The origin of the Placename Betlow

I was recently asked about the origin of the surname Betlow and whether it was associated with Betlow Farm, near Tring, in Hertfordshire. I replied:

Surnames only started in medieval times and spellings only started to be standardised after the invention of printing and in some cases current spellings (both surnames and place names) may be only a hundred years old.  As a result any analysis of the origins of a surname must involve a large degree of uncertainty.
Some surnames came into existance because someone was named after the place where they came from. It is therefore possible possible that your surname "Betlow" refers back to someone who lived at a place called "Betlow."
The earliest known reference to the Hertfordshire village/manor of "Betelawe"was in 1203 with other 13th century references being to "Betelowe," " Betelaue" and "Bettelawe." The village was abandoned in the Middle Ages (possibly due to the Black Death) and for many centuries all that remained of the manor was a single farm.

The Moat at Moat Farm, Marsworth, undoubtedly dug to drain the central area for the Farm

 "The Placenames of Hertfordshire" suggests that the placename probably was a descriptive term meaning Beta's mound or hill.  The area around Betlow Farm is vey flat - so it clearly doesn't refer to a hill. I haven't visited the Farm but I know much of the area would have been very wet in the past - perhaps even marshy - although moden drainage has lowered the water table. So it is possible that there was a slightly raised area which was drained well enough to build a house.  Not many miles away there are moated sites (often with no surviving buildings, where the effect of the moat was almost certainly to leave a dry area on which a wooden farm house could be built. In the nearby Village of Long Marston the old church is on a mound perhaps 3 feet higher that the surrounding fields - with the remains of a waterfiled moat close by - possible for that reason.

What's in a Placename - Breakspear or Popyes Farm?

Help Desk

Linda discovered her Edmonds/Edmends ancestors lived at "Popyes Farm," Bedmond, Abbots Langley, at the time of the 1841 census and noted that the name had apparently changed to "Breakspear Farm" in the 1851 census - and wondered how she might check on the change of name. I replied:

Breakspear Farm

The fact that the farm is described in 1841 as "The Popyes Farm" doesn't mean that it wasn't also known at Breakspear Farm. Imagine a stranger visiting Bedmond at almost any time pointing to the farm and they might be told "The Pope's Farm" or "Breakspear Farm" almost at random. The stranger who knew nothing of the farm's history would find the first farm name more informative.

In 1851 it may have been described in the census as "Breakspear Farm" but it could just as well have been called "The Pope's Farm" (Pope is easier to spell than Breakspear), "Mead Farm" (because the Mead family lived there) or "Edmonds Farm" (because the Edmond family used to live there).

In legal documents it might simply be identified by the name of the owner and/occupier - perhaps with the names of the people who owner/occupied adjuact plots. For instance in Land Tax records (available at HALS) there may be no farm name given, but it might be possible to identify it by the acreage!

 Of course place names do change - but in documents such as the early census returns the address given may simple the way the census enumerator decided to record it. For instance in towns you may find a reference to "Jones Yard" in one census - if you look at the other nearby census returns you may find that at vthe entrance to the yard was a shop occupied by "Mr Jones".

The Problem of Houses with Hertfordshire Place Names

Help Desk

I recently had a query asking why a family with no connection with Devon appear to have lived in a house in Watford named after a Devon Village. I gave the following reply:

When I was living in Sydney, Australia, I had to get used to the idea that travelling from Kings Cross you could cross the Surrey Hills, and get to Stanmore via Darlington. At least it was easier to remember that if you went north up the coast Gateshead was immediately adjacent to Newcastle.

 

People have been moving round the world giving their new home the name of the place they came from. There are thousands of small private houses in Hertfordshire, built during the housing boom brought on by the coming of the railways, which were given place names by their first owner  because street house numbering was not common. They moved on  - and the new owner might retain the old name - or give it a new one. If your ancestor's photograph was taken at the time of their wedding the house might still have the name given to it by an earlier owner - and they might have changed the name (or simply removed the name plate) later.  In some cases the names may have been given by the builder, and recorded in the brickwork, which explains the Devon names of some houses in St Albans.

 

I actually have related problems in buying post cards to illustrate this site - as in many cases pictures of large houses are advertised as if they are in the town or village they are named after. It can be difficult to discover whether they are pictures of genuine Hertfordshire houses which have since been demolished or of an impostor with a Hertfordshire-related name. I have not yet come across a case of Apsley House (also known as No. 1, London) being placed in Apsley, Hertfordshire, but I have definitely had problems with less prestigious addresses.

 

The Nascot Road area of Watford you mention started to develop as housing in the 1850s and 1860s, and if you look at the census you may find someone living in the area between 1861 and 1901 who came from the appropriate part of Devon!