Vol 1: The Bluets - Lackham Countryside Centre

The Bluets 5
been born in about 987 10 . This is too early for him to have a son who was
one of the Conquerors men; either the birth date is wrong or there is a
missing generation.
There is a possibility that this was the Walter known as Walter
Balistarius (military engineer 11 ). He held the Gloucestershire manors
ofRodley 12, Ruddle 13 and Bulley 14 at the time of Domesday 15, and they
were later granted to St Peter‘s Monastery, Gloucester, by Ralph Bluet I
– this led Barkly to believe that Ralph had become Balistarius‘ heir, most
probably he had married his daughter but it is at least possible that
Walter was Ralph‘s father or uncle 16 . It is certainly possible, but
probably the most that can be said is that Ralph was supposed to have
been a relation, a son, a nephew, a son in law 17 Whether this Walter is
the start of the tree in Fig. 2 remains unclear; the four people shown in
the next generation, however, are documented and known, to a greater
or lesser extent.
10
Blewett. M (2004) Blewetts document downloaded from
bluett.com/blewett/EarlyEnglandResearch.pdf. Michael has done enormous
amounts of good research into the Bluet/Bloet/Blewett family and made his
results available to anybody who is interested. We gratefully acknowledge his work
and assistance, whilst not always agreeing with all of his conclusions.
11
Kerr, RJ (1895) Notes on the Borough and Manor of Nemham Trans. Brist. &
Glos. Arch. Soc vol XVIII p170 ―The balistarii were the military engineers of
their day and chiefly engaged in working the ballistae and other missile discharging
machines‖ Other sources, eg The Hutchinson Encyclopaedia (2007) Helicon
Publishing Ltd, gives this as crossbow man, but this is incorrect.
12
South east of Westbury on Severn, in the bend of the River Severn
13
VCH Gloucestershire vol X (1972) p37
South west of Cinderford, on the downstream side of the same bend as Rodley
14
West of Gloucester, just off the current A40
15
Taylor, Rev CS (1889) Analysis of the Domesday survey of Gloucestershire
Bristol & Glos, Arch. Soc. Vol XIII pp320-321 doesn‘t show Bulley but has instead
Pertian, which he identifies with Poulton in Aivre, in Bludstone Hundred
16
Barkly, Sir Henry (1888) Additional notes on the Manor of Daglingworth in
Bazeley, WM (1888) Notes on the Manor and Church of Daglingworth Trans. Brist.
& Glos. Arch. Soc Vol 12 p56
17
Kerr, RJ (1895) Notes on the Borough and Manor of Nemham Trans. Brist. &
Glos. Arch. Soc vol XVIII p170