As most people tend to look at domesday simply for their entry, they dont tend to question the document as a whole. Witton is known to have had two open fields whose locations are unknown. Later they took surnames that referred to the place they lived or nicknames. If you have a local history site that you would like to be included on these pages please get in touch via the contact page. Surnames mentioned in the domesday book british surnames. Scandinavian elements found in the domesday book english. An index of personal and place names in domesday book woodbridge, 1997 k. Name, type, places owned before the conquest, places owned after the conquest. Little domesday covering norfolk, suffolk, and essex, and great domesday covering much of the remainder of england except for lands in the north that later became westmorland, cumberland, northumberland, and the county palatine of durham and parts of wales bordering, and included within, english counties. Uploaded by the open domesday project, released under ccbysa by professor john palmer and george slater. Penistone is another place which is named in the domesday book of 1086, where it is listed slightly differently as penstone. Virtually all of the place names decided on up to around the 14th century were due to the environment of the area. The domesday book was a survey designed to record everything that people owned.
Although the word danelaw does not itself occur in domesday book, there are plentiful signs of viking influence there. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesday i. This page simply lists all places mentioned in domesday book. Domesday book place name forms all the original spellings of english place names in domesday book link to pdf file. See the actual domesday book page for liverpool written in latin additional links about liverpool domesday book domesday place names open domesday see the actual written records for the west derby hundred mike roydens history of west derby. This is probably not a book you will read from cover to cover, but its certainly one you can pick up again and again to learn what life was really like over 900 years ago. It took two years to collect all the information for this survey. Domesday book, the original record or summary of william is survey of england.
For example, of the 500 placenames in g listed in ekwalls concise oxford dic tionary of english placenames, domesday book is the earliest source cited for over 200 while only 71 are traced to preconquest sources some of which are themselves only preserved in post. The place name stiffkey is first evidenced in the domesday book of 1086, and means stump island, island with stumps of trees. Domesday book, compiled in 1086 at the behest of william the conqueror, has been described as the most valuable piece of antiquity possessed by any nation david hume and viewed by historians as the final act of the norman conquest. For the record, i overlooked entries in which one persons name was used to refer to another person, e. The domesday book also known as domesday, or book of winchester was a record of all taxable land in england, together with such information as would indicate its worth. Little domesday contained the three counties of essex, norfolk and suffolk. I have replaced the medial s with a short s to make the lists more readable. Domesday book simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Cowesfield was recorded in the domesday book of 1086, together with nearby settlements at alderstone now extinct and frustfield which became whiteparish. Though the names in the book arent necessarily representative of name usage in england overall, it does make sense than william took the top spot. In both indexes the exact latin forms given in domesday book and all variant spellings have been retained.
Domesday book definition of domesday book by the free. The domesday book is the record of the great survey of much of england, and parts of wales, completed in 1086, done for william i of england, or william the conqueror. For example, doncaster would probably have originated as a roman fort on a hill, from the roman caster and celtic don. The domesday book was compiled on the orders of william the conquerer to catalogue the ownership and value of land in the newly conquered territories of england. The name craven is either preceltic britain, britonnic or romanobritish in origin. An index of personal and place names in domesday book woodbridge, 1997.
By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesdayi. The following pages include domesday place names and landowners, and beneath some are links to websites containing the local history of that place. The female names below appeared in the open domesday database just once, except where noted. No surveys were made of the city of london, winchester, or some other towns, probably due to their taxexempt status. In 1085, king william i of england ordered a complete survey of all the land and property in the country. Great domesday book is the incomplete, last draft of the information collected by the domesday survey.
Harborne brook runs down from welsh house farm across the golf course to join the bournbrook, the boundary brook which separates it from worcestershire. Jan 01, 1985 when you hear something called the doomsday book you expect the mother of all of dystopia novels. Note that the same name is not necessarily the same person. The book doesnt give a lot of names and only three women are mentioned. At the time the survey took place 10851086, england was under pressure. The manor is listed in the domesday book with smethwick and tipton as part of the manor of lichfield, a holding of the bishop of chester. The bulk of the evidence for the settlement of the english in. Getting the domesday book on to the web was a labour. Domesday book sources for research in english genealogy. The surnames that did exist were not necesareily either inherited or passed on to children.
T he domesday book is the result of a record made at the time of william the conquerors survey of england in 1086. Domesday is now available online, and you can search for your town or village, and download images of domesday along with an english translation of the entry. I have transcribed all names exactly as they appear in my sources with one exception. E31 was originally published in 1783, using a specially designed record. This research came from a mix of the suffolk domesday book, the paston letters, the boldon book and the oxford dictionary of surnames, on the principle that a name needed to be fairly common to become a surname. On the economy and taxation, military service, other public obligations, administrative structures, government, legal customs and practice, place names and personal names and many more miscellaneous topics, domesday book is the primary source for several centuries of english history. Domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english historyand arguably in world history. You can also access the discover domesday exhibition, explaining why domesday. It is the starting point of recorded history for the majority of english villages and towns which are organized by county. These names are most numerous in the eastern half of the country, particularly yorkshire and lincolnshire. Until it was rebound in 1986, domesday book consisted of two volumes, distinctive in appearance and content, each of different origin.
Witton lane is of equal antiquity runs via aston lane to a better river crossing on the lichfield road at salford bridge. Full text of yorkshire place names, as recorded in the. To see full names of counties hold your mouse over the name. Domesday book placename forms all the original spellings of english placenames in domesday book link to pdf file. An index of latin personal and place names in domesday book 1st by k. Click on a county name on the map to continue, or use the list of links below it. Visitors to the domesday website will be able to search place names and see the index entry made for each village, town or city for free. Domesday book encompasses two independent works in, originally, two physical volumes. In the 11th century, surnames were still in a state of flux and many people still did not have what we would consider a surname.
Achream akenham sf l352b achreham akenham sf l422b achum acomb y 303b achum whitely y 330b achum acomb y 379b acle ocle pychard he 184a acle oakley near alrewas st 249a. The national archives is the home of domesday book, the oldest surviving public record. Fixed questions were asked, such as what the place was called, who owned it, how many. For example, doncaster would probably have originated as a roman fort on a hill. Domesday book is preserved in the national archives tna, previously named the public record office. Now available in one volume, here is the complete, authoritative translation from the original latin, together with an index of places and a glossary of terms used. See more a page of the domesday book for wiltshire, with the landowners listed in the left column.
Top 50 male names by the century preconquest to 1600. Regarding omissions, nationally you wont find london, winchester or bristol in the book, whereas locally there is no tamworth despite being the ancient capital of mercia and famously of course, walsall. This is precisely where, as we know from other evidence, there was a substantial settlement of scandinavian immigrants. Domesday book interpreting domesday the national archives. Apr 06, 2012 most of the names in the domesday book are male, as most landowners were men. The name is said to be derived from the word penn in old welsh, meaning height or hill as the town is situated on top of a high ridge. The majority of these still exist in some form today. The placenames found in the domesday book are township and estate names, and may include other villages and hamlets that receive no specific mention in. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
Personal names in the domesday book by constanza of thamesreach genny grim. I listed all the female names in the domesday book a while back, so today i thought id complete the project by listing all the male names. Known as the domesday book, this survey contained all the details of the names of places, the number of people, goods, and animals, and the use and the owners of the land. The extent of the medieval district of craven, in the north of england is a matter of debate. The record was compiled in 10861087, a mere twenty years after the norman conquest, at the order of william the conqueror. Domesday book is the oldest government record held in the national archives. Adewic adwick le street y 308a adewic adwick upon dearne y 319a. Female names in the domesday book nancys baby names. Domesday book 1086 the middle ages encompass one of the most exciting periods in english history. As expected, the domesday book shows us that the areas where there is a greater number of occurrences of scandinavian place names elements are those within the danelaw, and, in general, where scandinavian settlement was the strongest, during the 8th, 9th and 10th century. Wouldham oldeham 5b trottiscliffe totesclive 5b stoke, little stoke, stone estoches, stoches 5b snodland esnoiland 5b horton kirby hortune 6a darenth tarent 6a. Sep 24, 2004 atleast 80% of the place names mentioned in domesday for these two counties still remain,and the parish boundaries have not changed much either.
Name two jobs, apart from ploughing, which this source reveals. This is necessary because domesday book often supplies variant spelling of the same name. The male names below appeared in the open domesday database just once, except where noted. When witton common was enclosed in 1802, the fields had already been enclosed.
A prosopography of persons occurring in english documents 10661166. It would be churlish to suggest that i am rubbishing the document, of course i am not, but some general understanding of the book is needed to give. The imprint of scandinavian settlement is evident in great domesday in the personal and place names and in the units of assessment. A brief guide to using the domesday book and associated documents to research medieval english genealogy. The written record of a census and survey of english landowners and their property made by order of william the conqueror in. I mentioned errors, omissions and inconsistencies before, so really i need to give a few examples. The index locorumlists all place names in domesday, except where linked to an institution. The place name whiteparish is first attested in 19. Domesday book records a wide range of peasant groups and rural occupations, some. The world of domesday exhibition depicts life in 11th century england. However, its usage continued following the ascendancy of the anglosaxons and the normans as was demonstrated by its many appearances in the domesday book of 1086. The domesday book is the record of the great survey of much of england, and parts of wales, completed in 1086, done for william i of england, or william the conqueror the domesday book also known as domesday, or book of winchester was a record of all taxable land in england, together with such information as would indicate its worth. Jan 25, 2012 the bbc domesday reloaded blog is the place to explore, share, reminisce and comment on stories from the national project from both 1986 to present day. However, when you see the actual title and learn that the book is essentially a summary list of the towns and villages in 1086 england, well the domesday book maybe doesnt seem quite so kickass.
Our vision is to lead and transform information management, guarantee the survival of todays information for tomorrow and bring history to life for everyone. The domesday book was created a couple of decades after the norman invasion, at a time when the name william. Domesday book synonyms, domesday book pronunciation, domesday book translation, english dictionary definition of domesday book. Commercial site with extracts from domesday book domesday book entries including translations for each settlement. There are some 418 towns and villages recorded in the domesday book, covering 40 of the old counties of england. For any one of these, onomasts might well be grateful. The names of territories, institutions, persons, and places were all affected to varying degrees, as was the language of assessment for military service and taxation. Full text of yorkshire place names, as recorded in the yorkshire domenday book, 1086. Find out where in the world your surname originated, what it originally meant and how many other people you share it with. A comprehensive guide to the origins, meanings, etymologies and distribution of thousands of british surnames. This page simply records all owner names mentioned in domesday book.
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