EnglandThe history of the Cleaverine family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in Essex, where they held lands and a family seat at Clavering. "The village is irregularly built, but contains some respectable houses, and the surrounding scenery is agreeably diversified. The church is a spacious and handsome edifice of stone, with an embattled tower. " [1]
The surname Cleaverine was first found in Essex where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Clavering. They are said to be descended from Eustace, a Norman noble who had two sons, Serlo and John. The former built Knaresborough Castle. The latter had a son Pagan, and Eustace, the progenitor of the Clavering line.
At the time of the taking of the Domesday Book survey in 1086 A.D. the village of Clavering held a Mill, 5 beehives, a foal, 23 goats, and a sail-less windmill. The castle, of which the moats still survive, was built before the Conquest by Robert FitzWinarc. The village was held by the Swein (Earl) of Essex. [2]
Another reference has a slightly different origin of the family: "Robert Fitz-Roger, Baron of Warkworth, the ancestor of this great Norman family, was father of John, who assumed the name 'Clavering,' from a lordship in Essex, as it is said, by the appointment of King Edward I. From Sir Alan, younger brother of John, the present family is descended." [3]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cleaverine research. Another 110 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1848, 1850, 1866, 1867, 1565, 1630, 1607, 1629, 1592, 1648, 1620, 1702, 1649, 1656, 1658, 1668, 1707, 1715, 1672, 1714, 1698, 1762, 1727, 1731, 1734 and 1741 are included under the topic Early Cleaverine History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-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 Clavering, Clafering, Claffering, Clavring and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was James Clavering (1565-1630), an English merchant adventurer, Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1607 who bought an estate at Axwell House, near Blaydon on Tyne in 1629; John Clavering (c. 1592-1648); and his son, Sir James Clavering, 1st Baronet (1620-1702), an English landowner and politician, High Sheriff of Durham in 1649, Member of Parliament for Durham (1656-1658); James Clavering, 2nd Baronet (1668-1707), who took part in...
Another 74 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cleaverine Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For 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 Cleaverine or a variant listed above were: Anthony Clavrin who settled in the Carolinas in 1730.
