The name “Roger” arrived in England with the Normans in 1066. The Saxons had trouble pronouncing the French “R” so “Hodge” became a nickname for “Roger” and “Hodgetts” meant “son of Roger.”

My ancestors lived around Dudley where the original Hodge may have been Roger Hogge of Whittington (spelling had not yet been invented). Unfortunately, the only known record of Roger is in the Forest Court of Kinver in 1271. Forests were especially reserved for the king’s hunting pleasure: no one could kill a beast, erect a fence, or use forest timber without his permission. Roger had committed an offence and paid a fine. This fine tells us he was a land holder as—had he been a peasant—he would have been gaoled. He did not own his land outright as all land ultimately belonged to the king who allowed his barons to “hold” sections in return for military allegiance. They then divided it between their men-at-arms on the same basis. We therefore know that Roger was a man-at-arms.

The first known record of the Hodgetts name locally was sixty years later. In the meantime, Kinver Forest had been granted to John de Somery (Baron of Dudley Castle) and inherited by his daughter: Joan de Botetourt.

Four local Hodgetts men appear in the records between 1320 and 1360: Henry, Thomas, Robert, and William. While their relationship to each other is unclear, at least two of them were men-at-arms to Joan and her brother-in-law.

Henry Hodgetts lived at Clent. He would have practised the long bow every Sunday after church, fought for Joan de Botetourt as required, and attended her manorial court every three weeks at Weoley Castle.

Joan’s sister Margaret had inherited Sedgley Manor and Dudley Castle. Her husband (John de Sutton) became Baron of Dudley by right of their marriage. Shortly afterwards, he was gaoled for rebellion and the castle was confiscated by the king. When de Sutton was finally released five years later, the king retained the castle. At this point, Thomas Hodgetts was among a group who entered Sedgley Manor in 1328, took deer from the parks, and assaulted the king’s servants. His participation suggests a loyalty to de Sutton.

De Sutton’s imprisonment had involved legal costs, favours, and bribes. As a result, he owed £6000 to Joan de Botetourt and two other relatives who therefore had claims on the estate. He also owed £3000 to John de Cherleton of Wales. In this era, marriage was more business transaction than romance so, when John and Margaret finally regained Dudley castle, they used it in a marriage settlement between their son—John de Sutton II—and Isabella de Cherleton whose father John subsequently regarded it as his own.

When de Cherleton brought Welsh troops to occupy the castle, Joan de Botetourt led the enraged locals in besieging him. Henry Hodgetts was among her men who shot arrows into the castle, broke into outbuildings, and stole goods. Despite killing two Welshmen, they were acquitted and Joan’s claim on the estate was upheld.
After Joan’s death, John de Sutton’s outright ownership of Dudley Castle was confirmed, and he was knighted for military service in Scotland. He evidently still owed his father-in-law money as—only days after regaining the castle—he settled it on his wife, Isabella, for life.

In 1340, Robert Hodgetts was among a group who entered Drayton Basset Manor, hunted deer, and assaulted the servants. The owner had a protracted dispute with Joan and Margaret’s families and this incident was possibly connected.

By 1345, Sir John de Sutton was engaged in a long-running feud with the tenants of Wolverhampton. They stole his goods and attacked his tenants—cutting out tongues, slicing noses, and plucking out one man’s eye. When Sir John set out on a reprisal, William Hodgetts was with him. Together they murdered six men in a field “with spears and swords, by diverse mortal wounds in the throat and body.”

Their arrest was ordered, but King Edward III was making a bid for the French throne and pardoning malefactors who were willing to fight for a year at their own expense. As a result, Sir John de Sutton and William Hodgetts embarked for war, pardoned of “all homicides, felonies and robberies committed in England.”

The army landed in Normandy and ravaged undefended towns. When the French advanced, the English made a stand at Crécy under the command of Thomas de Beauchamp. Wave after wave of French attacked, but the English had chosen a strong defensive position and their skilled archers led a convincing victory. French losses were estimated at 14,000 of their 35,000 men, and English losses at 200 of 16,000 men.

Then followed a year-long siege of Calais after which William Hodgetts probably returned to England having completed his year of service.

In 1349, the Black Death almost halved the population around Dudley, but William survived. After the king resumed his French campaigns, William fought at Reims under the Black Prince in 1359. The following year peace broke out and the army returned home, many soldiers rich with plunder.

These Hodgettses appear to be the forbears of the Hodgetts branches in the Dudley region but relationships have not been proven.

Next chapter: Hodgettses of Darlaston and Rushall.

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References

• Hodgetts Timeline 1
• 1300s England Edmund King, Medieval England, The British Library, 2001, chp6.
• 1300s Sedgley E.A. Underhill, The Story of the Ancient Manor of Sedgley, p48-59.
• Pardons, Battle of Crecy and Riems King, p154; Brittanica, Retrieved 18/7/2022.
• Black Death Zvi Razi, Life, Marriage and Death in a Medieval Parish, Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp117-118; King, p163.