Ainay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Ainay was first found in Lincolnshire where "Walter de Aincourt, who came from Aincourt, a lordship between Mantes and Magny [Normandy], where the remains of the ancient family castle still exists. Walter was cousin of Remigius, Bishop of Lincoln, the munificent builder of Lincoln Cathedral, and obtained, as his share of the spoil, no less that sixty-seven lordships in several counties, chiefly in Lincolnshire." [1]

"Walter d'Aincourt holds nearly sixty manors in Domesday [Book], chiefly in Lincolnshire, where Blankney was the head of his barony, and 'the Deyncourts flourished in a continual succession, from the coming-in of the Normans to the time of Henry VI.' All we known of Walter's lineage is derived from a leaden tablet inscribed to the memory of his son, William, which was found in 1670 in Lincoln Cathedral." [2]

In Derbyshire at Morton, another branch of the family was found. "The manor, previously given to Burton Abbey, belonged at the Domesday Survey to Walter Deincourt, and Roger Deincourt, in 1330, claimed a park here, and the right of having a gallows for the execution of criminals. The estate passed, with other lands, to the Leakes." [3]

"William, Lord d'Eyncourt worthily maintained its old renown. He was a stout and tried soldier, whose sword, like his master's, was but seldom in its sheath; for he followed Edward III. in his French and Scottish campaigns, fought in the great victory of Nevill's Cross, and was present at the taking of Calais. When a French invasion was threatened in 1352, he was appointed to defend the Lincolnshire coast; and with Lord Grey of Codnor, a Commissioner of array for the counties of Derby and Notts. Seven years later, he was among those commissioned to remove the captive King of France from Hertford Castle to Somerton Castle in Somersetshire. He died about 1382, and his successor was again a grandson, William, the father of Ralph and John, who each inherited the barony." [2]