Peach Genealogy - Newsletter, Issue 13
THE PEACH/PEACHEY PROJECT
The Electronic Peach Tree Issue 13
Editor: John Harding Peach Peachroot@aol.com
WEB PAGE: http://home1.gte.net/tpeach/Genealogy/Genealogy.htm
We have experienced smooth sailing for the past six days, crossing the English Channel. One thing I hope you like about this cruise and tour is that we don't have to rush. We have all the time in the world. Since it is imaginary, this vacation can last forever.
Therefore, while we could have crossed the Channel in a day, we turned off the engines and just enjoyed spending some time at sea. Hopefully, this gave you some time to get to know one another better. It also gave us time to bring some people aboard who missed the sailing from Normandy. Some of these have joined us for the first time. A special welcome is extended to each of these.
Tomorrow we will reach England, following in the steps of our common ancestor, William de Peche I. After he and William the Conqueror's army landed at Pevensey Bay, they marched eastward to Hastings, where they fought the decisive battle of 1066.
With over 100 people aboard, we will have four touring buses awaiting us when we dock. These will take us on our journey throughout our native England. Thus, if any of you were prone to seasickness, you will be comforted to know we will not be back on the boat for awhile.
THE BATTLE OF THE LANGUAGES
England, having been conquered by the French-speaking Normans, now had three languages, each struggling for superiority. Those who were conqueror, known as the "serfs", spoke their native English. The Norman conquerors became the "nobles" who ruled over the serfs. These spoke their native French.
The legal language of the land was Latin. Thus, the church and court records were documented in this ancient language during and after the Norman Conquest. Later, Old English took over to replace the Latin. In case you think that was an improvement, think again. The Old English records are almost as difficult to decipher than those in Latin.
Since the nobles and royal family spoke French the first 300 years after the Conquest, their names continued to be French. Thus, PECHE remained as the official surname of our ancestors during this time.
Being that the Latin for PECHE is PECCATUM, whenever there were legal matters involved, our ancestors used this surname during that period also. Many of them continued with the name PECCATUM until English became the universal language. At that time, it usually was translated PECKHAM.
EAST IS EAST and WEST IS WEST
As we get ready to land in the country of our heritage, I feel over adventurous. Thus, I am going to go out on a limb and attempt to paint some broad strokes over the history of the Peche names in England.
>From all my research, I have drawn some basic conclusions. However, they are only basic. Undoubtedly, there are exceptions to the rule. Perhaps, I will venture out too far on the limb and fall flat on my face. But at this point I feel more like the person who said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." So for whatever it's worth, here it is.
How did PECHE change to PEACH for some and to PEACHEY/PEACHY for others? I submit two reasons.
REASON #1:
Based on the Coats of Arms displayed by the descendants of William de Peche I, I believe we can see a clear division of the Peche family. If you will read Chapter III of my book, THE PEACH/PEACHEY MIGRATIONS, 1066-1990, you will see that there were some 47 different arms identified with the Peche descendants.
Most of these can be divided into two separate branches, clearly distinquished by an entirely different background on the arms. This leads me to believe that one branch broke from the other branch.
Originally, there was only the Peche of BOURN (or BRUNNE). This name came from the site of the first Peach castle, located in the town of Bourn, Cambridgeshire.
Later on, JOHN PECHE III changed his arms from that of BOURN to that of WORMLEIGHTON. This came about in about 1330 when he married Matilda, daughter of William Beauchamp IV, who was the powerful and influential Earl of Warwick. The adopted arms of WORMLEIGHTON were based on the same patterned background of the Beauchamps.
You will probably have a difficult time understanding this unless you read this chapter in my book. And there is no way for me to do justice to it by giving you a condensed version on the internet.
However, I offer the following assumption. I believe the ones who retained the arms of the Bourn changed their names to PEACHEY/PEACHY after English became the universal language in England. The ones who held the arms of Wormleighton became known as PEACH.
REASON #2:
The second reason some became known as PEACHEY/PEACHY and others PEACH had to do with locality. Generally speaking, the PEACHEY/PEACHY surname was found predominantly in the East, and PEACH was found mainly in the West.
Therefore, whenever someone is asking for my help with their genealogy in England, if their ancestry was from PEACHEY/PEACHY, I automatically start searching in the East. If it was from PEACH, I basically assume they will be from the West. Most of the time, my assumptions pay off.
The name PECHE was pronounced originally PAY - SHAY. So it was natural that when it was Anglicized, the older form of the name was spelled more like it was pronounced, PEACHEY. This made it the older branch (Bourn) of the two.
Later, as the Peche moved west and adopted the Wormleighton arms, the Peche descendants continued to divide from those in the East, calling themselves PEACH.
Our bus tour will take us from PEVENSEY to HASTINGS and then north to the original homesteads of William de Peche I (in the East) - located in the counties of Essex and Suffolk.
Prepare yourselves to embark on the Tour of a Lifetime in the land of our forefathers. Don't miss the bus. Signing off 'til next time. Captain John H. Peach.
Send e-mail to: Todd & Sharon