« Reply #1 on: Thursday 29 April 21 20:09 BST (UK) »
I have traced my family line back to John Crowhurst (1480-1540), who married Margeret de Shernfold (1480-1548). Her name is obviously French, and her family seem to have owned land. This makes me wonder if the Shernfolds were descended from the Normans. Can anyone help?
You need somebody who has more ideas on the Norman conquest than me. I believe the spelling of "Margeret" has no bearing on the questions you are posing. I believe the French equivalent of the English Margaret is "Marguerite".
This webpage shows Crowhurst to be an early place name@
https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ7512/crowhurst/There's an historic house in Shernfold Park but I can only find mention of it being built in 1855.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1028366This is in the historic village of Frant, which is described in Genuki
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SSX/Frant.
It's a puzzle why Margeret had the separate "De" between given name and surname; unless her surname was DeShernfold/D'shernfold, with the "De" joined to the stem, which is usually how modern day surnames are shown. .
Surname became law circa 1068, with names being chosen from the place people lived, or the occupations they had., or on a person's looks/traits.
Best Wishes.
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