The Keatings sprang from a house whose beginnings, so say the legends, go back to the days of /troy. Definite records take us back well over a thousand years, and propose that the family was indigenous to Tuscany in Italy. 

The Gherardini, the Ancestral and aristocratic family of the Keatings, Fitzgeralds, Fitzmaurices, Redmonds, Carews, and many other prominent Irish and English families, were one of the ruling families, descended from the Grand Duke Cosmus, that fell when the Republic of Florence was founded. Its members had estates in various parts of Tuscany. 

In Florence, their principal residence was near the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Their tower still exists today, a part of the Palazzo Bartolomei. I bet you dollars to donuts you never knew you were Italian! Molto Bene!! I'm going to Italy in 1997 and I'm going to try and find the tower.

The name Bending is derived from a manor, held by the family in the twelfth century. Early spellings are, variously, Bending, Bendings, Bendeng, Bendenges, Bendig and Bendyn. That these are errors in transcription is shown by reversion to Bending in subsequent generations early in the family history. Later these variations in spelling persist, and in the Eastern counties of England, the name becomes Bendish or Bendyche.

The early Bendings were members of the Norman family, the Windsors, descendants of the Gherardini of Florence. The first of these to come to England was Dominus Other, who was present at the court of King Edward the Confessor, from about 1056. This man through his son Walter, was the founder of both the Windsor and the Fitzgerald families.

The preposition 'de' can refer to an hereditary origin, a place of birth, a manor or town where an individual has a dwelling, or where he performs a particular duty.

It is important to realize that, in early days, family names were not constant; thus Walter fitz Other's son is William de Windsor, and his three sons are: William de Windsor, Stephen de Bending and Hugh de Horsley. It is also possible for a man to have different names in different parts of the country. Where a family name becomes established over several generations, it usually passes from the father, but there are many instances where a mother's name is used, in order to gain some advantage.

Other (probable first name, Dominus)

Other, whose name is sometimes spelled, Othere or Otho, was a member of the Florentine family, the Gherardini. He came to the court of King Edward the Confessor in about 1056, ten years before the Norman Conquest of England. It is likely that he came via Normandy, taking advantage of Edward's encouragement towards Norman visitors, and may have made the Norman connection during William's campaigns in Italy and Sicily, during the first half of the eleventh century. It seems probable that he was well known to William of Normandy, who heaped honours on his son Walter.

His family name is perpetuated to the present day in the Fitzgerald family, (Fitz - the son of, Gerald, the Normanised form of Gherardini), the descendants of Walter's second son, Gerald. He is also remembered by the Windsor family (Earls of Plymouth) whose eldest son is always named, Other).

Walter fitz Other

Walter, the son of Other, was one of the military caste that was essential in consolidating the position of William the Conqueror after 1066. He may have been born in England, but it is not known whether he was in England at the time of the landing, or whether he joined William in Normandy, and took part in the Battle of Hastings, 1066.

Walter was a knight in the King's private retinue, and, when in 1070 William began the building of Windsor Castle, Walter was put in charge of its defence, and later became the first Constable of Windsor. Under the Norman kings, as with the kings of France, the Constable was the principal officer of a royal establishment, and was responsible for the defence of the establishment, by the knights stationed there. It was this position that conferred the name 'Windsor' upon his sons.

Windsor was built by William to control the middle reaches of the River Thames, and together with other castles, each a day's march apart, to keep open the route from London to the south coast, and thence to Normandy. Since Walter was a young man in 1070, to have been given such responsibility, shows the great respect felt for him by William.

Soon after 1070, Walter also had the important post of Warden of the King's forests in Berkshire. Although generally associated with hunting, the main recreation of the Royal household, the position was a military one, since the forests were subject to regular patrolling, as a precaution against enemies of the King. They were also regarded as the main source of provender for armies on the move, or those stationed at strategic castles.

Walter fitz Other was granted twenty two manors in England, by King William, and was still holding these at the time of the Domesday Survey (1086):-

In Berkshire Bucklebury Chiltone (Chilton) Hagbourne Wallington Wokesfield Wildehall (No extant village, site - Wildhall Farm, Alton)

In Hampshire: Malshanger Gerlei (Church Oakley) Winsflet (Winchfield)

In Surrey Chingstone (Kingston) Cortone (Compton) Homers (Hurtmore) Orselei (West Horsley) Piperherge (Pepper Harrow) Woking

In Middlesex Hatton Bedfont Stanmore In Buckinghamshire Burnham Ettone (Eton) Hardmead Hortune (Horton)

Walter also owned a town house at Wallingford, a fortified town on the River Thames, between Reading and Oxford.

It was customary for the King to grant plots of land, within the towns, to noblemen and churchmen, in return for the acceptance of responsibility concerning the defence of the town. The plots were then, either leased to burgesses to offset the cost of defence, or town houses were built.

Other holders of such houses at Wallingford were; the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Salisbury, Hugh de Ferrers, Walter Giffard, and Miles Crispin; all members of the Curia Regis (KIng's Council), which leads one to speculate that Walter fitz Other may also have been a member of this body, although no record of this has been seen.

It is likely that Gwaldys, his wife, and his children when young, lived in Wallingford, rather than on any one of his manors, where life would have been far less comfortable.

None of his sons showed any disposition towards manorial life, and it is likely that manors were under the control of bailiffs appointed by Walter.

Walter was married to Gwladys, the daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynvyn, one of the Welsh princes. (More detail concerning Rhiwallon is needed). He had four children: William de Windsor, the eldest, Gerald de Windsor, Robert de Windsor, and his only daughter, Delicia.

William de Windsor

William was the eldest son of Walter fitz Other, and was the founder of the Windsor family. He married Agnes de Valogne, and by her had three sons: William de Windsor (the eldest), Stephen de Bendig, Hugh de Horsley.

In his youth he was known as William fitz Walter, but assumed the name of Windsor during the reign of Henry I, and was the progenitor of the line of Windsors, lasting to the present day; the mainstream of the family, becoming the Earls of Plymouth in1659. To this day, the eldest son is named Other, in remembrance of that distant ancestor.

William was a powerful baron in the reign of Henry II, and in 1165, upon the assessment of the marriage portion of Henry's daughter, he held 16 1/2 knight's fees (1);. In 1173, he attended the king in his expedition to Normandy, to counter the revolt by Henry's sons, against their father. Here William raised the seige of Verneuil by King Louis of France, who supported the rebels. He was Castellan of Windsor Castle and Warden of the Forests of Berkshire. These positions, both held by his father, Walter, were confirmed upon him by the Empress Maud (2).

William died between 1194 and 1198

Gerald de Windsor

At the time of the Conquest, Wales was divided into three principalities; North, South and mid-Wales. William I anticipating the total conquest of Wales, established aggressive Norman followers, including Gerald, in key castles along the border. In the Northern and Central principalities he met with success, but in the South this success was offset by the powerful ruler, Rhys ap Tewdyr (Tudor). William, after a show of strength, agreed to the continuance of Rhys ap Tewdyr as ruler, a compromise reached between them that the Welsh 'king' should acknowledge William as his overlord.

Gerald married Nest (sometimes spelled Nesta) the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdyr. The marriage may have been arranged by the two rulers, since Gerald was Constable of Pembroke Castle at the time. Gerald had four children by Nest, and she had five more children, out of wedlock, by various fathers, including Henry fitz Roy, by Henry I. Gerald is the ancestor of the Fitzgerald families, in both England and Ireland, and is also the ancestor of the Earls of Kildare, the Earls of Leinster and the Earls of Offaly.

Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerald of Wales, was the grandson of Gerald and Nest. He was the Archdeacon of Brecon, and wrote some seventeen books, including The Journey through Wales. He had hoped to succeed his uncle, David Fitzgerald, the son of Gerald and Nesta, as Bishop of St David's, when he would have tried to free the see of St David's from subservience to Canterbury. Henry II, aware of Gerald's intentions, appointed Peter de Leia as Bishop. Note added by John Bending