The scribe, Godeman, was a monk at the Old Minster at Winchester and may have belonged to the group of monks from Abingdon that Æthelwold placed in Winchester Cathedral to replace the Canons that had been there previously. In 973 Æthelwold placed Godeman in the new foundation at Thorney, either as Æthelwold's representative with Æthelwold being the nominal abbot, or as abbot in his own right. After Æthelwold's death Godeman continued as Abbot of Thorney. The Red Book of Thorney states that Godeman was Æthelwold's personal chaplain.