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. In fact there are two domesday books little domesday and great domesday, which together contain a great deal of information about england in the 11th century. It deals with the main placenames found on modern maps of some of. In both indexes the exact latin forms given in domesday book and all variant spellings have been retained. Domesday book, the original record or summary of william is survey of england. This list of electronic books ebooks will be updated as more books become available. Domesday book its place in administrative history vivian h. The domesday book provides extensive records of landholders, their tenants, the amount of land they owned, how many people occupied the land villagers, smallholders, free men, slaves, etc. This is one of the first group of a new kind of book from the english placename society. Sally harvey depicts the domesday book as the written evidence of a potentially insecure conquest successfully transforming itself, by a combination of administrative insight and military might, into a permanent establishment. In 1086, king william i the conqueror wanted to find out about all the land in his new kingdom. The skins were washed and scraped to remove the animal hair and then stretched out to make a parchment.
The book was written in latin using a goose feather quill, probably by one single monk in winchester cathedral. 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. The book consists of 4 leaves of parchment and must have taken some months to complete. The anglosaxon chronicle, e version, 1087, tells us he william i ruled over england, and by his cunning it was so investigated that there was not one hide of land in england that he did not know who owned it, and what it was worth, and. The doomsday book is a great place to search for english surname origins. 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. Most of all, i loved that i was able to obtain it at such a price. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our easthope research. Domesday book is the oldest government record held in the national archives. A prosopography of persons occurring in english documents 10661166. Female names in the domesday book nancys baby names. Ironically, by the time of the domesday book in 1086, the parish was known simply as stope. Domesday book attributes about 27,000 parcels of property to people bearing about 1,200 different personal names.
A small percentage of landholders are readily identifiable because the text supplies their titles. 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. It may have been abruptly halted in september 1087 when william i died, although the exact timeline for the compilation of the book is not clear and has been much debated by historians. This page simply lists all places mentioned in domesday book. 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. Domesday book encompasses two independent works in, originally, two physical volumes. The domesday book was created a couple of decades after the norman invasion, at a time when the name william. The following pages include domesday placenames and landowners, and beneath some are links to websites containing the local history of that place. The actual pages of the book were made from sheepskin, 900 of them.
The domesday book, our earliest public record, is a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century england. Domesday definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Domesday book simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. So a search for doilly will retrieve all records naming either guy or robert doilly. Essex parish placename books contain the placenames recorded from. One of the most important historical events of the medieval era is the domesday book. The book arrived promptly and is in excellent condition. Wouldham oldeham 5b trottiscliffe totesclive 5b stoke, little stoke, stone estoches, stoches 5b snodland esnoiland 5b horton kirby hortune 6a darenth tarent 6a. Surnames mentioned in the domesday book british surnames. For example, doncaster would probably have originated as a roman fort on a hill, from the roman caster and celtic don. For instance broadstairs in kent, we are informatively told means broad stairs or ascent, 1435 brodsteyr the entry in the book of british place names starts. Domesday book 1086 the middle ages encompass one of the most exciting periods in english history.
The book is held at the national archives in london, but its contents are available online at open domesday. I have transcribed all names exactly as they appear in my sources with one exception. The survey was similar to a census by a government of today. Great domesday was probably not started much before the summer of 1086. Latin place names found in the imprints of books printed before 1801 and their vernacular equivalents in rda resource description and access form. Tr introduction the first approach to a modern assessment roll or cataster is the well known. How our towns and villages got their names by caroline taggart isbn.
Most of the names in the domesday book are male, as most landowners were men. Dictionary of british place names oxford reference. The existing literature on this remarkable memorial is so extensive, that it has not appeared advisable to quote largely from it. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesday i. The record was compiled in 10861087, a mere twenty years after the norman conquest, at the order of william the conqueror. An index of personal and place names in domesday book woodbridge, 1997 k. Earl roger of shrewsbury bishop g eoffrey of coutances. Domesday book also known as domesday, or book of winchester was the record of the great survey of england completed in 1086, executed for william the conqueror.
Virtually all of the place names decided on up to around the 14th century were due to the environment of the area. Doomsday book 1086 english counties circuit yorkshire, derbyshire, nottinghamshire, rutland, lincolnshire. The following pages include domesday place names and landowners, and beneath some are links to websites containing the local history of that place. In particular, searches for names or places containing an apostrophe which previously failed will now be successful if the apostrophe is ignored.
In 1086 william made a land register of his territory to know how much money. 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. The domesday book was created a couple of decades after the norman invasion, at a time when the name william was very fashionable, thanks to william the conqueror. He could collect in terms of taxes and the results of this survey were. Origins of place names virtually all of the place names decided on up to around the 14th century were due to the environment of the area. Book of judgement provides a unique study of the extraordinary eleventhcentury survey, the domesday book. A complete translation domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english history. 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. A dictionary of british placenames oxford quick reference. Another volume for every local historians bookshelf local historianthis revised edition of the dictionary of british placenames includes over 17000 engaging. William the bastard ordered that the domesday book should be complied at his christmas court in 1085. Pronunciation of domesday book with 3 audio pronunciations, 3 synonyms, 1 meaning, 5 translations, 6 sentences and more for domesday book.
An index of latin personal and place names in domesday book 1st by k. Chichester, 19741992 the english translations for the great domesday counties, together with images of the latin text, are available in searchable form on cd, known as domesday explorer, published by phillimore and co. For example, of the 500 place names in g listed in ekwalls concise oxford dic tionary of english place names, domesday book is the earliest. The detailed picture of the english landscape it offers has no equal in any country, while it is valuable not only in the picture it allows local historians to construct of their area in the eleventh century but also as the foundation document of the national archives. Apr 06, 2012 the book is held at the national archives in london, but its contents are available online at open domesday. The list eventually became a huge book called the domesday book. Uploaded by the open domesday project, released under ccbysa by professor john palmer and george slater. I have replaced the medial s with a short s to make the lists more readable. In the 11th century, surnames were still in a state of flux and many people still did not have what we would consider a.
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