as mentioned in the before cited Roll. As no one would, as a purely etymological conjecture, derive Dallender from De la Ryver, so no one would suspect Sydney to be a contraction of Sutton-heath, yet such, it is probable, is the fact. Analogously, Stepney, near Blackwall, is a crasis of Stephen's-heath, by which name it is designated in the Nonæ Rolls. Now, the first Sidney on record is Sir William Sidney, Chamberlain to Henry II (who was buried at Lewes, a.d. 1188), to whom that monarch gave the manor of Sutton, in Surrey. Probably his ancestors were of obscure origin, and lived at Sutton-heath. And thus Sydenham, in Kent, may have been originally Sutton-ham, and Sittingbourne, Sutton-bourne.
Ashburnham. The earliest allusion to the arms of this family is in the Roll of Arms, before cited, of Knights Bannerets, among whom occurs "Sir John de Ascheboumham," who bore de goules a une fesse et six rouels de argent (30), which are used by his descendants at this day. As the possessions of this family in early times were limited (as appears by the Testa de Nevill, compiled temp. Henry III), to two knights' fees, it is not probable that any individuals of sufficient importance to bear coat-armour held under them.[1]
Fuller, in his 'Worthies,' speaks of the Ashbumhams as "a family of stupendous antiquity, a family wherein the eminence hath equalled the antiquity, having been barons, temp. Henry III; and Collins, in his 'Peerage,' says that Bertram de Ashburnham was constable of Dover Castle, under King Harold. These statements are unwarranted by evidence, but are probably true in great part, concerning the ancient Norman family of Crioll, which had great possessions in Kent and Sussex, at the time of the Conquest, if not before. Bertram, as a Christian name, was a common one in this family. Now, Robert de Crioll was the Doomsday tenant of Ashburnham: in the Visitations of Sussex, the first quartering given to the family, is that of Crioll; in the pedigree of the Ashburnhams this name however does not appear as a match, though the alliances of the family are given from a very early period. The probability therefore is, that the early
- ↑ "Know," said a tenant-in-chief to Henry II, " that I hold of you a very poor fee of one knight, nor have I enfeoffed any other therein, because it is hardly sufficient for me alone, and my father held it in the same manner."
