Over the weekend I was idly surfing the net and, as is my wont, was entering
various names into a Google search. On entering the name John Paget
Hastings, I came upon your excellent and informative site. I could hardly
believe that here I was finding so much information on the Hastings family
in which I have an interest as I am descended from Elizabeth Hastings' aunt
Martha Pagett (the Chipping Norton Pagetts used two ts in the 18th Century,
it was only in the 19th that the second one was dropped) and have been
putting together a family tree the various Pagett/Paget descendants both in
the male and female line.
Martha married a London law stationer named Thomas Druce and one of their
sons, Charles Druce founded a law firm there that survives to this day as
Druces and Attlee.
I was impressed by the amount of detail in your piece on the Hastings family
- it is far more informative about both the Pagets and the Hastings than
either family's entry in Burke's Landed Gentry. I also sensed from the
beginning of the article that more information might be available and I
wonder if you might be able to point me in the direction of finding this.
It occurs to me that as the last Hastings incumbent of the parish only
died/retired in the late 1950s, there may be Hastings descendants still
living in or around Martley. I should be most grateful for any further
information and once again congratulations o your excellent site.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Robertson
Chief Executive Officer
Australia's Open Garden Scheme
Westport
New Gisborne 3438
Victoria
AUSTRALIA
Ph: +61 3 5428 4557
Fax: +61 3 5428 4558
MHDC Draft Local Plan. Will be on display at the Memorial Hall on Sunday 22nd February from 11am to 5pm.
A Councillor will be on hand to discuss and take your views.
LOCAL DEMOCRACY AT WORK
Don't miss your chance!
T.M. Pearsall
Clerk to the Parish council
MARTLEY – Worcestershire
Merlie Domesday Book (Worcs) 1086 AD
Maertleages ecge (c1030 AD – Martley’s Edge—Forster)
Merlega Pipe Rolls—1155 AD
Mertlega Pipe Rolls—1178 AD
Martley is a border parish, part of which lies on the western edge of Worcestershire County and Diocese. Bordered by the River Teme, the southwest part of the parish shares a river boundary with Herefordshire County and Diocese. The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) word for a boundary was (ge) maere which led to many variations e.g. mar, marl, mary, merry (Hill), mer, maes, mere, mark as in Maesbrook, Mersey, Marcle, Marches, Mercia (ns) etc.
Other Saxon boundary words include hor and hors, har and hars, wor (s) and war (s) as in Warstones etc and holly is also used in farms and pubs as holly trees ere good waymarks in the snow with their evergreen foliage and red berries e.g. Hollybush Farm, Sapey Bridge.
These words refer to places where their parish bounds or property extends to the boundary as in Horsham Farm—1271 AD—the homestead out on the bounds.
Leagh or lea was a clearing or glade in the forest either natural or man made in which case the owner claimed it with his name e.g. Wulferd’s Lea
I think Martley was more likely named after its situation rather than the out of date ‘weasel’s clearing’ (martens) quoted in 1927. In Saxon times they had no maps and so had to read the landscape, and names were often taken from landscape features or locations, so the derivation from marten is ridiculous. Martley was a royal manor in Domesday Book belonging to the King.
Berrow Hill atte Berrow 1275 (beorg = hill, so Berrow Hill means Hill Hill)
Hipsmoor Farm c700 AD
Hollings Farm 1327, holly
Hopehouse Farm 1275, hope, valley
Horsham 1271, ‘out in the sticks’
V Johanssen
(editor’s note—Mrs Johanssen is English, married to a Norwegian!)
(Received 12th February2004, typed by John Nicklin)