i 4 4 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



So that the slaves were only I2| per cent, of the recorded 

 population, and the freeholders were i6| per cent. 



Apparently the freeholders formed no inconsiderable pro- 

 portion of the recorded population of Suffolk. Sir Henry 

 Ellis has counted 7460 freemen, and Mr. Seebohm's map 

 shows that they formed 35 per cent, of the population. But 

 it has been suggested that some of them may have been 

 enumerated twice or thrice, and a count of the freemen in the 

 hundred of Colness shows that this is so. In that hundred 

 I have counted 122 named freemen who are recorded 315 

 times, and sixty-three whose names are not given. Some of 

 the named freemen are entered three or four times : Mansun, 

 a man of Norman, held lands at Norton, 1 Saltenham, 2 and 

 Walton ; 3 and Blakeman, another man of Norman, held lands 

 at Grimston, 4 Kenebrook, 5 Walton, 6 Oxland, 7 and Leof- 

 stanstun. 8 Possibly this estimate of 122 named freeholders 

 is too lavish. Seven Godrics are recorded : four were com- 

 mended to Norman, of whom three are distinguished as the 

 other (alter) Godric, Godric Long, and Godric the Smith. 

 The other three were commended to Godeman, Wihtmar, 

 and the Abbot of Ely respectively. If in the other hundreds 

 duplicate entries occur in the same proportion as in the 

 hundred of Colness, Ellis's estimate of 7460 freemen in 

 Suffolk can be reduced to a little under 3000. But it is to be 

 hoped that some student of the Suffolk Domesday will subject 

 Ellis's figures to a careful analysis : as figures based on 

 proportion sums may be very misleading. 



Let us turn to figures which are more trustworthy. There 

 were many sokemen in Cambridgeshire in 1066, and they 

 may be tabulated as follows : 



682 with liberty of commendation, holding 301! hides. 

 246 without liberty of commendation, holding 92 hides. 

 122 unspecified, holding 34! hides. 



1 D. B., II. 340. 2 Id., 340 b, 3 Id., 339 b. 



4 Id., 341 b. 5 id., 342. c Id., 339 b. 



7 Id., 343. 8 Id., 342. 



