Gatenby is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Gatenby is for a watchman. The watchman was responsible for keeping guard over the gates of a castle or manor.
The surname Gatenby was first found in the North Riding of Yorkshire at Gatenby. One of the first records of the family was Stephen de Gaitenbi (c. 1190-1212) who was listed in Early Yorkshire Charters.
In 1327, the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire listed Thomas de Gaytenby and later Peter de Gaytenby was listed in the Calendar of Inquisitiones post mortem of Yorkshire (1405-1406.) [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gatenby research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gatenby History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Gattonsby, Gatensby, Gatonby, Gattenby, Gatenby and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Gatenby Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.