Database of England's Immigrants, 1330-1550

[thewideeyedowl]

A database with the names of folk who immigrated to England in Medieval times has been published. It is the result of collaborative research at the universities of Sheffield and York and The National Archives. The database is fully searchable: http://www.englandsimmigrants.com. And there are also case studies of some individuals and families; plus, if you are a chart/diagram-junkie, you'll be in very heaven with the graphics.

The records studied (tax rolls, oaths of fealty etc) have focused on 'ordinary' folk - wives, servants, sailors, cordwainers and suchlike - rather than on rich merchants.

I chanced upon this while looking for something else - ever the way! - but it really is fascinating and it should be a first port-of-call if you have an unusual surname. (Alas, the unusual surname I was looking for is not there. Ever the way.)

Off to roost.

Owl

[thewideeyedowl]

And it gets even better - you can also search by place. Enter a location in the Search box and it will bring up all mentions of it and you can then work through the names of the people. Bearing in mind that the surname then might have been rendered very differently from how it is now, you can see the great value of this resource.

Owl

[christanel]

Thanks for that information Owl. it makes it easier, believe it or not, for one of my surnames, otherwise I get lots of references to a place in York.

Christina

[thewideeyedowl]

Yes, agreed, Christanel - if possible, go for the likely area and then try to find your man.

That apart, I have just found this news report on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-31462885. It explains about the project in some detail and gives lots of reasons for why folk came to England. (About 1 in a 100 was an immigrant in Medieval times.)

Owl