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Thweatt
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 eudalism was
not something that was planned, but a system that came late into being
and grew because of conditions that existed in that day when mankind was
emerging from a rather low state of civilization. Man felt the need of
protection, the need of some one to do his planning, and the need of security
and shelter for himself and family. To the one who could offer this, he
pledged allegiance. Two forms of feudalism developed. One was economic
and the other political. Economic was the relationship between a lord
and his tenants, freemen, serfs and slaves. Political feudalism was the
relationship between a lord and the king and with his fellow noblemen.
 man
became a vassal voluntarily and allegiance lasted for life. Not
only was the lord a land lord but a vassal's judge in all matters. The
vassal, when called upon, was to do military duty even unto death in the
protection of his lord. Knights were the lords in military service and
received their appointments from the king. Their duties were to defend
peace, order and justice. Some of our Thweatt ancestors were knights and
lords of manors. A manor was a group of inhabitants and the land they
occupied was connected with and depended upon a certain "lord of
the manor," who had various rights over the people and their lands.
"Aside from his position as land lord, the most important of these
rights was that of holding a court baron and a court-leer and view of
frank pledge. Various powers and activities had long gathered around these
petty courts, but these manorial and administrational and jurisdictional
courts were, in 1600, fast becoming obsolete and insignificant institutions."
From "The American Nation, a History," by A. B. Hart. The lords
held their lands in manors, that is to say, the estate of each lord was
either a single manor or comprised of several of them. In many cases,
a manor was identical in extent with a parish, whose boundaries were very
old. It would have its village church, as well as its manor house where
the lord resided.
typical manor would have its mill stream and fish pond, its Pasture and
wood lot, its mill and forge, its rows of cottages and its arable fields.
The land was divided into strips, so arranged that each holder had some
of the better land and some of the poorer land to till. Each tenant had
certain rights to cut wood. Plowing was done by oxen. The original Thweatt
line was an early settler in England. Thwaite Manor belonged to
the church of St. Benet of Holme. "The history of Thwaite can also
be traced through the century. In 1086 A.D. St. Benet church held Thwaite
for two plough lands and the value (rent) was L2, four shillings. It rented
for L4 annually for the years 1153-1168, and the same for the years 1175-1186."
From "Norfolk Record Society, Vol. III. Another reference to the
manor from "Broomfield History of Norfolk," Vol. VI, p. 468,
says, "Thweyt commonly called Thwait was given to the abbey of St.
Benets at Helm by the founder King Canute and rented for 40 shillings
per annum." The interesting things to note in this reference is the
spelling of Thweyt. The name Twait has persisted unto this day. Thweyt
manor was given to the church by King
Canute. Canute was king of England,
Denmark and Norway about the years 944-1035 A.D. Then again, see if you
can pronounce Thweyt and Thweatt and get a different sound.
 here were
several other Thwaite manors in other counties as
follows: "The manor Thwaite was held under the lords of Millam by
a family bearing the local name who occur here as early as the reign of
Edward I 1278 A.D." From "History of Cumberlalid and Westmoreland"
by William Whellan. The following excerpts are taken from "Broomfield's
History of Norfolk," Vol. V, p. 106: "Thwaits manor was granted
by Hugh Bygog to Will deThweyt and after belonged to John de Tweyt and
Eglantine his wife, who owned it in 1315. In 1318 John de Tweyt settled
it on Andrew de Curzon and John de Brokene who reconveyed it to the
said John for life. In 1345, John son of John de Tweyt was lord. In 1461
it belonged to Thomas Tweyt." "Bossall
Manor. Thomas Redmoyne,
before his death in 1514, settled Bossall on his eldest daughter Elizabeth
wife of the younger William Thwaites of Marston.
 "hwaites
is another manor and township within this parish (Millum) standing upon
the Fame river and north from Ulpha between Dudden and in the mountains.
Near the head whereof was heretofore the ancient feat of the Thwaitfes
of Ewaurigg, who first had their name from this place. For it being a
stony and mountainous country is not everywhere so fit for tilling or
meadow but in several parts and parcels, as they are marked by nature,
differing in form and quality of fold or otherwise enclosed by the inhabitants
from the barren waste of the fells, such parts or parcels are now and
were of old called Thwaits sometimes with the addition of their quality, as Brackenthwaits, for brackens or ferns growing
there, sieveythwaite of fives or rushes, Stonethwaite of rocks and such
like and in general this word denotes any plan parcel of ground, from
which the wood has been grubbed up enclosed and converted into tillage.
"This manor was an ancient fee holder of the Lords of Millum. In
the 35 Hen 3 Eleanor wife of John Bovril and Michall de Cornee paffed
the fame by fine levie and in the 16 ed. I John Hudelston impeded William son of John Thwaits for 200
acres of pasture there. The gentleman
of this family of Thwaits do bear for their arms or a crots, argent frette
gutes (Sir Daniel Fleming, who was very curious in these matters blazons
their arms thus, argent, a crofs fable, frette). The chapel of Thwaits
was certified to the governors of Queen Anne's bounty as having no endowment.
In 1715 a new chapel was built at the expense of the inhabitants on freehold
ground purchased by them with a chapel yard fenced in and afterwards consecrated
by Bifhop Gaftrell. In 1717 John Diton and others of the inhabitants
advanced L200 whereby the Queen's bounty was procured, and as estate purchased
therewith in Dent in the county of York. The place where the chapel stands
is called Hallthwaits.
 eraldry
so called only became a science when laws were laid down for its guidance.
Any individual who distinguished himself may be said to ennoble himself.
A prince judging an individual worthy of notice gave himself patent letters
of nobility. In these letters were emblazoned the arms that were to distinguish
his shield. By this shield he was to be known. Whoever has a shield of
arms is a nobleman. In every country in Europe, without exception, a grant
of arms is conferred on all descendants." From "A.B.C. of Heraldry"
by Guy C. Rothery. Strictly speaking, we of the Thweatt family would not
have the right to own Arms unless we can trace our family to some English
family of Thwaites, Thwaits or Thwaytes. This we are at- tempting to do
by getting transcripts of wills, deeds and birth records from the courts
of record in England. From "Burke's General Armory," 1884, we
find that eleven heads of families named Thwaites had been granted arms.
One family, Thwaits, and one family of Thwaytes or Thwaits. From "Fairbain's
Crests," American Edition, Vol. I and II, four families of Thwaites
and one family of Thwaits were using the same crests as above listed in
"Burke's General Armory."
 n
American genealogist of note, who made a study of the name Thweatt and
searched the records for a coat of arms, gives as his opinion that our
American families are descendants of the family granted arms of Norfolk
County, England. His description of the arms and crests are as follows:
"Argent on a fesse sable, between three fleu-de-lis gules, as many
bzants." Crest, "A cock's sable combed, wattled, legged, gules."
I have checked this with the best library references available and find
that the arms and crests check with the following families of Buckingham
and Newland Hall; Marston County,
York; Remerstone County, Derby, and,
as noted before, several American families have accepted the arms and
crests of the Norfolk County Thwaite families.
 ellow
or gold, and means generosity and elevation of mind.
Argent, white or silver, and means sincerity. Sable, or black, means constancy,
and sometimes, but rarely, grief. Gules, or red, means military fortitude,
and magnanimity. It is also the martyr's color. The
cock is a bird of great courage, always prepared for battle, and it frequently
fights to the death. Being the herald of dawn, it is often used as an
emblem of watchfulness, and may be used in armory to signify either a
hero or an able man in the senate. Fleur-de-lis in France means superiority
in heraldic bearing. in English arms it has reference to bearing arms
in early Feudal wars in which their original assumers had been engaged."
From "Symbolism of Heraldry," by W. Cecil Wade. In connection
with the "Fleur-de-lis" in the Thwaite arms, it is interesting
to note that Rothery, in his "A.B.C. of Heraldry," devotes
an entire chapter to the "Fleur-de-lis" and to its variations.
The author says, in part, "In England the Fleur-de-lis was used at
least as early as the first half of the eleventh century." It is
interesting to see how this author connects the "Fleur-de-lis"
with the royal families of England, and also on the royalists the three
"Fleur-de-lis" as described on the few Thwaite families.
he desire
of the heads of wealthy and powerful families to trace
their pedigrees from some one who came over with the Conqueror has always
been strong." Did the Thweatt ancestor come over with the Norman
invasion of England?, it could be possible that he did.
"When William the Conqueror divided England among his followers,
the bulk of the large estates were given to men of his own or an allied
race; for roughly speaking, the 1,300,000 acres, which make up our country
were parceled out into 1292 estates, manors, Knight's fees, call them
what: you will, of which Normans held, by far, the most as far as value
was concerned. A Knight's fee has been variously estimated, but 800 acres
is generally to have been the average site." From "The Norman
Conquest," p. 22. At a very early date we find records of a Thwaite
Manor, Thwaite and grants and Thwaits that were Knights. If the original
progenitor did come with William the Conqueror, he never realized that
426 hence another continent would be discovered, and that in 875 years
some of his descendants would be coming back from that new continent to
land on the shores of Normandy to make that country a Place where free
men could live in peace. Nor did he realize that in 25 generations he
would have had more than 43,000,000 descendants.
 he
reason for the many references to the English Thweatt families is because,
in round numbers, 600 years of English family history were given as against,
in round numbers, 300 years of American history. Also, the records of
the period between the landing on these shores of the first Thweatt and
the Civil War went up in smoke when the court houses were burned. William
Thwayt, archbishop of York, died in 1154. He was the son of Herbert Thwayt
of Winchester, treasurer of Henry I. His mother, Emma, was the sister
of King Steven. Elder brother Herbert held lands in Yorkshire, as did
many of his relatives. King Henry I was the youngest son of William the
Conqueror. He had himself crowned king in 1100. If we can estimate the
date of William's birth as 1074 A.D., we would not be too far wrong in
estimating his father's birth at about 1054, or 900 years
  ay
we call your attention to the spelling of our name? Thweyt is nearer Thweatt
in sound than Thweyt is to Thwaite. From the "Catalogue of Ancient
Deeds," Vol. VII, we find the names of towns Thweyte, County Norfolk,
also Thweyte, County Suffolk, and Thwaite, County York, Thwartes, County
Lancaster. So we find our ancestors with Place names in four counties
in the early twelve hundreds. The following excerpts are all from the
"Records of the City of
Norwich," Vol. II: "Paid 20-s William
Tweyt, Mayors esquire, 1405-06. To William Twheyt the Mayors esquire for
riding to London 10-s, 1410. To William Twheyt the mayors esquire riding
to St. Benets Abbey with the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, 3-s 6d, 1410-11.
To William Thweyt for the expenses of seven wrestlers 3 pounds (command
performances before the king). For a breakfast given to the seven wrestlers
on their return from London to Norwich I6d. Sum 4 pound5 -65 -5d. 1413-14."
A few of the wills and several transcripts of our ancestors during this
Period may prove interesting reading. You will note the spelling and other
queer things that have passed out of the English language at this time.
Testamentum-VVilhelmi Twayte, Armigeri. This will is in Latin.
Footnote in English gives some light. "William Thwaite of Marston
in the Ainsty of York, Esq., the head of a family which afterwards rose
to some eminence. This will makes considerable additions to the pedigree
of the family of the early history of which there is but little known.
The will of William Thwaite of Marston, the testator's father adds another
generation to the pedigree. "It was proved at York 10 Feb. 1434-5.
In it he desires to be buried in the choir of the church of Marston, with
the permission of the rector. He then orders Sir Thomas Marshall to make
an estate to his son William Thwaite (the testator), of all his lands
in Bikerton and another to his son Robert, of his lands in Hoton, together
with the chapel Croft. He appoints as his executors, Agnes his wife and
William his son, and he makes Guy Raddiffe the supervisor of his will.
Thos Thwaite, the eldest son of the testator, married a Middleton of Stokeld
and was the progenitor of the family at Marston."
fter
the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the
Conqueror caused to be published a census, commonly called "The
Doomsday Book," which listed such names as Bad neighbor, Black in
the mouth; Gotobed, Blisswench, Cocksbroyne, Halfnaked, and Losewit. I
make reference to these names for the benefit of those whom fate has fostered
the name Thweatt, and who think they have been imposed upon by having
to wear it. I am happy with the name Thweatt after looking over the list
of early passengers and settlers coming into
Plymouth, Mass. i.e, Llunphead, Palegreen, Styffchyn, Inchbald and Bunnyduckle.
If you have been amused at the spelling of the name Thweatt in the modern
generation, consider yourself lucky in comparison to your English cousins
who had to endure the spelling: vit, John Theattes or John Thwayttes of
Lofthouse, John Thoattes of Thoattes, and Thwate, Thuate, Thuat, Twaytes,
Twhates, Thowates, and Thoattes. Other Thweatts of mention include Sir
Henry Kendrick Thwaites born Bristol 1811; an accountant, also a Ph.D in Botany.
Geo. Saunders Thwaites, born 1778. Sir John
Thwaites, son of Christopher
Thwaites of Teddy Gill Hall, Westmoreland. Knights at Windsor Castle, May 18,
1865
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