Sir Roland de Alvers

     Roland was born circa 1027 in Auvers, Normandy, France. The name of his wife is not known. Roland de Alvers and his ancestry originated in a village in France not far from Paris and either within the Duchy of Normandy or adjoining it of the name Auvers. Roland became a night of the Duke of Normandy, William, known to history as “William the Conqueror”. Roland came with William in 1066 at the time of the conquest and as were all of the Norman Knights, rewarded for his service with large entitlements to lands. Roland received lands in Northampton, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire. The known lands granted to Roland include the Manor of Danvers in Little Marlow, the Manors of Dorney, Solebury, and Hitcham; all in Buckinghamshire and with Miles Crispin, William the Conqueror’s half brother, as over-lord. There were also lands in Bourton, Oxfordshire. After the Conquest, Roland was in close association with all three of the half brothers of King William; these close associations seemed to carry more importance than just of the service to the King. These circumstances and the fact that the Danvers family carried on many of the names of the family of the King’s mother, it is thought that Roland was a kinsman of the king, by his mother, Arlotte.¹ Roland died before 1086 in England. Or he had returned to Normandy. At the writing of the Domesday Book, his property was in the hands of his children by this time.