General Notes

REFN: 9085AN
Gilbert De Venables (Venator, Veneur, Hunter,) was from Venables, Evre
ux in Normandy in the barony of Le Veneurs so named because they were here
ditary huntsmen to the Dukes of Normandy. Gilbert was a palatine Bar
on to Hugh Lupus, held the barony of Kinderton in Cheshire. Many lines a
nd surnames were descended, including the Butlers of Chester. Richard w
as also palatine Baron of Hugh Lupus, and became Barons of Warrington. Ano
ther brother, Raoul, was baron of Chester, held in capite, and ancest
or of the Grosvenors, Dukes of Westminster, Earls of Wilton and Lords of E
lbury. The Hunter family moved north into Scotland where William Venator w
itnessed a charter by Earl David, later King David in 1124 and this fami
ly generally assumed the surname of Hunter. Venables became a prominent Ch
eshire and Lancashire surname, but Hunter had already achieved a large foo
thold in Cheshire before the move north with the Domesday Book showing Gil
bert Hunter holding Brereton, Davenport, Kinderton and Witton (Northwich s
uburb) and Ralph Hunter holding Stapleford in Cheshire and Soughton in Wal
es. Gilbert was at the Battle of Hastings.
Source:  http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Cheshire.htm
From Venables in Normandy, a younger son of the Count of Blois. He invad
ed England with William the Conqueror. Large landowner in Cheshire & Elsew
here.  Created a Baron of the  Palatine County of Cheshire by the Ea
rl of Chester.
Suspicion must fall upon Newbold. Today Newbold is little more than a hand
ful of houses within the township of Astbury, but in 1086 it was a major m
anorial centre. It was held of the earl of Chester by Gilbert De Venable
s, called Gilbert the hunter in Domesday Book. The land is described thus:
-
IN MIDDLEWICH HUNDRED
Gilbert the hunter holds of the earl Newbold. Wulfgeat held and was a fr
ee man [There is] 11/2 hides gelding. There is land for 5 ploughs. A radm
an has one plough there and a priest one plough. [there are] 3 villagers a
nd 2 bordars. [There is] 1 acre of meadow there and wood 1 league in leng
th and as much wiDe and 2 enclosures there. In the time of King Edwa
rd it was worth 20 shillings, now 8 (DB i, 267a).
Gilbert was one of the earl's honourial barons. Earl Hugh 'the Fat' w
as a keen hunter, and Gilbert would seem to have been one of his huntsme
n. He held in total eighteen manors in Cheshire and north Wales, includi
ng Brereton, Kinderton, Davenport, and Witton in the vicinity of Newbol
d. Whether Newbold was his principal residence in 1086 is unclear; if it w
as not, it was to become so for his successors from the twelfth century on
wards.
The social and economic profile of the estate is much the same as th
at of Congleton and Buglawton. What is striking, however, is the reco
rd of a priest. In this part of Cheshire a priest strongly suggests a chur
ch, and yet no church is known to have existed at Newbold. Add to this t
he fact that Gilbert De Venables granted the church of Astbury to St Werbu
rgh's Abbey, Chester, and it seems clear that the Newbold entry must inclu
De at least a part of Astbury. In the later Middle Ages the manor of Astbu
ry was distinct from that of Newbold, but it was probably held of the Vena
bles fee. It is likely, then, that the Newbold of Domesday Book embraced A
stbury and was named in Domesday Book in preference to it because it was t
he centre of the whole estate.