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![Show Contents]() Waynfleet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Early Origins of the Waynfleet familyThe surname Waynfleet was first found in Lincolnshire at Wainfleet, a market-town, in the union of Spilsby, Marsh division of the wapentake of Candleshoe. Wainfleet All Saints and Wainfleet St. Mary were collectively listed as Wenflet in the Domesday Book of 1086, the first recording of the place name. 1 Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Wainfleet, once a seaport, now five miles from the sea, by several Norman nobles including the Bishop of Durham, Earl Hugh, Gilbert de Ghent, Gocylin de Ghent who were recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The village was noted for its salt production and held 27 salt pans. William of Wayneflete or Wainfleet (1395?-1486), was Bishop of Winchester, Lord Chancellor of England, and founder of Magdalen College, Oxford. "In 1497, it appears that Waynflete held the manor and manor-house of Dakenham Place, Barkinge. This deed points to Essex as the home of at least one branch of the family, and corroborates the inference which may be drawn from other data that the bishop was of gentle blood. " 2 Early History of the Waynfleet familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Waynfleet research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1180, 1447 and 1461 are included under the topic Early Waynfleet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Waynfleet Spelling VariationsAnglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Wainfleet, Waynfleet, Waynflete, Wainflete and others. Early Notables of the Waynfleet familyMore information is included under the topic Early Waynfleet Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Waynfleet familyFor many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Waynfleet or a variant listed above were: settlers were recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Florida, and to the islands..
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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