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| Origins Available: |
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The present generation of the Ven family is only the most recent to bear a name that dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from having lived near a marsh or swamp. Another name for wetlands is fen, in the Old English fenn, from which this name is derived. 1 There are two place-names that may serve as sources for the name as well: Fen, in Lincolnshire, and Venn, in Devon.
The surname Ven was first found in Devon, where the family held a family seat from early times. The origins of the name make it likely that several branches of the Ven family emerged independently in different areas during the Middle Ages. The earliest known bearer of the name was Godwin de la Fenna, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of 1176. 2
From this first record, records of the family were scattered. Thomas attefenne was a Templar Knight in Warwickshire in 1185, Ralph de Fenne was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1190, Herveus del Fen was listed in Suffolk in 1190, John atte Venne was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327, and Walter en la Fenne was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1340. 2
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 has two listings: Isabella ate Fenne, Oxfordshire; and Robert de la Fenne, Somerset. 3 In Norfolk, John atte Fen was Bailiff of Yarmouth in 1377 and Thomas Fenn, was similarly bailiff of Yarmouth. 4
The Close Rolls, like many early rolls listed entries in the relation to the year of the king's reign where the first number is the year, followed by the king's name. By example, John atte Fene, Close Rolls, 14 Edward III, denoted the entry was made in the fourteenth year of Edward III's reign. From this example, the reader can better understand the entries: Walter atte Fenne, Close Rolls, 1 Edward II; Thomas de Fenne, Close Rolls, 2 Edward I; and Roger atte Fenne, Somerset, 1 Edward III. 3
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ven research. Another 169 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1176, 1185, 1190, 1199, 1297, 1580, 1586, 1594, 1615, 1619, 1637, 1639, 1641, 1650, 1657, 1687, 1691, 1723, 1740 and 1987 are included under the topic Early Ven History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Ven include Fenn, Fenne, Fennoy, Fann, Fan, Venn, Fen and others.
Notables of this surname at this time include:
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Ven were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: