♂William de Oddingseles

William de Oddingseles (died before 12 May 1295) was an English landholder, lord of the manor of Solihull in Warwickshire, with lands at Olton, Maxstoke and Arley. He was the twentieth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) by two separate lines of descent, both through his daughter Margaret de Oddingseles (born about 1277). His son and heir, Edmund, did not outlive him by long: he had died by the time the inquest on the lands was taken, and the inheritance passed to Edmund’s four sisters.

Lord of Solihull

William was probably the son of William de Oddingseles, who held Solihull by 1242, and his wife, Joan. The elder William was dead by about 1271, and the son succeeded him at Solihull. His mother married again, to Ralph de Limesi, who in 1286 presented a priest to the church of Solihull in her right.

In 1277 William is said to have founded a chantry^W in the church of Solihull, with the consent and help of his mother. Part of its endowment was land near St Alphege’s well, and its altar stood in St Alphege’s Chapel, so that it was sometimes known as the Holywell chantry. In 1285 he claimed the view of frankpledge^W in Solihull, the right to hold the manor’s own court for keeping the peace, together with a gallows, a tumbrel and the assize of bread and beer.

Marriage and family

William married Ela, and the two held the manors of Olton and Maxstoke jointly. They had a son, Edmund, and four daughters, Ida, Ela, Alice and Margaret.

Death and inheritance

William died in 1295; the writ ordering the inquest^W on his lands was issued on 12 May that year. The jurors found his son Edmund, aged 22 and more, to be his heir, “but he is now dead”, and the inheritance passed to Edmund’s four sisters, the youngest of whom, Margaret, was eighteen. As William’s widow, Ela claimed Olton, saying she had been enfeoffed in it jointly with her husband. The lands were then divided among the daughters: Maxstoke is said to have gone to Ida and her husband, John de Clinton, while Margaret’s share included part of Solihull and the right to present to the church of Arley.

Lines of descent

Both lines run through his daughter Margaret de Oddingseles and her son John de Grey (1300–1359). One comes down through Thomas Dudley^W (1576–1653), later governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to Nathaniel Dudley (1763–1844); the other reaches Nathaniel’s wife, Anna Smith (1764–1825). The two lines meet again in their daughter Sarah Dudley (1795–1839).

Notes

The inquest of 1295

The inquest after his death (writ of 12 May, 23 Edward I) is calendared in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 3, no. 286, under the spelling William de Oddingeseles, with lands at Solihull, Olton, Maxstoke and Arley in Warwickshire. It names “Edmund his son, aged 22 and more” as heir, “but he is now dead. The said Edmund had four sisters Ida, Ela, Alice and Margaret, the youngest of whom, Margaret, was 18 years of age at Easter last”, and mentions “Ela late the wife of the said William”. The Victoria County History of Warwickshire (vol. 4, Solihull) puts it that he “died in 1295 and, his son Edmund dying immediately afterwards, his heirs were four daughters”.

Parentage

His parents rest on the Victoria County History of Warwickshire (vol. 4, Solihull), a compiled history. It says that by 1242 Solihull was held by William de Oddingeseles, youngest son of Hugh de Oddingeseles and his wife Basile, that this William was still alive in 1263 “but was probably dead by 1271”, and that “He was succeeded by his son William”, who died in 1295. The 1271 date comes from a Close Roll entry naming “William and Nicholas, his sons”. The same history gives the 1286 presentation by “Ralph de Limesi in right of his wife Joan widow of William de Oddingeseles”, and says that William de Oddingeseles founded the chantry in 1277 “with the consent and assistance of his mother Joan then wife of Ralph de Limesi”. The county history’s article on Maxstoke instead makes the William who died in 1295 a younger son of Hugh and Basile, running the two Williams together; the Solihull article keeps them apart, and this page follows it.

His lordship and his daughters’ shares

The 1285 claim to view of frankpledge, gallows, tumbrel and the assize of bread and beer is given in the Victoria County History (vol. 4, Solihull) from the Placita de Quo Warranto; the same history calls him Sir William. Douglas Richardson’s Plantagenet Ancestry styles him “William de Oddingseles, Knt., of Solihull, Warwickshire”, and says that his daughter Ida “was co-heiress in 1295 to her brother, Edmund de Oddingseles, by which she inherited the manors of Maxstoke and Budbrooke, Warwickshire and a moiety share of the manor of Pirton, Hertfordshire”. The inquest on Margaret’s husband, John de Grey (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 5, no. 345), records Solihull and the advowson of Arley as “of the inheritance of Margaret his wife”.

His wife

The inquest names his widow only as Ela. For the descents later genealogists have given her, see her own page.