General Notes

From the book: "A Genealogy of the decendants of Thomas Olney, an orginal
proprietor of Providence  Rhode Island, who came from England in 1635." by James H.
Olney, 1889.....Thomas was born in Hertford, hertfordshire, England (part
of the Parish of St. Albins). Consult this book (available from the
Library of Congress); it gives a great deal of info on the Olneys in
England going back before William the Conquerer. It gives many spellings,
places, etc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CALL NUMBER: Microfilm 85/7394 (C)
AUTHOR: Olney, James H., 1835-
TITLE: A genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Olney [microform] : an
original proprietor of
Providence, R.I., who came from England in 1635 / by James H. Olney.
PUBLISHED: Providence : E.I. Freeman & Son, 1889.
DESouth CarolinaRIPTION: 293 p. : ill., facsim., port. ; 24 cm.
NOTE: Spine title: Olney memorial. Call number of original: CS71.O51 1889.
Master microform
held by: DLC.
NOTE: Microfilm. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress Photoduplication
Service, 1985. 1
microfilm reel ; 35 mm.
LCCN NUMBER: 85-162639

OLNEY. Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Olney, an original
proprietor
of Providence, R.I., who came from England in 1635, by J.H. Olney. 298p.
1889. $44.50 http://www.higginsonbooks.com/o.htm

This was transcribed from a very faded photocopy and there are undoubtedly
several mispellings and typographical errors.

Descendants of Thomas Olney
http://sites.netscape.net/marveljohn/olney.html




The history of the family of Olney in this country, thus far discovered
can be traced to him who came from England in the year of 1635.

From what has been gathered across the seas it appears that the name has a
Saxon origin. It was in existence very early in the ninth century, and
probably derived from the local surrounding of the place where the family
lived. By others,
it is claimed that the first bearing the name was Regerus, or Richard De
Olney, who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror in tho year lO66,
and after the conquest ef
England, with a number of others became permaanent occupants of the soil.

This name appears in the Doomsday Book, which describes the appointment of
land to the followers of the Conqueror. His Arms are described as follows,
vis:

Three piles in a base of gu.(red); on a canton sr.(silver),
a mullet sa.(black) crest out of a ducal coronet sr.(gold);
an eagle's head in flames of fire proper, natural colored,
in the mouth a sprig of vert. (green). Motto, "Silve Frebate Leon."

We leave it to some future antiquarian the labor of deciding to a
certainty the true origin, well satisfied that to be decended from the
sturdy of old England is honor enough, be it Saxen or Norman, or both.

In the old histories and official documents the name is spelled variously;
but the present form is one of the oldest. The following are some of those
found in this country and England: Olney, Olnes, Ollnes, Oleney, Onley,
Oney, Oligney, Oulnoy, Colney, Culney, Oneye; while in France are found
auldnay and Aulnay.

The prosecution of this work has occupied the leisure hours of its author
for a period of more than eight years. The author being James H. Olney:
born Fall River, Massachusetts., in Nov. 1835; married Cornelia A. Snow, Dec. 1,
1858. He lived in Providence,  Rhode Island. They had one child: Lizzie E. b. April
24, 1861. Engaged in wholesale coal trade. Published Olney Memorial 1889.

The orthography of the family name is in a variety of forms in the old
histories, official documents and pedigrees. I have found as many as ten
variations. The name of the same person, or the same place is differently
spelled by different authorities.

For example: Olney (the present form) in Buckinghamshire, is given in some
old boods as Oulney, Oldney and Olenaye. The island of Olney in the river
Severn, near Gloucoster, is not spelled Olney in the oldest books, but
Oleneay, and Oldney, and at the present day, the name has been corrupted
to Alney.

There is no doubt that the name of Onley, now borne by a prominent family
in Essex, is a corruption of the ancient Olney, for the Essex Onleys sholw
the Olney crest upon their Coat of Arms.

As to the origin and meaning of the name Olney, I find information that
must be accepted as satisfactory and conclusive. It is Anglo-Saxen, or old
English word, and existed therefore for a long period prior to the Norman
Conquest. The word :Olney" is compounded of the words -Oln- from Olgan or
Hologn, holly-- and oy-- water; in the Anglo-Saxen language. the meaning
of the compounded word is therefore: holly-water.

The Anglo-Saxon for Olney island in the Severn is given as "Olanize".
Camden says of the Anglo-Saxen: "This Olney caneag in Saxen (meaning
Olney-isle) ize standing for second of the two words has the same
significance as Olney; for Olen and Olean are the same, and age like oy
means in the Old English, water.

The word Olney, then, signifying holly water, it would be interesting to
inquire how it came to be applied to a locality. I venture to suggest that
a wet or swampy spot where the holly grew with unusual luxurience, might
obtain the name. As the ancient Olney near Glouster was a river island;
and where the holly or helm; as it was constued to, through the years;
tree grew freely and luxuriously; the connection between the name and the
idea will be observed. There are three places that bore the name of Olney
prior to the Norman Conquest in England.

1st. Olney Island, in the river Severn, half a mile from the town of
Gloucaster. It is mentioned in all the ancient histories as a spot
selected by the Saxen king, Edmust Ironsides, and the Danish king Canute,
about 1016 AD to decide by single combat the sovereignity of the real of
England. The duel, according to tradition, was of long duration, and
neither contestant being able to overcome the other, it was resolved
between them that they should divide the land. On the modern maps the
place is called Alney.

2nd. Olney in Warwickshire. It is on the old maps as a suburb or outpost
of the town of Coventry. An old Warwickshire history that the only
memorial of this place is a double moat which bears the name. Another
remarks, "Olney was formerly a village in the neighborhood of Coventry,
now depopulated." It existed supposedly before the Norman Conquest for in
the records previous to that time it was mentioned as "Olanize". From
there may have come the family of Olney from whom John Olney, Lord Mayor
in 1446, descended. This John Olney being the son of a John Olney of the
city of Coventry.

3rd. Olney, a market town in the north part of Buckinghamshire, on the
border of Northamtonshire. This place appears to have existed from the
earliest Saxon times. It has a present population of more than 2000, and
is noted for its lace. The poet Cowper resided there many years and his
descriptions of rural scenes were drawn from the neighborhood. About two
miles from Olney is the manor of Weston-Underwood. Here, in the reign of
Edward III, resided John Olney, founder of the church at Olney. His
grand-daughter married into the family of Throckmorton, and the manor
passed to them and is held by them.

At the time of the Conquest surnames were not in general use either among
the Saxon or Normans. There were many among the higher nobility even, who
possessed but Christian names. When the Conqueror portioned out the lands
among his followere, many of them assumed as family names, the names of
the estates of which they had become possessed.

It was as late as the 13th entury before the custom of taking surnames
became common.

It is proper to assume, therefore, that the first persons who bore the
name of Olney, obtained it from one of the three places so called, then
existing in England. Whether these persons were Norman or Saxon must
always remain undecided.

Roger De Olnie, whose name is inscribed in the Conqueror's Doomsday Book,
and an undertenant in Buckinghamshire, was probably a Norman -- for the
name Roger is French, rather than Teutonic. It may be asserted with
safety, that the early Olneys, whose names appear in the Chronicles of
England for the first few centuries after the Conquest, were not descended
from a common ancestor; still they were not a prolific family. They appear
to have resided outside of a group of adjacent counties, composed of:
Buckingham, Gloucoster, Northhampton, Warwick and Middlesex. The families
in existence from the time of the early records down to the present, could
not have been derived from more than half a score of founders, if as many.

Th following list of individuals bearing the name of Olney which have been
collected from the English coundy histories and family pedigrees in the
Aster Library, New York. It would seem that a connection between some of
the earlier and later Olneys can be very readily presumed, though the
actual links are wanting.

This list is made to the time of Charles I, from the Norman Conquest.

AD

1086 Roger De Olnie. His name occurs in the Doomsday for Buckinghamshire,
as an undertenant.

1240 Henricus De Olneye. Uncumbent of the church of St Nicholas, Eydon,
Northamptenshire.

1302 William De Olneye and Raf (Ralph) Olneye, named in documents relating
to the county of Buckinghamshire, in Rolls of Parliment, 30 Edward I.

1308-14 Sir John De Olneye. His name appears twice in "The Roll of Arms of
the Reign of Edward II (in the Cottonian Library) under the caption of
Buckinghamshire).

1313 John Olney. Sheriff of Leicestershire, 65th and 7th of Edward II.

1319 John De Olney. Member of Parliament from Leicestershire, 12th Edward
II. This probably the same as the preceeding Olney, the sheriff.

1325 Joh'es De Olney. This name appears in a "Catalogue of Knights and
Principal Persons of the County of Leicaster living the Latter End of the
Reign of King Edward II. Probably this Johanness of John is identical with
the sheriff and member of Parliament.

about 1345 John Olnie (as written as by Hollinshed) Joannes Olney (as
written by Bale and Lombard) a Charterhouse Monk born on the island of
Olney in the river of Sovern, and flourished in the reign of Edward III.
Literary student and teacher.

1346 Simon De Olney, probondary of the chapel or hermitage of St.
Nicholas, Grafton, Northhampton.

1364 Simon Olneye, probondary of the church of St. James; Parostis-Perry,
Northampton. This is the same as the above Simon.

1377 John De Olney. In the fiftieth year of the reign of Edward III, Giles
De St. John released to John Olney, citizen and merchant of London, all
his right to the Manor of Middleton-Chendint, Northampton.

1378 John De Olney, Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Bedford. His seat was
Weston-Unerwood, near Olney, Bucks. Founder of Weston Church,
Weston-Underwood. Died in 1395.

1393 John Olney of Buckinghamshire. Receiver General of all of William
Beauchamp, son of the Earl of Warwick, to John Olney. Receiver General of
all his lands in consideration of his good and faithful service, to hold
during life, which John, (then Lord of Weston-Underwood, in county Bucks)
was, in 2nd Henry IV, 1402 certified to hold half Knight's fee in this
place of the Earl of Warwick. It seems that the inheritance of it was
afterwards granted to the same John, for Margaret, the daughter and
heiress of Robert Olney, son of the said John, being wedded to Thomas
Throcmorton, brought it to that family.

1420-53 Robert Olney, son of the preceding Lord of Weston-Underwood, in
Bucks. He appears to have been a patron of the Church of St. Leonard,
Birdingbury, Warwickshire in 1443. He was sheriff of Buckinghamshire in
1453. In Burke's Peerage and Baronotage, he is termed "Sir Robert Olney,
Knight of Weston," in the article of the family of Throckmorton.

1434 Margeria Olney De Weston-Underwood, Bucks, daughter of the
preceeding, a patron of St. Leonards, Berdingby from 1434 to 1441,
Dugdale's History of Warwickshire. She married Thomas Throckmorton, and
through her the manor of Weston-Underwood passed into the family of
Throckmorton, which now possesses it.

1432-46 Sir John Olney. Sheriff of London in 1432, Lord Mayor 1446, (25th
Henry VI). Stowe's Survey of London says he was a mercer and was "Son of
John Olney of the City of Coventrie, Warwichshire." He was buried in St.
Michael's Church, Crooked Lane, London, and there was a monument to him.
The curch was burned in the great fire of 1666, and his memorial was
destroyed.

1448 Robert Olney owned the manor Gilsburgh in Northamptonshire in this
year. Bridge's Northampton, Vol. 1, page 537. He was sheriff of
Northamptonshire in 1459, and may be the same as the preceeding Robert.

1485-1509 John Olney, Couinty of Salop, born in the reign of King Henry
VII, if mentioned in the the pedigree of Olney of Catesby, given in
Baker's Northampton, Vol. 1, page 287, as the great-grandfather of Sir
Edward Olney, who died in 1638.

1509-1547 Sir William Olneye, Knight. The record of his burial at Chacombe
Priory, County of Northampton, appears in a list written by a herald in
the reign of Henry VIII. Collectanea Topographica, Vol. 2, page 389.

15-- Robert Oleney, Esquire, buried in the Charterhouse of London,
Recorded by Robert Aske, in his collection, Temp. Henry VIII. It is not
certain that these burials were made in the time of Henry VIII. The lists
were written then, but the burials may have taken place much earlier.

1534 John Oneley is mentioned in Nichols; Leicestershire, Vol. 2, page
316, as Vicar of the Church of St. Egelwin the martyr of Scalford.

1550 Thomas Olney, reign of King Edward VI. His daughter Maria, married
Robert, son of Sir Edward Goring, of Burton, Sussex. The said Robert was
one of the gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber. No other mention of
Thomas Olney.

1577-1578 Thomas Oldeney of Tackebroke. Olney alias Olney (verbatim).
These names appear in the Catalogue of Residents of the County of Warwick.
Being years the years of 1577-78; "also in list of Lords, Knights and
Gentlemen." Collectabea Typographica, Vol. 8, page 300.

1635 Thomas Olney, who came to America 1635 from St. Albans.

Note: In "Gleanings from English Record about New England families", by
James A. Emmeston and Henry F. Waters, published by the Essex Institute,
there is a record of a will, made in 1615, by Robert Longe of Leeton,
Bedford County, England; by which he gives to a relative, 5 1/2 acres of
land, purchased of Thomas Olney. This may have been the father of Thomas
Olney, who came to America in 1635. (JHO)

Thomas Olney, the ancestor of the Olneys in America, had his birthplace in
the city of Hertford, Hertfordshire, England; which city formed a part of
the Parish of St. Albans. The seat of one of the most ancient monasteries,
and long celebrated in English history as the center of spiritual
influence. Of his early life we know nothing. He received a permit to
migrate to New England, April 2, 1635. He came to Salem, Massachusetts., by the
ship Planter. He was appointed surveyer in January 1636, and granted forty
acres of land at Jeffrey Creek, now known as Manchester, near Salem. He
was made a free man the same year. He was early associated with those who
accepted the peculiar views of Roger Williams. With a number of others, he
was excluded from the Colong, March 12, 1638. Previous to this, however,
in company with Williams, he visited Narragansett Bay. when seeking some
place where they might live outside the jurisdiction of Massachusetts
Colony, and had decided upon the west side of the Seekenk River.
Accordingly, with eleven others, they formed a new settlement at the head
of the bay, which they called Providence; in grateful rememberance of
their deliverance from their enemies.

They thus became the "Original Thirteen Proprieters of Providence", having
purchased their rights from the Indians. In July 1639, he and his wife,
and their companions were excluded from the church in Salem, "because they
wholly refused to hear the church; denying it, and were rebaptized."

His prominence in the Colony is shown by the various duties he was called
to perform.

In 1638 he was chosen the first Treasurer.

In 1647 he was chosed commissioner to form a Town government.

In 1648, he was chosen assistant for Providence, and held the office
almost continuously until 1663.

In 1655, with Roger Williams and Thomas Harris, he was chosen a judge of
the Justices Court.

In 1656, he was chosen to treat with Massachusetts Bay about the Pawtuxet
lands.

In 1663, his name appears among the grantees of the Royal Charter of
Charles II.

In the same year he was chosen an assistant under the new Charter.

He was one of the founders of the First Baptist Church in Providence, and
at one time the acting pastor, or minister. He was leader in Schism in teh
church upon the question of "laying on teh hands", about 1652-54. He was
evidently a man of stern and decided opinions, who did not hesitate to
advance his views among his neighbors. Of him, in his occupation as
surveyor, it is said, "as he entered upon the surrounding with his field
book, chain and compass, and mystic words with the peculiar dignity of
official characters of that day, he may well have inspired the Indians
with profound awe, and led them to feel that no Indian would henceforth
dwell upon that part of their tribal property again."

His homestead was located on North Main St., a short distance south of the
State House, now known as Arsenal Lane, led through his land. The place of
his burial was in teh family ground at the rear of his dwelling. All that
remained of the earlier members of the family was probably removed to the
burial ground on Olney Street, from whence a second removal took place to
make room for the church now occupying the spot. He was the possessor of a
large real and personal estate and occupied one of the better houses in
teh Plantations.

(The remainder of the book outlines the descendents of Thomas Olney, with
a few more historical details about the early family members.)

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