Simon d'Anvers of Bourton & Tetworth

Simon d'Anvers of Bourton and Tetworth was the son of Robert d'Anvers of Bourton. He was born in Oxfordshire, England, probably at Tetsworth or Bourton, his father's chief properties. He married Alice (?) and had at least three children - John, Alice and Isabel. He died c.1331.

Alice's surname might have been Opswell, or that be a toponym, as most sources believe she was from Ipswell, which had many spellings in the past.

Simon d'Anvers was called by Parliament in 1316 for military service against Scotland, as one of the Lords of Bourton, Tetsworth, Swalecliffe, Ipswell, Wickham, Draydon and Stodham. Simon was a gentleman entitled to wear a coat of arms, but it is not clear that he was ever knighted. The army mounted from these counties eventually were at Berwick. At the fall of Berwick, a large number of knights were captured and held for ransom. It is not clear that Simon was among those captured, but one historian uses this theory to explain the sudden shift of fortunes from the wealth of his ancestors to the more modest means of his descendants. His son John was not the Lord of Bourton. Instead, John of Eppewell (Ipswell), the manor given to him at the time of his marriage.

In about 1310 (13 Edw II) Simon and wife Alice settle the estate of Parva Bourton on William d'Anvers Jr., but his relationship to this William is not clear - there were at least three d'Anvers families in the Bourton area during Simon's lifetime. The following year, Simon settles estates on Geoffrey de Stokes and wife Alice d'Anvers and on William de Rufford and wife isabel d'Anvers.

Simon's neighbor and good friend was one William de la Lee. Lord of Shutford and La Lee. William was called up for military service against Scotland at the same time as Simon. William's daughter Isabel, also known as Elizabeth, married Simon's son John. A deed of settlement still exists at the Bodleian Library, in which Simon gives his son the manor and all attachments at Eppeswell, as well as a piece of land at Napton, Warwickshire.

The last official record of Simon is in 1327, when he appears on the Oxon Lay subsidy, listed as being from Parva Bourton.

Children of Simon d'Anvers and wife Alice:

• John d'Anvers, married Elizabeth/Isabel de la Lee, inherited the principle portion of the estates
• Alice d'Avers, married Geoffrey de Stokes
• Isabel d'Anvers, married William de Rufford.

Links to additional material:

• Memorials of the Danvers family (of Dauntsey and Culworth), By F. N. Macnamara. Published 1895 by Hardy & Page in London. [available as a free e-book at openlibrary.org]
• http://www.uk.mundia.com/gb/Person/3987151/-1665030297