. In the last case, I believe you’ll find a number of properties that have remained in the same line of descent since 1087 – ancestral homes and such (though since 1950 a number of properties that _had_ been held by the same lineage since medieval times have gone to the National Trust). ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/6 "2005-02-06T15:11:58Z")
On buying a house in England…will your lawyer…er, barrster/pleader do a tile search going back to Domesday? I’d hate to buya place, only to find out that Sir Guy of Gisborne had defaulted on his mortgage in 1140! ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/7 "2005-02-06T16:09:17Z")
William the Conqueror started Windsor Castle (or what became Windsor Castle) back in the 1070s. There’s a nice site about it [here](http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page574.asp). To be honest, I have no idea if he felt obligated to have it listed amongst the holdings described in the Domesday Book, but I would doubt it – cos it’s good to be the king. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/8 "2005-02-06T16:15:39Z")
> [@Ms Boods](#): > > William the Conqueror started Windsor Castle (or what became Windsor Castle) back in the 1070s. > > There’s a nice site about it [here](http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page574.asp). > > To be honest, I have no idea if he felt obligated to have it listed amongst the holdings described in the Domesday Book, but I would doubt it – cos it’s good to be the king. 🙂 Thanks for the correction. Obviously I misremembered “postdates the Conquest” as “postdates the reign of William I,” hence my misstatement. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/9 "2005-02-06T16:42:09Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > On buying a house in England…will your lawyer…er, barrster/pleader do a tile search going back to Domesday? It’s usually a Solicitor. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/10 "2005-02-06T16:56:14Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > No. They’re German immigrants. Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/11 "2005-02-06T18:03:32Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Big deal. So am I. So is half of the English-speaking world, after 1000 years, when you figure in bastards & such. But her _more recent_ ancestors liked kraut more than kippers. 😉😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/12 "2005-02-06T19:50:57Z")
Granted, there have been more than a few changes in dynasty in between, and in some cases the “wrong” heir was put on the throne, but, still, in some manner, it has been the same family on the throne for the last thousand years or so. The old axe, which has had twenty handles and three heads over the last hundred years, is still in some sense the same axe as great-great-grandfather used. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/13 "2005-02-06T20:02:43Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Granted, there have been more than a few changes in dynasty in between, and in some cases the “wrong” heir was put on the throne, but, still, in some manner, it has been the same family on the throne for the last thousand years or so. And it’s in the spirit of the OP, right? What else could it have meant? If Windsor Castle had ended up in the clutches of the Di’Chis, I doubt that would have satisfied ralph124c > [@](#): > > The old axe they probably prefer something more like Grand Old Lady ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/14 "2005-02-07T10:42:01Z")
To answer the OP, this is what James Lees-Milne had to say on the subject forty years ago. > [@](#): > > _Proven descendants in line of families which flourished in Saxon times are, according to historians, three:-Arden, Berkeley and Swinton, of which the oldest seems to be Swinton. Only the last family held before 1066 the land they still own at Swinton in Berwickshire. In England there are a few families still owning estates granted them in the eleventh century immediately after the Conquest. Amongst them are Dymoke of Scrivelsby, Berkeley of Berkeley and Shirley of Ettington (mentioned in Domesday and now represented by Earl Ferrers). Giffard of Chillington (a tenth century family which came over with the Conqueror and is mentioned in Domesday) were not granted Chillington until 1178._ [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/Sites/Scotland/SitePages/page16-18b.asp](http://www.burkes-peerage.net/Sites/Scotland/SitePages/page16-18b.asp) And even some of those examples are less than clear-cut. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/15 "2005-02-07T11:10:02Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > No. > They’re German immigrants. > There goes the neighborhood… I’ve always hated the “They’re GERMAN!” line. William the Conqueror was French (Saxon, if you want to be persnickety), for pity’s sake. [Trace](http://thepeerage.com/) back the current royal family and you’ll find Danish, French, Italian, Polish, Ukranian, Dutch, Spanish…hell, they’re as British as I am American. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/16 "2005-02-07T13:25:18Z")
[nitpick] > [@chique](#): > > I’ve always hated the “They’re GERMAN!” line. William the Conqueror was French (Saxon, if you want to be persnickety), for pity’s sake. Uhh, William the Bastard (as he was known before the conquest) traced his familly back to **Rollo** , a viking from present-day Norway, who settled in Normandy in the ninth century. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/17 "2005-02-07T13:36:27Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > [nitpick]the Bastard tends to complicate things ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/18 "2005-02-07T13:44:17Z")
> [@chique](#): > > William the Conqueror was French (Saxon, if you want to be persnickety), for pity’s sake. Uh… no. William the Conqueror was Norman, another way of saying Northman. His ancesters settled in Normandy a couple of centuries earlier, adopted the French language and culture, etc., but were in fact Northman, ie: Scandanavian. The Saxons came to Britain five or six hundred years earlier. > [@RM Mentock](#): > > they probably prefer something more like Grand Old Lady Y’know, when I posted that anecdote, I wondered if I should put in a warning to the effect that “anyone who makes “battleaxe” jokes about QE II will be summarily BANNED”, but then decided it wasn’t necessary. Clearly, I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/19 "2005-02-07T14:11:03Z")
I knew I’d get that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584/20 "2005-02-07T14:12:59Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > [nitpick] > Uhh, William the Bastard (as he was known before the conquest) traced his familly back to **Rollo** , a viking from present-day Norway, who settled in Normandy in the ninth century. The Treaty of St Clair-sur-Epte formally established the dukedom of Normandy in 911 (with our man Rollo, or Robert I, as duke). From what I remember, Charles the Simple, king of France, granted the duchy as a way to keep the Vikings from sacking the French kingdom every summer. _originally quoted by_ \*\*Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \*\* > [@](#): > > No. > They’re German immigrants. > There goes the neighborhood… Darling: Look, I’m as British as Queen Victoria! Black Adder: So, your father’s German, you’re half-German, and you married a German? sorry 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-family-properties-in-the-domesday-book-still-in-those-families/288584.md?page=2)