His family was wealthy; the Macnamara family owned many buildings, including a castle at Llangoed, Wales, a country house called Caddington Hall in Hertfordshire, and an estate at Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire.
The priory of Markyate was founded in 1145, in a wood which was then part of the parish of Caddington, and belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral, London.