Summary
The publishers will make available a 5 volume series of books on the Domesday Book Families in May 2014. There are 763 Domesday Book Families and 1215 families prospectively dating back to Domesday Book. The total reaches about 2000 families which are covered in these volumes. Historical materials (circa.1050-1350) and genealogical charts are included for all the major families. Volumes I-III contain more than 600 pp. each, Volumes IV-V contain more than 450 pp. each. Volume V contains all ‘prospective’ Domesday Book families.
The materials have been collected from major sources to be found at the British Library. The articles for the main families often reach ten pages or more in length (they begin in Vol. I) those with lesser families (and fewer references) follow in Vols. II and II and finally, Vol. IV contains information on families with only one page or less of information available.
In the Annexe (appended to each volume) the contents of the five volumes are listed and page numbers given; there is cross-referencing and the places of origin of the families are listed (e.g. Lower Seine, Calvados, Eure, Orne, Avranches, Cotentin, Anjou, Brittany, West Flanders, Picardy etc. as well as the indigenous Northumbrians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. All told there are 519 known origins and 244 persons /families of unknown origin).
Value of the publications
(1) Research in a certain period of history (1000-1350 AD) by study of the major families in northern France and England
(2) A study of feudalism and its structures at a certain time and place
(3) Study of the Norman Conquest of England
(4) Study of Anglo-Saxon society after the ‘Conquest’
(5) Early families of importance in England
(6) The social and economic context of England and northern France before and after the Conquest: the ruling family, feudal relations, wars and crusades, marriages, land transfer, servants etc.
Volume V
It contains information on families not specifically mentioned by family name in the Domesday Book but which may be descended from Domesday Book landholders. These are often noted in the Book by only their Christian / first names (‘Hugh’, ‘Gerard’, ‘Richard’ etc.). This collection of materials gives the possibility for individual families to trace their ancestry back to Domesday Book time (1086 AD) and earlier. Most genealogies in England cannot reach back much before 1550 AD (when king Henry VIII instituted a compulsory system of parish records including baptisms, marriages and deaths). Before that time, however, some records do exist- particularly about land transfer (‘Feet of Fines’ etc) - which often go back to c. 1350. The family records we are presenting in the five volumes reach up to that date beginning with materials even from as early as 1000 AD.
Unique volumes
Although much has been published on the contents of the Domesday Book itself, this set of volumes is unique, To obtain and classify pre- and post- Domesday Book material on each of the families mentioned in the Book is very rare. Our research has encompassed 25 years of effort searching through most of what is available in individual studies, period histories, genealogies, and county archival material (especially the Victoria County histories and equivalents.).
For each family covered every available reference is included in historical order, with explanatory genealogical charts showing the precise relations of the persons within that family. Often such charts cover more than one page, noting as many family members as possible and showing their precise relation to each other (including the exact descent from which of the various wives or husbands).Materials in these charts is based upon the text and what various authors have proposed.
The publishers will make available a 5 volume series of books on the Domesday Book Families in May 2014. There are 763 Domesday Book Families and 1215 families prospectively dating back to Domesday Book. The total reaches about 2000 families which are covered in these volumes. Historical materials (circa.1050-1350) and genealogical charts are included for all the major families. Volumes I-III contain more than 600 pp. each, Volumes IV-V contain more than 450 pp. each. Volume V contains all ‘prospective’ Domesday Book families.
The materials have been collected from major sources to be found at the British Library. The articles for the main families often reach ten pages or more in length (they begin in Vol. I) those with lesser families (and fewer references) follow in Vols. II and II and finally, Vol. IV contains information on families with only one page or less of information available.
In the Annexe (appended to each volume) the contents of the five volumes are listed and page numbers given; there is cross-referencing and the places of origin of the families are listed (e.g. Lower Seine, Calvados, Eure, Orne, Avranches, Cotentin, Anjou, Brittany, West Flanders, Picardy etc. as well as the indigenous Northumbrians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. All told there are 519 known origins and 244 persons /families of unknown origin).
Value of the publications
(1) Research in a certain period of history (1000-1350 AD) by study of the major families in northern France and England
(2) A study of feudalism and its structures at a certain time and place
(3) Study of the Norman Conquest of England
(4) Study of Anglo-Saxon society after the ‘Conquest’
(5) Early families of importance in England
(6) The social and economic context of England and northern France before and after the Conquest: the ruling family, feudal relations, wars and crusades, marriages, land transfer, servants etc.
Volume V
It contains information on families not specifically mentioned by family name in the Domesday Book but which may be descended from Domesday Book landholders. These are often noted in the Book by only their Christian / first names (‘Hugh’, ‘Gerard’, ‘Richard’ etc.). This collection of materials gives the possibility for individual families to trace their ancestry back to Domesday Book time (1086 AD) and earlier. Most genealogies in England cannot reach back much before 1550 AD (when king Henry VIII instituted a compulsory system of parish records including baptisms, marriages and deaths). Before that time, however, some records do exist- particularly about land transfer (‘Feet of Fines’ etc) - which often go back to c. 1350. The family records we are presenting in the five volumes reach up to that date beginning with materials even from as early as 1000 AD.
Unique volumes
Although much has been published on the contents of the Domesday Book itself, this set of volumes is unique, To obtain and classify pre- and post- Domesday Book material on each of the families mentioned in the Book is very rare. Our research has encompassed 25 years of effort searching through most of what is available in individual studies, period histories, genealogies, and county archival material (especially the Victoria County histories and equivalents.).
For each family covered every available reference is included in historical order, with explanatory genealogical charts showing the precise relations of the persons within that family. Often such charts cover more than one page, noting as many family members as possible and showing their precise relation to each other (including the exact descent from which of the various wives or husbands).Materials in these charts is based upon the text and what various authors have proposed.
