Otto fitz William

Notes:

"Otto [...] did not appear in connection with the dies. Gibbs, p. 136, prints a charter of Theobald of Lisson Green, goldsmith and engraver of the dies for the money of England, dated before 1200, who may have been the family representative in this generation, but no other reference to this Theobald has been found." [F. N. Craig, "Descent from a Domesday Goldsmith." The American Genealogist 65:1, January 1990, p. 24.]

Family/Spouse: Margaria. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William fitz Otto was born in of Lilleston, Middlesex, England; died after 1217.

Notes:

"In 1116-27 the king confirmed to Wiliam fitz Otto the goldsmith all the land which had belonged to his father in Benfleet, Chaleusang (not identified), Childerditch, and Lisson Green, the 'ministerium cuneorum' (the dies) and all other offices and lands and tenements in London and outside, to be held by the same service which Otto his father used to render." [F. N. Craig, "Descent from a Domesday Goldsmith." The American Genealogist 65:1, January 1990, p. 24.]

William married Egidia. Egidia died after 1189. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"The office of the mint restored to the younger Otto in 1101 was that of Cutter of the Dies. At this time at least forty local mints were at work. The dies were distributed from London, where there is reason to think they were cut." [F. N. Craig, "Descent from a Domesday Goldsmith." The American Genealogist 65:1, January 1990, p. 24.]

Notes:

"A. E. Packe finds considerable variation in engraving and workmanship of the coins of the first three Norman kings, and suggests that the good coins were made with dies sent out from London and that some good and many bad coins came from dies made in the local mints. Die engraving was part of the 'mystery' of the goldsmiths. Packe finds a German influence in English die engraving and thinks that Otto was of German extraction. He notes that the moneyers were a distinct class from the die engravers. [...] In 1086, as recorded in Domesday Book, Otto the goldsmith (aurifaber) held the manor of Gestingthorpe in Essex in chief of the king. [...] After the death of William the Conqueror at Rouen on 9 Sept. 1087, his body was buried at Caen in the church of St. Stephen. William Rufus instructed Otto to erect a tomb over his father as a splendid memorial. Otto obeyed the king's orders and completed a tomb shining with gold and silver and precious style. The memorial survived without molestation until 1522, when the tomb was opened on instructions from Rome, and the body, after examination, was reinterred. But in 1562, the tomb was completely destroyed by the Calvinists, and the remains, except for one thigh bone, were scattered and lost." [F. N. Craig, "Descent from a Domesday Goldsmith." The American Genealogist 65:1, January 1990, p. 24.]