Ormus de Davenport

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hwbradley/aqwg133...

(Ormerod) Witness to a charter of enfranchisement by Gilbert de Venables about the time of William II or Henry I.

(KBS) Gary Boyd Roberts says Davenport's "History and Genealogy of the Davenport Family" is incorrect, though he did not indicate in what way.  That genealogy follows Ormerod.

The origin of the Davenports Picture King Alfred the Great Davenport is one of the earliest surnames to be used in Britain. Many early surnames were derived from the male head of the household's occupation or their place of living. In this case, the name derives from the location of the original Davenport family on the River Dane in Cheshire, England.

The Davenport family is an extremely old and large one, now spread extensively throughout the world. Bramall Hall in England was the ancestral home of the Davenport family for over 500 years.

The Davenports are descended from an unbroken line from the time of the Norman conquest of England. The line can be traced back to King Alfred the Great (reign 875-899) and through to Queen Elizabeth II. Ethelred was King of England from 978-1016. (His father was King Edgar the Peaceful, his grandfather was King Edmund 1, his great grandfather was King Edward the Elder and his great, great grandfather was King Alfred the Great). Ethelred was married to Elgifu of York and then Emma of Normandy (sister of Richard 2 Duke of Normandy).

Their son Edward the Confessor became King of England in 1042. Their daughter Elfwina married a Nobleman of Essex and they had a son Leofwine, Earl and Duke of Mercia. Leofwine married Alwara and they had sons Norman (d. 1016), Edwin (d. 1039) and Leofric, Earl of Mercia.

Leofric married the famous Lady Godiva. (Both Leofric and Godiva were generous benefactors to religious houses. In 1043 Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry on the site of nunnery destroyed by the Danes in 1016. Writing in the 12th century, Roger of Wendover credits Godiva as the persuasive force behind this act. In the 1050s, her name is coupled with that of her husband on a grant of land to the monastery of St Mary, Worcester and the endowment of the minster at Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire. She and her husband are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock and Evesham. She gave Coventry a number of works in precious metal made for the purpose by the famous goldsmith Mannig, and bequeathed a necklace valued at 100 marks of silver. Another necklace went to Evesham, to be hung around the figure of the Virgin accompanying the life-size gold and silver rood she and her husband gave, and St Paul's Cathedral, London received a gold-fringed chasuble. She and her husband were among the most munificent of the several large Anglo-Saxon donors of the last decades before the Norman Conquest in 1066. The early Norman bishops made short work of their gifts, carrying them off to Normandy or melting them down for bullion.

According to the typical version of the story of the naked ride, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband's oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair. Just one person in the town, a tailor ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom, disobeyed her proclamation in one of the most famous instances of voyeurism. In the story, Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Godiva pass, and is later blinded for his transgression. In the end, Godiva's husband keeps his word and abolishes the onerous taxes).

They had children Algar, Morcar, Ealdgyth (who married first Griffin, Ruler of Wales and then Harold 2, King of England, making her Queen Consort of England: Harold was famously killed at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, only a few months after their marriage), Lucy, Godwin and Ermenhild.

Godwin then married and fathered Wolfric, Godric (killed at Battle of Hastings), Egelric (Bishop of Hastings) and Egelwyn (Bishop of Durham). Wolfric married the daughter of William Poncius, Count of Arques and Thoulouse who was the son of Richard 2, Duke of Normandy. Wolfric's wife was a Cousin of William the Conqueror. Wolfric's children were Gamel de Tattesworth (Lord of Aldithley, Talk and Balterley), Waltheus (Lord of Etchells, Bradbury and Brinnington), Rannulphus and Orme (later known as Orme of Davenport).

Picture Ethelred (King of England from 978-1016) - Elizabeth II's 28x great grandfather

Picture Lady Godiva The earliest recorded mention of the Davenport family is Orme de Davenport (Orme of Davenport) born in Cheshire, England around 1086 (he was the great, great, great, great grandson of King Ethelred and the  great grandson of Lady Godiva and Leofric).  

He was married in 1135 and lived in a small township several kilometres south of Manchester on the River Dane in Cheshire. The town and the family took its name from the location on the river Dane. Orme's son Richard was born in 1136 when Orme was around 50 years old. In 1165 Richard married Amabilia Venables the sister of William de Venables, Baron of Kinderton, son of Gilbert de Venables and was granted the Manor of Dauneporte (Davenporte) and as a wedding gift from his father in law was given land at Marton (just north-west of Congleton in the Hundred of Macclesfield). The Manor (Bramall Hall) is located in the suburb of Davenport in Stockton, in the southern part of Manchester. Gilbert was the grandson of the Norman Baron of Kinderton and Margaret the daughter of Walthau. Richard Davenport was appointed Supreme Forester by the Earl Hugh of Cyveiliog (Chester) around 1166. Richard brought himself and his family into the favors of the Earl of Chester and Baron of Kinderton and established himself a powerful position as an important landholder and office holder.

Richard and Amabilia had a son Thomas Davenport, born around 1166. Thomas married in 1185 and in 1186 had a son Richard Davenport. Richard married x in 1205 and had 4 children: Vivian (1206), Walter (1208), Peter (1210) and Amice (1212).

Vivian (male) was married in 1225 in Davenport, Cheshire. His wife was Beatrix de Hulme. They had 6 children: Roger (1226), Edward (1228), Richard (1230), Robert (1232), Thomas (1234) and Beatrice (1236).

The great expansion of the Davenport family had begun.

"Richard de Dauneporte , son of Ormus de Dauneporte, was born in 1136. He was chief forester about 1166. He married about 1176 Amabilia Venables, daughter of Gilbert Venables, Baron of Kinderton. Thomas de Davenporte, son of Richard and Amabilia Venables de Dauneporte, was living before 1189. Richard de Davenporte, son of Thomas de Davenporte, was living between 1209 and 1226. Vivian de Davenporte, son of Richard de Davenporte, received by charter the Grand Seargency of the Forest of Leek and MacClesfield between 1209 and 1226. He married Beatrix de Hulme, daughter of Bertram de Hulme. Roger de Davenport, son of Vivian and Beatrix de Hulme de Davenporte, held a seargency in the Hundred of MacClesfield in 1288. He died in 1291. He married Mary Salemon, daughter of Robert Salemon of Whythington. Sir Thomas Davenport, second son of Roger and Mary Salemon de Davenport, died in 1320. He married first Agnes de MacClesfield, daughter of Thomas de McClesfield, by whom he had issue."