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![Show Contents]() Wainflete History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Early Origins of the Wainflete familyThe surname Wainflete 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 Wainflete familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wainflete research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1180, 1447 and 1461 are included under the topic Early Wainflete History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Wainflete Spelling VariationsNorman surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Wainfleet, Waynfleet, Waynflete, Wainflete and others. Early Notables of the Wainflete familyMore information is included under the topic Early Wainflete Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Wainflete familyMany English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World under extremely harsh conditions. Overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Wainflete or a variant listed above: 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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