This post will shed light on the origin of the Macey/Macy name. The difference between the two spellings will be discussed in a later blog post.
Where is it from?
The Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames 3rd edition classifies the origin of surnames into four categories: Relationship, occupation or office, nicknames and local.
Examples
Relationship: Gibson > son of Gibb
Occupation: Homer > A maker of helmets
Nickname: Campbell > from the Gaelic for wry or crooked smile.
Location: Thorne > Dweller by the Thorn/e bushes
Macey/Macy is a location name and is thought to be derived from ‘the place near Countances and Avranches, Normandy’. It was until recently a commune of France. There is also Macey town, West of the city Troyes, France. I hope to make a trip to theses areas in the near future.
Who were the first Maceys in England?
In 1066 the Battle of Hastings took place in southern England where two opposing forces, one led by King Harold and the other William, fought for the throne of England. William was the Duke of Normandy (the area in which the commune Macey is found) and accompanying him were commanders, knights, archers, soldiers, servants and other supporters. After a day of battle, William prevailed and was crowned King of England two months later.
King William I wanted to reward the people who supplied ships, horses, men and other supplies for the battle by granting Lordships, land and other rewards. A list was drawn up called the Battle Abbey Roll. The original roll disappeared from history and was not mentioned again until the 1600s. The Duchess of Cleveland wrote in 1889, “it is at least certain that it does not exist now: nor it precisely known what has become of it” and there were known to be three copies and many other versions. There are discrepancies between the number and the names between the lists. It is also thought that the monks who held the original item were more than happy to add a name to the end for someone to prove they were an ancestor of a knight.
Only 25 or so of the names on the rolls have been deemed by scholars to have actually been in Hastings for the battle.
Huge de Maci appears on Church of Dives (Normandy) roll. The Church was the location where William and his troops amassed before sailing to England. The book The Norman People published in 1874 states that in 1068 ‘Hugo de Maci held land in Hunts [Huntingdonshire] (Domesday) and Hamo/Haimo/Hamund de Macy/Massey/Mascy held nine lordships in barony from Hugh Lupis in Cheshire’.
Domesday Book
Location of Huntingdonshire during the Domesday book era and Bickton in Hampshire.
There are a three Mascy and Macis that I found that are mentioned in the Domesday book. I have taken this information from the Open Domesday Book site.
A Lord was the landowner of a place and a Tenant in Chief was The King’s principal baron or churchman who held land directly from him.
Hugo de Maci: The Norman People puts Hugo de Maci in Huntingdonshire 20 years before the Domesday book was written, presumably for the 1066 entry. The 1086 entry has him as the Lord [landowner] for Bickton, Hampshire and interestingly the tenant in chief was Earl Hugh of (Chester), which may have been a link to Mascy in Cheshire.
Haimo of Mascy (1): Lord and tenant-in-chief for 10 Cheshire places in 1086, Lord only for two and tenant for one.
Haimo of Mascy (2): Lord for three places in Wiltshire during 1086. One of these places, Fisherton Anger, is near Chilmark, the village that the Macey line of my family came from and was the home of Thomas Macy before he went to America.
