Odard's Ancestry

1 "Leycester's Historical Antiquities" published in 1673 by Peter Leycester, baronet. The section is Dutton:

I find this town of Dutton, thrice named in Doomsday-book, as held then in the Conqueror's time by three persons. One Part Odard held immediately of the Earl of Chester, as it were in Capite: Another Part was held by William Fitz-Nigell, Baron of Halton, of the Earl, in like Manner: Another Part did Osberne Son of Tezzon, Ancestor to the Boydells of Dodleston, hold also of the Earl of Chester

Odard's Part seems to be the greatest Part, which one Ravene held before at the coming in of the Normans.

[a lot more about the land and castle then]

Now followeth the Pedegree of the Duttons of Dutton, faithfully collected from the Evidences of that Family, and other good Records an Deeds:

I. Odard, or Udard, sometimes also written Hodard and Hudard, came into England with William the Conqueror, and seated himself at Dutton; a good part whereof Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, gave unto him as before you have heard out of Doomsday-book. The ancient Roll of the Barons of Halton saith that with Hugh, Earl of Chester, came one Nigell, a nobleman; and with Nigell came five brethren, to wit: Hudard, Edard, Wolmere, Horswyne, and Wolfaith, a Priest, to whom Nigell gave the Church of Runcorne; and unto Hudard, the same Nigell gave Weston and Great Aston, (now divided into two Townships, Aston Grange and Aston juxta Sutton,) pro uno Feodo Militis [for a ? military service, how's your latin?]; and from this Hudard came all the Duttons. And in the Record of Doomsday, Odard held Aston under William Fitz-Nigell, Baron of Halton; and also Odard and Brictric held Weston under the said William, Anno Domini 1086. Whether those five Brethren aforenamed, were Brethren to Nigell, is a doubt; for then methinks he should have said Quinque Fratres sui: whereas he says onely, cum isto Nigello Venerunt quinque Fratres, and so names them.

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2 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 16, 1966 "Normans"

In an unknown year during the first decade of the 10th century, a Viking named Hrólfr (Rollo), nicknamed the Ganger ("walker"), who had already gained a reputation as a great leader of Norse raiders in Scotland and Ireland, came to the Seine and soon emerged as the outstanding personality among the heathen settlers. Rollo was probably a Norwegian, the son of Rögnvald, earl of Möre (the district of Romsdal in wertern Norway). He had certainly achieved a leading position among the Seine Vikings by 911 when, as a result of the battle of Chartres, the Frankish king Charles III the Simple made the so-called Treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte with the Vikings, allowing them to occupy the land between the Epte and the sea stretching from the Dives river on the west to the Bresle river on the east.

Ib. "Normandy"

Rollo was baptized in 912, but is said to have died a pagan (927, 932, or 933?). His son William I Longsword was steadfastly Christian. William did homage to King Rudolph in 933 for the Cotentin and Avranches, where the local Normans had been regarded as more or less dependent on Brittany; and after Rudolph's death he came to terms with King Louis IV. of the restore Carolingian dynasty. In 942 he was assassinated.

William's young son and successor Richard I was taken into protective custody by Louis IV. Campaigning to bring the Normans under control and perhaps to reunite the fief to the crown's domains, Louis was in 945 taken prisoner by the Normans (who had been reinforced from Scandinavia or Denmark) and was handed over by them to the Robertian Hugh the Great, whom he had tried to entangle in his enterprise. Returned to his people, Richard withstood the last Carolingian attempts to subdue the duchy and, in 987, was instrumental in securing the French crown for the Robertian Hugh Capet, his brother-in-law.

Richard II, who succeeded his father Richard I in 996 ...

This is a footnote to "Leycester's Historical Antiquites" published in 1673 by Peter Leycester, baronet. It was written by Gilbert Cope and is contained in "Genealogy of the Dutton Family of Pennsylvania", 1871 along with the text of "Leycester's Historical Antiquites" regrading the Dutton's

The Warburtons claim consanguinity with the ancient blood-royal of England, being descended from Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, through William, Earl of Eu, who married a niece of William the Conqueror.

Richard, Duke of Normandy, (grand-son of Rollo) sur-named SANS-PEUR, had issue (besides his son Richard who succeeded him, his daughter Emma, Queen of England, an other children) two younger sons, Godfrey and William. To Godfrey, his father gave the earldoms of Eu and Brion. On his decease the latter earldom became the heritage of his posterity, branching out into the now extinct houses of the Earls of Clare and Pembroke, while William, the younger brother, succeeeded him in the earldom of Eu. He had (besides others) his successor, Robert, father of William, who married a sister of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Avranches, (afterwards Earl of Chester) named Jeannne, and niece of William the Conqueror.

There was issue of this marriage (besides Williams's successor in the earldom of Eu and another child) six sons, named Nigel, Geffry, Odard or Huddard, Edard, Horswin and Wlofaith.

These six borthers accompanied their uncle, Hugh Lupus, into England, in the train of William the Conqueror, their great-uncle; and on the establishment of the Norman power had various estates and honors conferred upon them. Nigel was created Baron of Halton and constable of Cheshire; Geffry was Lord of Stopfort; Odard, Lord of Dutton; Edard, Lord of Haselwell; Horswin, Lord of Shrigley; and Wlofaith, Lord of Halton. Odard, the third son, was the ancestor of the Duttons, now extinct in the male line; the Barons of Chedill, also extinct and the Warburtons. -- Burke's Landed Gentry, p 1508

Odard, son of Yvron, viscount of Constantine, (whose name is written in most records of later date, Hodard or Hudard) was the immediate ancestor of the ancient and numerous family of Dutton of Dutton. -- Lysons' Magna Britannia, Vol. II.

Leycestor mentions the fact the William, Earl of Eu, married a sister to Hugh Lupus, and gives the paternal ancestry of the latter, but says nothing of the relationship to either William the Conqueror, or the six brothers above named. He says elsewhere that Sir George Warburton denied him the perusal of the Warburton papers, which may account for the lack of information on this point.