Table of Contents- Introduction - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - W - Y - Bibliography

Introduction

This document is a collection of English place names, specifically of Boroughs. The content comes from the index of the book "English Medieval Boroughs: A Handlist" by Beresford and Finberg. The vast majority of which have been painstakingly documented to between 597 - 1509 by these scholarly gentlemen. There are a few exception, and I took the liberty of removing any item from the list that occurred after the 1650 "gray area".

The intended use of this document is for is a starting place for the creation of "locative" English by- names. This simply means a surname (last name) that is derived from a location or place, in this case a Borough. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines a borough as "a town given special privileges by Royal Charter in England".

In early English naming practices it was quite common to be known by where you were from. For example: John of Mousehole, Joan de Painswick, Robert Andover, etc. You were known as Robert, the guy who lives in Trowbridge, or Robert de Trowbridge. In later period English naming practices the names had become hereditary, and no longer (usually) denoted where you were from, but rather what your fathers name was. The preposition could have been any number of things (according to Reaney and Wilson) such as de, at(atte), by, in, etc. with "de" being by far the most common. In some period names the preposition was completely dropped, ex: "Robert Trowbridge", starting rarely in the 1000's but increasingly so until the 1400's whereupon it was usually absent. (Again, according to Reaney and Wilson) As this is not an article on forming English locative surnames, but rather a resource for doing such, I will leave it to the reader to find the correct preposition. Some good sources, including the aforementioned Reaney and Wilson, are listed in the bibliography at the end.

Some notes on this article: I scanned the index of the " English Medieval Boroughs" book in and applied OCR software to this. Then I went thru each item and checked for scanning errors, of which I fixed quite a number. Then I went through the entire text, and added the earliest date mentioned for each name, and correct a few more spelling errors in the process. I will not swear that this document is error free, but I have done my utmost to assure the accurateness of the information.  

DISCLAIMER! These are the modern spellings of these names.  The source did not list the period spellings of these place names, so some care must be taken when using these.  I would suggest looking into other books, or asking a herald for the documented form of the name closest to the period desired.  Taking an examples from A:   "Abbot's Bromley", is listed in "Dictionary of Placenames in the British Isles" by Adrian Room as "...The name was recorded as Bromleage in a document of 1002, and as Bromleaigh Abbatis in 1304..." Here is another example:  "Abingdon", listed in Ekwall has {AE}bbandun c. 730, {AE}bbanduna c.811... in its entry.   (note: {AE} is the transliteration of the character that looks like an A and E conjoined)   Both books on place names in the bibliography are wonderful sources, and they are the next step if you see a name you like on this list.

Yours in Service
Lord Frederic Badger
Black Stag Herald, An Tir

List of Place Names followed by Date

A

Abbot's Bromley, 1222
Abingdon, 1086
Acton Burnell, 1236
Albrighton, 1303
Alcester, 1207
Alconbury Weston, 1319
Aldermaston, 1299
Almondbury, 1357
Alnmouth, 1147
Alnwick, 1157
Alphington, 1304
Alresford, 1210
Alrewas, 1228
Alton, 1239
Alton, 1295
Altrincham, 1290
Amersham, 1086
Amesbury, 1314
Andover, 1175
Appleby, 1179
Arundel, 1086
Ashboume, 1200
Ashburton, 1238
Ashwell, 1086
Atherstone, 1289
Aveton Gifford, 1384
Axbridge, 900
Axminster, 1209
Aylesbury, 1086

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B

C

D

E

F

(note: spellings are modern, the date is the first recorded instance of the Burough being mentioned in a period text. Check Ekwall and Room for period spellings.)

Fairford, 1221
Fareham, 1211
Faringdon, 1205
Farnham, 1208
Faversham, 1042
Felton, 1323
Fenny Stratford, 1204
Finedon, 1247
Flookburgh, 1509
Fordwich, 1086
Fowey, 1190
Frampton, 1308
Frodsham, 1209

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G

H

I

K

L

(note: spellings are modern, the date is the first recorded instance of the Burough being mentioned in a period text. Check Ekwall and Room for period spellings.)

Lacock, 1239
Lambourne, 1225
Lancaster, 1193
Langport, 900
Launceston, 1086
Lechlade, 1235
Ledbury, 1250
Leeds, 1207
Leek, 1214
Leicester, 679
Leighton Buzzard, 1086
Leominster, 1221
Lewes, 900
Lichfield, 669
Lincoln, 627
Linton, 1246
Liskeard, 1086
Little Totnes, 1326
Liverpool, 1207
London, 673
Longtown (or Ewias Lacy), 1234
Lostwithiel, 1194
Louth, 1086
Ludgershall, 1194
Ludlow, 1300
Luton, 1086
Lydd, 1154
Lydford, 1018
Lydham, 1270
Lyme Regis, 1284
Lymington, 1184
Lympstone, 1288
Lyng, 900

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M

(note: spellings are modern, the date is the first recorded instance of the Burough being mentioned in a period text. Check Ekwall and Room for period spellings.)

Macclesfield, 1261
Madeley, 1426
Maidstone, 1474
Malborough, 1508
Maldon, 1086
Malmesbury, 900
Malpas, 1280
Manchester, 1301
Manningtree, 1238
Marazion (alias St Micheals), 1085
Market Brough, 1196
Market Drayton, 1292
Marlborough, 1204
Marshfield, 1397
Melcombe, 1268
Mere, 1304
Merryfield, 1275
Middlewich, 1288
Midhurst, 1248
Milborne Port, 1086
Milverton, 1280
Minchinhampton, 1300
Mitford, 1326
Mitchell, 1239
Modbury, 1238
Montacute, 1102
Moreton-in-Marsh, 1273
Morpeth, 1188
Mountsorrel, 1148
Mousehole, 1267

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N

O

(note: spellings are modern, the date is the first recorded instance of the Burough being mentioned in a period text. Check Ekwall and Room for period spellings.)

Oakham, 1297
Offord Cluny, 1319
Okehampton, 1086
Old Sarum, 1003
Old Windsor, 1086
Olney, 1200
Orford, 1256
Ormskirk, 1286
Oswestry, 1190
Otley, 1304
Oundle, 1125
Over, 1288
Overton, 1217
Oxford, 900

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P

Q

(note: spellings are modern, the date is the first recorded instance of the Burough being mentioned in a period text. Check Ekwall and Room for period spellings.)

Quatford, 912
Queenborough, 1368

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R

S

T

U

W

Y

Bibliography
Books:

English Medieval Boroughs: a Hand List, Beresford and Finberg, Rowman and Littlefield Press, 1973

A Dictionary of English Surnames, Reaney and Wilson, Oxford Press, 1995

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, Ewall, Eilert, Oxford Press

Dictionary of Placenames in the British Isles, Adrian Room

Websites:
Laurel Website containing articles on Medieval Naming:
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/education.html

The Academy of Saint Gabriel
http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/

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This article was written by Lord Frederic Badger, Black Stag Herald of the Kingdom of An Tir.  Comments and questions can be mailed to me at badger@xcentric.net.

Published by Arval Benicoeur.