http://olneyfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au
The
Olney Coat of Arms hereby illustrated is officially documented in Burke’s General Armory.
The
original description of the Arms (Shield) is as follows;
“OR, three piles in base GU, on
a canton AR, a mullet SA.”
When
translated the blazon also describes the original colours of the Olney Arms as;
“Gold; three red triangles in
base; on a silver square, a black star.”
Above
the shield and helmet is a crest, which is described as;
“out
of a gold ducal crown, a natural coloured phoenix, in the beak, a green
branch.”
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| Olney Family Name History |
The following extracts are from"The Family of Charles and Martha Olney" compiled by Keith R.Collyer Page 1.
"Until about 1100, very few English people had last names. They
would be called by their first names - John, William, etc. If there happened
to be several of the same name in the village (say John), there were a number
of ways that they could identify which John was being referred to.
One way was by some characteristic of John - John Short or John
Armstrong. Another way was by his occupation - John the Mason, John the Baker,
and so on. A third way was by his parentage - John, son of Robert (Robertson),
John son of William (Williamson). Another way was by place name. For example, if John had moved
from the parish of Luton he might be called
John of Luton. This would also hold true if he were the most important person
in the village.
These 'nicknames' were temporary and at first were not carried
on from father to son as surnames are today. However, by 1200 many of these
surnames had stuck and probably half of the people did have fixed surnames. By
the end of the 1300s this increased to three-quarters and soon all English
people had surnames".
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| Peter & Joy Olney, Darren & Fiona, Michael, Sarah & Matthew Olney-Fraser visited Olney 2007 |
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| Darren in Olney 2007 |
Olney is a place name. Olney is a quiet, well-known market town
on the Ouse River in Buckinghamshire. The name
itself means 'Olla's Island' or 'lonely
grove’.
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| The Bull Inn in Olney 2007 |
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| The Castle Inn in Olney 2007 |
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| The Swan Inn in Olney 2007 |
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| High Street, Olney 2007 |
The following extracts are from "The Family of Charles and Martha Olney" compiled by Keith R.Collyer Page 1.
"Olney
is a very old town. After William of Normandy defeated Harold at the Battle of
Hastings, one of his first thoughts was to determine the wealth of this new
country he had conquered. To do this, he sent his people into every town and
village in England. Their job was to determine who owned the land, and to calculate the value of
all the property there.
To historians and others, these records in the Doomsday Book, give an unparalleled snapshot of England in 1086, (the year it was
compiled).
Olney
was listed in the Doomsday Book as
being owned by the Bishop of Coutances. The entry for Olney provides a fascinating description of the town:
"It answers for ten hides (a measure of
land). Land for 10 ploughs... 24 villagers with five smallholders have seven
ploughs, five slaves; 1 mill at 40 shillings and 200 eels; meadow for 10
ploughs; woodland for 400 pigs; in total, value, 12 pounds."
These values were, in effect, the
taxes from the town to be paid to the king".
"The town of Olney still celebrates the Shrove Tuesday
Pancake Race. The ladies, all Olney residents, must wear skirts and aprons with
scarves or hats as they run the 400-yard course to the porch of the church,
tossing their sizzling pancakes as they go. The pancakes that survive the race
are given to the bellringer, who pays with a kiss. The race was first run in
1445".
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| Market Place in Olney taken 2007 |
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| The Pancake Race 5 February 2008 |
Olney,
once celebrated for its manufacture of bone-lace, has more recently been the
centre of a boot and shoe industry.
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| Bobbin Lacework memorial at William Cowper Museum in Olney 2007 |
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| Bucks Lace Industry in Olney 2007 |
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| The Olney Cobbler 2007 |
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| Olney Rugs 2007 |
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| Olney Picture Framers 2007 |
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| New Leaf of Olney - The Florist 2007 |
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| The Olney Delicatessen 2007 |
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| Alan's of Olney and Jay's of Olney 2007 |
The following extracts are from "The Family of Charles and Martha Olney" compiled by Keith R.Collyer Page 2.
"Olney
can boast of its gothic style Parish
Church with its
magnificient 185-foot high spire, built in 1325, beside the River Ouse.
Well-known John Newton, while a slave trader, had an experience with God. He
later became Curate of Olney from 1764 to 1780.
In 1779 Rev. John Newton published the “Olney Hymns”, a collection of
hymns written by himself and poet Sir William Cowper. John Newton wrote 280
hymns including “Amazing Grace” and “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds”.
William Cowper wrote 68 hymns including “God moves in mysterious ways” and “O
for a closer walk with God”. His greatest poems “The Task” and “John Gilpin”
were written while in Olney. Sir William Cowper was a frequent guest at the
vicarage and lived in Olney from 1767 to 1786 residing at the house now called
the Cowper–Newton
Museum. A memorial to
Cowper can be found in the Parish
Church. John Newton and
his wife Mary are buried in the Olney churchyard with a monument to mark the
spot".
I acknowledge and give credit to the copyright work of Keith R.Collyer (desceased) in his book "The Family of Charles and Martha Olney". Page 1 and 2.
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| St Peter & St Paul Olney Parish Church 2007 |
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| John Newton Memorial Window |
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| Interior St Peter & St Paul Olney Parish Church |
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| Interior of St Peter & St Paul Parish Church in Olney 2007 |
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| Peter could not resist the opportunity of getting in the pulpit in Olney |
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| Vicarage where John Newton lived while Vicar at Olney 1764 - 1780. He wrote 280 hymns including "Amazing Grace" and published the "Olney Hymns" in 1779. William Cowper wrote 68 hymns and a frequent guest at the Vicarage. |
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| John Newton died 1807, wife Mary died 1790. John Newton was famous for helping to abolish the slave trade in 1807. |
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| The Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney 2007 |
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| William Cowper's personal items |
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| Collage of William Cowper's Photographs |
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| William Cowper |
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| Rev.John Newton |
Please note: Ross Olney was the keeper of the Olney Family Tree, but in 2020 he hand it over to myself. If you have information that needs to be corrected or added to, please contact Joy Olney by email at joyolney@gmail.com
You can order your own hard copy of "The Family of Charles and Martha Olney" by clicking on -
http://olneygenealogy.weebly.com
If you wish to contact the author of these Olney Family Archives blogs with corrections or further information, please contact Joy Olney via email - joyolney@gmail.com
These blogs have been written as another way of sharing the Olney family history with those interested. They do not cover all branches. My interest primarily is with the "David" Olney branch with parents Charles and Martha Olney.
Peter and Joy Olney were fortunate enough to visit England in 2007 and visited many of the churches, places, villages and houses written about in the books by Keith Collyer and A.Gordon Keys. More recent generations in Australia are included in the Olney Family Archives blogs.
