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| Origin Displayed: English Spelling variations of this family name include: Jeeves, Jeeve, Jeves, Jeve, Geeves, Geeve, Geve and many more. First found in Oxfordshire, where they were seated from very early times. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Jeeves, who sailed to Virginia in 1654. (Above is a small excerpt from our 1800 word history) Copyright © 2000 - 2008 Swyrich Corporation, all rights reserved |
There are three terms found in the Domesday Book which were used to express the amount of land held by each manor, and how well that land was utilized, so as to estimate the annual rates of taxation upon each lord.
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MoreThe Hundred Years' War began in the reign of Edward III, who was the King of England from 1327 to 1377. Edward, who loved knightly pursuits such as war, jousting, tournaments and hunting, surrounded himself with warriors, magnates, and chivalrous knights. The Hundred Years' War broke out as a result of a dispute between Edward and Philip, the French King, over French royal succession.
MoreThe Britons, who were one of the ancient races that inhabited medieval England, were subject to Roman invasions since the 1st century BC, when Julius Caesar sent expeditions to the island. Under Claudius, in 43 AD, the Romans invaded England once again and established the Roman province of Britannia. The Romans occupied England for approximately four centuries. They used the Britons in their military enterprises abroad and most of those who remained in Britain were reduced to slavery.
MoreThe Cornish people, who inhabited the southwest of England, have a rich Celtic heritage. Cornwall was originally home to a people known as the Dumnonians, who were comprised of three tribes of ancient Britons known as the Veniti, the Curiovolitae, and the Asismii. They were akin to their Welsh neighbors to the north, who also spoke a Brythonic Celtic language, and they were the root stock of the Breton people, who settled in Brittany in northwestern France in the 4th century.
MoreThe English Civil War of the 1640s was marked by the trial and execution of King Charles I and the suspension of the monarchy for a period of eleven years. It was during this revolution, and the subsequent interregnum, that Oliver Cromwell became the most influential man in Britain.
MoreThe Domesday Book, our earliest public record, is a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century England. The record was compiled in 1086-7, a mere twenty years after the Norman Conquest, at the order of William the Conqueror.William commissioned the survey at Christmas 1085. Ironically it was the only census of England before 1801.
MoreAfter the rebellion of 1296, King Edward I (1239-1307) of England marched north, capturing Berwick and carried on to Aberdeen. There he stripped John Baliol of his crown and carried the Coronation Stone of Scone back to England. The Stone of Scone, (pronounced "skoon") sometimes called the Stone of Destiny was an extremely important symbol of Scottish heritage and the fact that it was never returned contributed to a strong discomfort between Scotland and England over the many years.
MoreIn the 5th century, when England had only recently been deserted by the Roman legions, the Anglo-Saxons established the independent kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent, Essex, Sussex and East Anglia, which were collectively known as the Heptarchy. During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms engaged in heroic battles for military supremacy and were gradually converted to Christianity. After Augustine's mission in the late 6th century, English Christianity was consolidated. In the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxons were violently attacked and devastated by the Vikings and by the 9th century, the Vikings sporadic forays into England became a recurring harassment. Also during the 9th century, the country was divided between the four rival kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex, which were later unified by Egbert, King of Wessex.
MoreThe Norman people became established in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Normans, or Northmen, were descendants of the Vikings. The Vikings, under Chief Stirgud the Stout, invaded the Orkneys and Northern Scotland in the 9th century. A century later, under Jarl Thorfinn Rollo, they invaded France. After Rollo laid siege to Paris, the French King Charles the Simple conceded defeat and granted northern France to the Vikings. Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy, the territory of the North Men. Duke William who invaded and defeated England in 1066, descended from Rollo.
MoreThe Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of central European states that lasted from 962 until 1806. In general, the Empire was characterized by particularism and disunity. It consisted of more than three hundred states of varying size and importance, each sovereign, with its own army and regulations. The Empire was also composed of a diverse array of national groups, which included Danes, Dutch, Flemish, Belgians, Czechs, Swiss and Germans. It also included many religious groups, such as the French Huguenots and Swiss Mennonites, many of whom had come to the German lands after the Reformation to escape religious and ethnic persecution at home.
MoreThe death of Edward 'the Confessor', king of England, initiated a brief period of conflict between the various claimants to his throne that irrevocably changed the country of England. Immediately following the death of Edward, Earl Harold Godwinson was elected and coronated king by the English nobility, and he became known as King Harold II.
MoreA seat or family seat was the principal manor of a medieval lord, which was normally an elegant country mansion and usually denoted that the family held political and economic influences in the area.
MoreMany thousands of years ago, in pre-history, England was part of mainland Europe, connected by a land bridge that has subsequently been covered in water and become the English Channel. It is hard to say exactly when man first came to the lands that were to become the British Isles, but it can be said with certainty that Paleolithic tribes were flourishing there by 8000 BC.
MoreMarie Antoinette was born in 1755, in Austria. She was the daughter of Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. From an early age, her marriage to the French dauphin (heir to the throne) was planned, and, in 1770, at the age of 15, the union took place. The dauphin became king Louis XVI in 1774. Marie's attempts to sway French foreign policy in favor of her native Austria were making her increasingly unpopular in France. She was also unhappy in her personal life, especially in her marriage, which remained unconsummated for seven years.
MoreOne of the most interesting and useful sets of ancient manuscripts used in the research of family names from the British Isles are the pipe rolls, the earliest series of English royal records. The Exchequer pipe rolls were the written records of the crown revenue and expenditures for one financial year, which ran from Michalemas (Sept 29) to Michalemas. Small rolls composed of two membranes of sheepskin parchment, stitched together in the middle were collected and sewn together and stored in large "pipe-like" rolls; some time in the 14th century, they began to be referred to as the pipe rolls.
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