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Leodmær 12 was a free man with a small group of estates along the Essex-Suffolk border TRE; the total assessment was nearly 6½ hides and with a value of £20 10s.
Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB
Holder 1066
Shire
Phil. ref.
Vill
Holder 1066 DB Spelling
Holder 1066
Lord 1066
Tenant-in-Chief 1086
1086
subtenant
Fiscal value
1066
value
1086 value
Holder 1066 ID conf.
Show on map
Essex
20,25
Claret
Ledmarus
Leodmær 'of Claret'
-
Eustace, count
-
1.79
8.18
10.00
D
Map
Essex
20,25
Yeldham
Ledmarus
Leodmær 'of Claret'
-
Eustace, count
-
2.15
9.82
12.00
D
Map
Essex
20,26
Belchamp Otten
Ledmarus
Leodmær 'of Claret'
-
Eustace, count
Wulfmær 'of Belchamp Otten'
1.38
2.00
4.00
D
Map
Suffolk
5,6
Higham
Ledmarus
Leodmær 'of Claret'
-
Eustace, count
Ralph de Marcy
1.00
0.50
1.00
E
Map
Total
6.32
20.50
27.00
All but one of Leodmær 12’s estates lay in north Essex. The largest single holding was at [Great & Little] Yeldham, which was a berewick of his estate at Claret [Hall], about 3 miles away and to the north. Another estate was at Belchamp Otten, less than 2½ miles from both Claret and Yeldham; like them it had passed to Count Eustace (Eustace 1) as tenant-in-chief by 1086. The very close proximity of these three holdings, each held TRE by a free man with the uncommon name Leodmær, entered next to each other in DB and all passing to the same post-Conquest successor, render it very probable that they were held by the same man, Leodmær 12.
The fourth of his estates cannot be attributed to him with quite the same degree of certainty. It lay at Higham, about 17½ miles to the east of Claret (or 15 miles from Belchamp Otten) and just over the shire border into south Suffolk. This is sufficiently close to Leodmær 12’s other estates for it to have been held by him. Furthermore, it was of a similar size to his other estates (1 carucate relative to roughly 1¾, 2⅛ and 1⅓ hides), had a TRE holder with the uncommon name Leodmær and had passed into the hands of Count Eustace by 1086. Taking this evidence together, it is more likely than not that Higham was another estate held TRE by Leodmær 12.
A couple of other possible identifications must be noted, if only to be discounted. Leodmær 12’s estates are geographically intermingled with some of those of Leodmær 7, the head-priest of the minster at Clare and one of whose estates also passed to Count Eustace. However, DB consistently describes Leodmær 7 as ‘priest’ and Leodmær 12 as ‘free man’, and the use of these qualifiers suggests that a distinction was being made between two individuals. The balance of probability, therefore, is that Leodmær 12 and Leodmær 7 were different people.
Another nearby estate held TRE by someone called Leodmær was that of Leodmær 13 at Horseheath in Cambridgeshire, less than 10 miles from Claret. However, Leodmær 13’s estate was considerably smaller (only ½ virgate) than those of Leodmær 12 and neither his TRE lord nor his successor show any connection with people associated with Leodmær 12.
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