Andrew said
7 Historical families
a Wynniatts of Gloucestershire
This family has already been mentioned and it undoubtedly gave rise to most Winnett families mentioned in Section 6. The ?? mention in the Dymock parish registers is of a Thomas Wynnyett in 1538. Wynniatts still live in the area. The spelling of W?? seen from the 1600s onwards but seems to have become fixed in the late 1700s and early 1800s only in the families of ??
From the mid-1600s the Wynniatts also figure prominently in the parishes of Snowshill, Stanton and Stanway in the Cotswolds Their connection with the Dymock family is clear. Wenman Wynniatt who was Lord of the Manor of Dymock around 1650 ?? property in Stanton by John Izod, a local landowner. Later, two Reginald Wynniatts (father and son) were vicars and prom?? property owners between 1771 and 1838. The earliest mention in the Snowshill registers is of the marriage of John Wynnia?? Susanna Payne in 1691.
The suggestion in Welsh Surnames that the Winnetts of the border counties derive from "Gwynedd" would seem unlikely ?? In 1327 a Wyngate is recorded in Dymock (The taxpayers of medieval Gloucestershire P. Franklin, 1993) and even earlier about 1240 an Alexander de Wyngate is listed as a tenant of nearby Newent priory (Dymock Down the Ages-J.E. Gethy?? 1966) This suggests the true origin of the name. Indeed, Reaney et al give the Old Eanglish wind-geat ("gate of the wind") as the origin of Wynniatt as well as Wingate. Windgate or a variant appears as a landscape name in Devonshire and Gloucestershire (i.e Wyndezate near Iccomb, Glos. in Saxon Charters and Field Names of Gloucestershire, 1935-36).
When I printed this out I lost a few letters at the end of each line. This is what the question marks represent. I hope this helps, cb
