Some variations on the name: Donvil(l)e, Dounville, Domville, Donville, Doumville, Domerville, Dounwyl, Dunville, Doumvyle, Dumvell, Dumvile, Dummill, Dummell, etc. It's also possible that some present-day descendants might be descended from people who came over to England with or soon after William the Conqueror (1066) and who had similar-sounding names such as D'Anneville, D'Amfreville, D'Umfreville - maybe even De Neuville?
Although the best-documented Dumvilles are traceable back to Cheshire in the 13th century, many other Norman nobles with similar names settled in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Durham County, and the International Genealogical Index lists similar names throughout the centuries which followed. Might the 14th century highwayman Sir Gosselin Denville of North Yorkshire be related? Difficult to know. Spelling was always so variable until the 19th century. Some accounts call him 'de Eivill'...
Might the Cheshire Domvilles have had relatives in North Yorkshire/Durham County? 'The Domvilles of Brimstage and Oxton', about the Cheshire Domvilles, notes that Sir Robert Domville was witness to a deed for Eggleston Priory in Yorkshire in the early years of Henry III (1207-72). Is this a clue? (The ruins still exist, near Barnard Castle, on the Durham/Yorkshire border.)
Burke's lineage names the earliest recorded Dumville ancestor as Sir Roger Dumvill of Oxton and Brynesheath, Cheshire, born about 1275. One branch, Domvile of Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, descends through an Anglo-Irish baronetcy to Denys Barry Herbert Domvile (born 19 March 1921) of Brook House, Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon, Oxon. He's described in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1958, as Captain, The Inns of Court Regiment (TA), formerly The Life Guards, served in World War II 1940-45, educated Eton, and Trinity College, Oxford. Burke's also gives the motto 'Qui stat caveat ne cadat' (Let he who stands (or has status) beware, lest he fall.) and describes the Arms of Domvile of Loughlinstown.
This is the motto which appears on the wooden memorial tablet to 'William Domville of Lyme, Esquire, 1686' on the wall of St Mary the Virgin's Church, in Lymm, Cheshire. It is taken from I Corinthians x, 12: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (The Bible reference was first brought to our attention by Alex Dumbill.)
Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland describes the Arms of Domvile of Loughlinstown as:
Quarterly indented of four, 1st az. a lion rampant arg., collared gu. on a canton sa. a lion of England between three esquire's helmets, arg.; 2nd barry of six arg. and gu. a bend counterchanged; 3rd barry of six arg. and gu. and 4th az. a lion rampant arg. collared gu. Crest - A lion's head erased arg. ducally crowned or.
Colours
arg.: argentum, silver
az.: azure, blue
gu.: gules, red
or: gold
sa.: sable, black
There is a fine illustration of the Arms of Domvile of Lymm on the Cheshire Heraldry website at http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/visitations/CV9.html. There are a few differences between the Arms of Domvile of Loughlinstown and the Arms of Domvile of Lymm.