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The Common Room / Re: Norman name?
« on: Friday 30 April 21 10:31 BST (UK) »
Thank you for the replies everyone. I am curious about the lady John Crowhurst married, in around 1498. ‘Margeret de Shernfold’ certainly refers to Shernfold in Sussex. Does that mean her family owned land there (a manor?). Why the use of ‘de’? Was that common at the time? Or does it suggest some kind of Norman ancestry? As I understand it, William parcelled out land to his followers after 1066, who then referred to themselves as, for example, ‘Roger de (i.e ‘of,’ or ‘from’) Smithfield’ (meaning Roger, ‘from’/‘owner of’ the manor or land around Smithfield). Was she descended from a Norman who was given, or seized, land in Shernfold?