Anchetil de Greye

Anchetil de Greye was a vassal of William the Conqueror, who accompanied the Duke on the Norman conquest of England.

Born in 1052, Anchetil de Greye is specifically named (Latin: Anschtallus de Grai) in the Domesday Book of 1086. He was the great-grandfather of John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, and probably also of Henry de Grey, and the great-great-grandfather of Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England. He is regarded as the ancestor of the noble House of Grey.

The principal estate granted to Anchetil de Greye in England was Redrefield (subsequently Rotherfield Greys) and its manor house, Greys Court now in South Oxfordshire. Anchetil was also the mesne lord of Standlake now in West Oxfordshire.

Greye's origins in France are unclear, although it is believed he came from the vicinity of today's Graye-sur-Mer (Calvados, Graieum 1086, Graia 1172, Gray 1183) which would have been within the domain of William I.

It is likely that Anchetil de Greye was of Norsemen ancestry in whole or in part since the given name Anchetil (from Ásketíll "God-Cauldron") was a fairly common Norse-origin name in Normandy. The "Greye" in his name then was either simply a reference to his estate, or to his mixed Scandinavian-Frankish ancestry which was also common in Normandy by the time of the invasion of England. His immediate ancestry is uncertain, but some researchers believe he was the son of a certain Hugh Fitz Turgis, that means "Turgis'son" (from Thorgisl "hostage of Thor"), another clue he was from Normandy.

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