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Toki was the antecessor of Roger Bigod in eastern Suffolk and of William
Warenne elsewhere in Suffolk. We know little about him. He was one of the thegns
of King Edward. Toki leased two manors from the abbey of Ely, which were in the
hands of William de Warenne in 1086. The total value of his land was £102. Some
of the lands of his son, Godwin, were given to Roger Bigod in Blything. By 1086,
Godwin had become a subtenant of Roger Bigod. 177
Ulf was one of the ancestors of Robert de Tosny, Baldwin bishop of Thetford
and Roger Bigod in eastern Suffolk. Perhaps his full name was Ulf Fenisc, or
Fensic. Probably he was of Scandinavian origin, and came to England during the
reign of Cnut. He held a great amount of land in Lincolnshire valued at around £190.
Besides Lincolnshire, he also held a considerable amount of land in
Nottinghamshire. The total value of his estates was around £482. Like Edric of
Laxfield, he was one of the greatest landholders in 1066 who were not earls. After
the Conquest, his lands in general were granted to Gilbert de Gant, who was one of
the nephews of King William. 178
The general problems of dealing with Domesday Book personal names are
well known. 179 I do not intend to deal with them in any great detail here.
Nevertheless, the Domesday Book for eastern Suffolk does clearly show some
changes in naming practices introduced with the immigrants. A great many of the
landholders before 1066 were recorded just by their first names. Sometimes people
were identified by their father or by other relations, such as Edwin brother of Ketel
and Godwin son of Toki. Toponymics such as in Edric of Laxfield are very rare.
Another possible toponymic was Ulf Fenisc which might mean either from Fjon in
177 Clarke, English Nobility, pp. 5, 71; Domesday Book Suffolk, fo. 398b. For Toki’s lands in Suffolk,
see ibid., fos, 340a, 333b, 335b, 398a, 393a, 398ab, 399a, 418b. For Godwin, see ibid., fo. 335b.
178 Clarke, English Nobility, p. 135.
179 Dodgson, “Place Names and Personal Names”, p. 123; Holt, “Family Nomenclature”, p. 180.
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