PACE pedigree Founders of the English Branch updated Dec 5 2011 obtained from PACE-WEBBER Family Members in England

ITALY SICILY MALTA Roy Johnson mentions: It is my opinion that the Pace surname had more than one origin in England. The tracing to the Norman conquest comes from the House of Names, an outfit with a bad reputation, and that story is not substantiated, although the Norman origin could be true for one branch of Paces. The Normans were mostly in the east and center of England and the London area. The Paces of the Welsh border, I think, were probably of a different origin. Areas of NORMAN FRANCE having PACE sounding names: Pacy-sur-Eure - between Evreux and Paris St. Aquilin-de-Pacy - near Pacy-sur-Eure There's also a "Pacé" - near Alençon - and another just next to Rennes - in Brittany

The Pedigree mentions JOHN PACE of LEICESTERSHIRE is recorded as being the father of THOMAS and JOHN PACE JOHN Sr. was married to MARGARET COLBY daughter of WILLIAM COLBY and ALICE HOUGHTON COLBY and granddaughter and heiress of HUGH HOUGHTON de HOUGHTON JOHN Jr. was married to ALICE READE daughter of RICHARD READE

They had at least one son, THOMAS who was married to ELIZABETH SOUTHBOURN (or TOUCHBORNE) of Hampshire, and a daughter, ALICE, and possibly other children THOMAS entered the Cistercian monastery Merevale WARWICKSHIRE studied at the Cistercian college, St.Bernards, OXFORD. He was Abbot of Waverly in SURREY and consecrated 17 June 1509 Bishop of BANGOR Cathedral in north WALES

AS WAS the CISTERCIAN CUSTOM He took on a new name upon entering the clergy, "BISHOP SKEVINGTON" selecting what is suspected to be his birthplace "Skevington" which is a mile N/W pf WIGAN in Lancashire where my father and his siblings were born. This may be coincidence, I do know the writer of the Pedigree letter was from the Shropshire Pace line, living nearby to WIGAN in Lancashire. He died 13 Aug 1533 and is buried at BEAULIEU in Hampshire His heart, as was also the custom, was removed and taken to BANGOR Cathedral in north WALES

BEAULIEU ABBEY in Hampshire and PACE clerics

There are actually two men by the name of THOMAS PACE connected with BEAULIEU ABBEY - one - the Abbot of Beaulieu and Bishop of Bangor, whom we refer to as Thomas Skevington, to make our life easier! It was the Cistercian custom to name monks after their place of origin, in this case, Skeffington in Leicestershire. Another THOMAS PACE, possibly his nephew, was involved in Beaulieu affairs from the 1520's. The ruined abbey of Beaulieu is the main connection with THOMAS SKEVINGTON at Beaulieu today; although he is said to have been buried in the Church, no location has been found.

There is however, a small reminder in the Lower Drawing Room of Palace House (one the Great Gatehouse to the Abbey) - during rebuilding work in the 1870's, the present Lord Montagu's grandfather and his architect, Sir Arthur Blomfield wanted to reflect the religious origins of the site and building, and took the decision to include small stained glass shields in the windows. One of those chosen was Thomas Skevington's arms of the see of Bangor, seen to the right of the Beaulieu Abbey arms. From the archivist and educational officer at Beaulieu, with my sincere thanks - GTPace

Pace, Pass & Pascall
by Debbie Bayham, Paris, Ontario

It is possible that the two surnames "Pace" and "Pass" are related, but I think it is much further back than 1850. My grandfather lived in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire where he was born in 1893 before he came to Canada in 1923, but all his ancestors before him came from Derbyshire.

I have traced our family back to 1702 so far and I am still digging. According to the "Dictionary of English" surnames by P. H. Reany (Oxford Press) "Pass or Passe is English, and was first recorded in 1230 in the Pipe Rolls for Nottinghamshire. It is thought to have been derived from a pet form of the name Pascall, which in turn comes from the French name "Pascal". "Paschalis" is Latin for "pertaining to the Passover".

In this same book, "Pace" is also said to be English, and was first recorded in 1242 in Devonshire. Middle English shows it as "Pais" or "Pes(e)", Old French shows it as "Pais" and Latin shows it as "Pax" which means "peace, concord or amity". As Middle English it also appears as "Pasches", "Paisch, "Peice", "Peace" and Easter eggs are still called "Pace" eggs. This book also says that a later variation of "Pace" may also be "Pash". Variations of this include "Pashe", "Paish", "Pask", "Paske" and "Pasque". This variation was first recorded in 1253 in Oxfordshire. Middle English records this name first as "Pasche(s)", or "Paske(s)". Old French records the name as "Pasche" or "Pasques" and means "Passover" from the Hebrew word "pesakh" and translates as "a passing over", and was used as a personal name for one born at Passover. Most "English" names came from somewhere else originally.

There have been so many invaders/visitors to that little island over the centuries, so this gives a starting point in time. Since "Pass" seemed to be Jewish in origin, I contacted a Jewish etymologist online, and this is what he had to say "..."PASS", was probably anglicized and shortened from something else. Alexander Beider, in his "Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire" lists, i.e.; PASS, POSS, PAS, PAFS, PAZ, PACE, PASCAL, PASCHAL, PASCALL, PASTERNAK, PASQUALI, POSSMAN, PASOWITZ, PASOWSKI, PASMAN, and PASSMAN as variants of the same name, from the Yiddish word meaning "belt, girdle, strip, strap, or line", and frequently belonged to ethnic Germans who migrated to Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Belorus and Lithuania. Add the suffix "owitz" or "ski" to any of them in Poland and you have a couple of the Slavic equivalents. In his volume on the Kingdom of Poland at p. 339, he finds the same PAS surname plus PASOWSKI commonly in the districts of Konskie, Sandomierz, Jedrzejow, and Warsaw.

In the early 20th century, this surname was particularly concentrated around Dvinsk Latvia. (Page 443.) In the magazine AVOTAYNU, he advertizes that for a small sum of money, he will send the incidence of surnames from the voting lists to the requester, but only for certain districts, and I do not recall if these are the districts. So you might be able to discover the given names of the PAS and PASS folks in, say, 1907, that way. Men over 21 only, of course.

Some PASS lines are related to the Germans who were imported in the late 1600 and early 1700s, rather than the Irish. One of the great problems with genealogy is that nothing stays where you think it should. There are Jews with non-Jewish names, and Christians with Jewish names. The fact is that relatively few names were originally one or the other, and those that were have managed to get mixed up by conversions and intermarriages. Given names are an even less reliable guide, as many fundamentalist Protestants named their children for Old Testament characters. However, my recollection is that Jews were not officially allowed to reside in England from 1290 to 1650, Cromwell having changed the rules. So I would not think that there would be very many of them there by 1702, and I would suspect that most of them came from Spain to France, then crossed the channel with the Huguenots when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which I believe was in the 1670s. Some who fled France at that time when to Holland, then came to England with William and Mary in 1688 or just after."

Anyway, the year (1230) that "Pass" first appears in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire (see above) is 60 years prior to the date that the Jews were "officially" allowed to reside in England (1290) by Cromwell. "Pace" appears twelve years after this date and "Pash" twenty-three years after it. We all know that people immigrate places "unofficially", and at that time I doubt there were records kept of who came into the country from abroad. A huge leap of logic then suggests (I'm assuming here, okay????) that it is possible that the name was originally Jewish and that some of those living "unofficially" in England with this name converted to Christianity. Sixty years could easily comprise at least three generations (and twenty-three would allow at least one, while twelve is a much slimmer margin) and perhaps these were therefore allowed to remain in England while their Jewish cousins were not. This also might account for the further spread of (at least) the surname Pass to other countries where they were forced to go. I know this is not a very "scientific" method of discovery, but it does fit with the history of the time and is a logical possibility of why this surname suddenly appears in England at this time.

Interestingly enough, the surname "de Pass" (which is probably French Huguenot in origin) also has survived in England. One prominent "de Pass" in England is Commander Robert de Pass (of the Royal Navy), whose wife Phillipa is an extra lady of the bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II. As an added point of interest, she is simply listed as Mrs. Pass in official records. I wonder why. Their names appears in Diana's autobiography as written by Andrew Morton. In this book, their son Philip was said to have been prominent in the match-making between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. I have done wild-card searches for e-mail addresses on the surname Pass in Yahoo and have found several all over the world. Perhaps you might find that the same thing would be possible with the surname Pace. It is all very interesting. I hope this all has been of some help Gord.

Happy Ancestor hunting
Debbie Bayham, Pass researcher, Ontario, Canada

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From the site of
Lord MONTAGU of BEAULIEU, Hampshire, UK

Click on the BEAULIEU box to see informative web site The ABBEY & MOTOR MUSEUM near SOUTHAMPTON in southern England

"The 16th century was a time of dramatic change at Beaulieu. It saw the end of the monastic way of life, the distribution of the Abbey's main buildings and the estate's acquisition by a new owner. During the 1530's, Henry VIII began the process by which the Catholic Church in England, owing allegiance to the Pope in Rome, was dismantled and became 'the Church in England' owing allegiance to the monarch. Part of the process is popularly termed 'the Dissolution of the Monasteries'."

Lord Montagu's site at Beaulieu, Hampshire "In the heart of the New Forest" His family have lived there since 1538, just five years after Bishop THOMAS PACE was buried there

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From a fellow Staffordshire researcher, living in Hampshire: "I seem to remember an Archbishop Skevington from my history books and he very easily could be buried at Beaulieu as the Montague family home is Beaulieu Abbey which was a Cistercian Abbey. I expect there'll be a website for it somewhere. It's open to the public and along with Lord Montague, it houses an historic car collection." - Alasdair Malpass of Hampshire You mention the New Forest. My wife's family has lived there, getting on for 300 years, on the same Estate. They own a place called Avon Tyrell which was owned by Sir Walter Tyrell of William Rufus fame. When escaping he changed horses and got one of his servants to ride his horse back the way he had come, hence the story of him riding with horse's shoes reversed. Tyrell crossed the River Avon where my father-in-law's house now stands. below from - WILLIAM RUFUS, the red The second surviving son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, was born in about 1056. When he was a young man he obtained the name Rufus because of his ruddy complexion. The next day he went into the forest... He was attended by a few persons... Walter Tirel remained with him, while the others, were on the chase. The sun was now declining, when the king, drawing his bow and letting fly an arrow, slightly wounded a stag which passed before him... The stag was still running... The king, followed it a long time with his eyes, holding up his hand to keep off the power of the sun's rays. At this instant Walter decided to kill another stag. Oh, gracious God! the arrow pierced the king's breast. Walter immediately ran up, but as he found him senseless, he leapt upon his horse, and escaped with the utmost speed. Indeed there were none to pursue him: some helped his flight; others felt sorry for him. The king's body was placed on a cart and conveyed to the cathedral at Winchester... blood dripped from the body all the way. Here he was buried within the tower. The next year, the tower fell down. William Rufus died in 1100... aged forty years. He was a man much pitied by the clergy... he had a soul which they could not save... He was loved by his soldiers but hated by the people because he caused them to be plundered. Learn more about WILLIAM the CONQUERER and his former ally, HAROLD of WESSEX and why they went to war in 1066 at Hastings. Also, in Hampshire there were two PACE brothers, RICHARD and JOHN who are speculated to have had a family connection to the above Paces. RICHARD was born in Hampshire about 1483. He was an educator under THOMAS LANGTON, Bishop of Winchester. He studied at Queens College, Oxford. He was secretary to Cardinal WOOLSEY in 1515, and Secretary of State, 1516. He was Vicar of St. Dunstan's Stepney in 1519, and Vicar of Bangor, 1522-27. GTP-could the author of this statement be confusing Bishop Skevington - THOMAS PACE - here? RICHARD is most famous for having served HENRY VIII as ambassador in Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy. He died in 1536 and is buried next to Sir HENRY COLET in St. Dunstan's Stepney. As a high official in the Church he wrote an opinion or took a stand in favour of HENRY VIII divorcing CATHERINE of ARAGON. He was very artistic and was a music connisseur, however, it is thought he was not physically strong. It is said that he helped write the King James version of the Bible, working primarily on the Book of Psalms. Centerbury Church in England contains a plaque showing his position in the Church.

DEAN RICHARD PACE - A TUDOR DIPLOMATIST.

.... A book by JERVIS WEGG - Methuen & Co., Ltd. London.

• RICHARD's brother, JOHN
  was appointed auctioneer of Lynn, Norfolk, in 1522
  and was afterwards settled in London.
• JOHN's son, JOHN was born in 1523
  • Educated at Eaton, became a scholar of King's College, Cambridge, 1539.
  • He became a jester in the Duke of Norfolk's household,
  • Later became court jester to Queen Elizabeth I.
  • He died in 1590

The name was written ten different ways

1. PACEY by Thomas Cromwell - GO TO - Pacey Query page, and return
2. PACY by John Fox
3. PACIF by Sir Richard Wingfield
4. PASSE by one of Wolsey's instructions and by a Spanish ambassador
5. PAXE by Wolsey when he knew little of him
6. PACEE in the French translation of a sermon printed in Paris soon after Richard had delivered it
7. Richard was PASFO to Margaret of Austria
8. the Venetians usually called him PANZEO
9. ERASMUS latinized his name into PACOEUS
10. but his own translation was PACEUS

So you see,
the name of PACE
has come a long way through the years

PACE in ITALY Map of Italy showing concentration of PACES Click here Bruno Pace ti ha spedito la mappa del cognome PACE in Italia.

.... Also in Italy
- PACE is a popular name, pronounced differently in Italian - "Pachay"
If your interests are PACES of Italy or Malta
- CLICK on logo below

IN ENGLAND The name likely spread from southern counties like HAMPSHIRE

• With busy seaports on the English Channel,
  SOUTHAMPTON, GOSPORT, PORTSMOUTH and spread north
  through WARWICKSHIRE, SHROPSHIRE, etc.
• click on - Maps - area of UK
• Early English, but French sounding names, occured from French being the official language of English aristocracy for a few hundred years after the NORMAN invasion
• FRENCH and LATIN were still used for OFFICIAL PURPOSES - much later.

• Even today,
  when the MONARCH's (Queen's) formal assent to a Bill that has gone through Parliament, is given by a Commission in the House of Lords, it is with the words

"Le Roi Le Veult", or 'The MONARCH wishes (or approves) it'.
This is a survival of NORMAN FRENCH.

There are many FRENCH word spellings in our ENGLISH language
examples are: centre, parlour, neighbour.

• We study CHAUCER (about 1340-1400) in school,
  he was probably the first good writer to use the English language.

• SHAKESPEARE introduced
  an enormous number of new words into the English language.
  When there wasn't a word for his purpose, he 'borrowed' one from another language.
  The final twist is, that many of our old words and expressions
  went to America and have come back as Americanisms.

WARWICKSHIRE interesting people and notable facts WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - for one JOHN HARVARD - another .....from a PACE ROGERS HARVARD family ancestry JOSEPH PACE 1746-1818 .....grandfather of JOSEPH ARCH JOSEPH ARCH 1826-1919 of Barford .....Methodist Preacher, political orator, founder of National Ag.Lab Union, Member of Parliament EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER 1805-1883 .....Mayor of Stratford 1851, brewer & maltster, formation-Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, 1881 Co. Magistrate

• JOHN HARVARD - founder of Harvard University
  descended from PACE de SHOTTERY, Warwickshire, now STRATFORD-on-AVON, " Shakespeare's county " ... Pace de Shottery. MARGARET PACE and THOMAS ROGERS married 31 Jan 1562 ... ROBERTUS HARVARD and KATHERINE ROGERS (born 25 Nov 1584) JOHN HARVARD (founded Harvard university in 1638)

  Margareta PACE Spouse: Thomas ROGERS Marriage: 31 Jan 1562 Holy Trinity, Stratford Katherine ROGERS b 25 Nov 1584 + Robertus HARVARD John HARVARD

  Katherine ROGERS, mother of John HARVARD, benefactor of the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, spent her childhood years in Stratford-upon-Avon. Today HARVARD HOUSE is unique in its beauty, with an elaborate timber exterior.

• NEWBOLD PACEY, - a nearby village with a NORMAN church,
  about five miles east of STRATFORD-on-AVON, took it's name from early inhabitants, the PACEY (PACE) family

• The 1881 census of Warwickshire,
  shows a PACE family, at SHOTTERY - now part of STRATFORD-on-AVON, famous Shakesperian center.

  1881 - Old Stratford, Warwick, England, Dwelling: Birmingham Rd

  • Thomas PACE M 37 M Stratford Shottery, Warwick, Rel: Head Occ: Drayman
    + Sarah J. PACE M 43 F Birmingham, Warwick, Rel: Wife
    • Fanny PACE 11 F Stratford On Avon, Warwick, Rel: Daur Occ: Scholar
    • William PACE 10 M Stratford On Avon, Warwick, Rel: Son Occ: Scholar

    James BENNETT M 40 M Stow-on-the Wold Rel: Lodger Occ: Working Maltster

    BENNETT - maltster, a brewer of beer...
    It happens, my maternal great grandmother, Elizabeth BENNETT, nee FLOWERS, of nearby Leamington, may have been of the brewery family of FLOWERS...

• Another Warwickshire PACE letter is on my other page. GO TO - see that, and return here.

• In WARWICKSHIRE
  ...my family is connected to ARCH, BENNETT, FLOWERS . I don't know about a connection to Paces here, mine were from Staffordshire and Shropshire, perhaps part of a Pace migration north, involving Warwickshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire. More research is needed to determine that. I'm open for comment.

• EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER (1805-1883)
  
  • Went to the USA when young.
  • He later returned to the UK and founded the FLOWER BREWERY at Stratford.
  • He married CELINA GREAVES (1804 - 1884) on 29th May, 1827 at BARFORD.
  • Celina's parents were JOHN GREAVES (born 1774 in Birmingham) and MARY WHITEHEAD (born 1779 in Barford)

• EDWARD was the son of RICHARD FLOWER (1760-1829)
  
  • RICHARD moved to ILLINOIS, USA and died in ALBION, Illinois).
  • RICHARD was born in London and was a brewer, banker and sheep breeder
    (Don't know in what order or in which country).
  • RICHARD married ELIZABETH FORDHAM (1764-1846) in 1785/86 in Hertford.

• EDWARD FORDHAM FLOWER:
  
  • Occupation: 1851 Mayor of Stratford, brewer & maltster,
  • 1881 Co. Magistrate
  • ... several Flower people were directors of
    The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
    the Trust has a library and website....CLICK HERE to have a look

• JOSEPH ARCH
  • - also from nearby BARFORD
    
  • Founder of the Agricultural Workers' Union and later,
  • a member of parliament.
  • BARFORD is a village 3mi north of NEWBOLD PACEY.
  • Edward Fordham FLOWER was married at BARFORD.

• About JOSEPH ARCH
  • Possible relation, although not confirmed, his mother was a Pace.
  • Webmaster has ARCH in family.
  • some description of the area
    NEWBOLD PACEY is situated between the village of BARFORD,
    birthplace of Joseph Arch and WELLESBOURNE MOUNTFORD, described below, where ARCH delivered his famous speeches on reforms to the agricultural labourers situation of the day.

  Click here - see PACE & ARCH families of BARFORD
  and return here

• PETER de MONTEFORT
  In the 14th century PETER gave Wellesbourne Mountford the second part of it's name. The two villages, Wellesbourne Mountford and Wellesbourne Hastings are divided by the Wellesbourne Brook, and were quite seperate until the past hundred years or so. The exception is, that there is only one church.

• Parts of Wellesbourne Mountford
  are as an English village should be, centered around the Stags Head Inn, is Chestnut Square where the village stocks used to be. And perhaps, most importantly, this is where, in 1872, Joseph Arch made his speech to the farm workers and formed the agricultural workers union.

  On each side is a road leading off the new main road. One is Church Walk leading down to the river, this is where some of the oldest houses are. On the other side is Chapel Street which was the old centre with many shops which have since been converted to homes.

• Old wartime airfield of RAF Wellesbourne Mountford, nearby, which trained many Canadian aircrew during the Second World War. Also, if it is of interest to you there is an F. Wells from WW2 on the Hockley Heath War Memorial not far from Stratford.
  ....Simon of Wellesbourne, Warks, England

• Peter de Monteforte was descended
  I imagine from Simon de Montfort who led a rebellion of the barons in 1258 against Henry III's misrule. He became the head of the government and in 1265 summoned the first parliament in which towns were represented. He was therefore an early democrat. Sadly he was killed at Evesham soon afterwards. A number of hotels, pubs, etc. around there are named after him.
• About labour movement between the Warwick area and the Earl of Warwick's land in Somerset in early 19th C.

• Recommended for background reading:

  A book called "The Farthest Promised Land" by Rollo Arnold.
  Now out of print, but available in large libraries or by library interloan.

  It's about the Agricultural Labourers' Union, in the last century,
  also deals with JOSEPH ARCH of Warwickshire who was supported by the Countess of Warwick.

  The Union promoted emigration from the Midlands and West of England to "the colonies" as a way of alleviating the ag. labs' [agricultural labourers] distress.

Subject: Re: PACE of MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND
....Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 - From: "Geraldine Pace" pacefaml@gvi.net....To: "Gord Pace" gordpace@eagle.ca

We have been doing a lot of research at the archives in Topeka, Ks. and at Independence, Mo. We have found about the same info. that you sent to us. Thanks so much. We did find another RICHARD PACE who was born 1483 - 1536...Also refered to above...He studied in Italy eight to ten years and was made secretary to CHRISTOPHER BAINBRIDGE. The year 1519 saw Richard at the peak of his prosperity. He was in favor with the King, the Cardinal, he was rich, successful, and a well in health as ever he was to be. The year 1527 is an end-point in the story of Richard's active life. Their was a young man by the name of THOMAS PACE was sent to care for RICHARD during his illness. It is almost certain the young man was kin to him. RICHARD died 28 June 1536 and is buried in the church of ST. DUNSTAN, STEPNEY, near the great altar. at the south side of the chancel. Found this info. in a book at the library. Ref. JERVIS WEGG - RICHARD PACE a TUDOR Diplomatist - Methuen & Co., Ltd. London. We have not found any more on this RICHARD PACE to see if there is a family connection or not. At this time we don't have any more info on ISABELLE SMYTHE and RICHARD

Geri and Dwain Pace....

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Other Paces in Warwickshire:

• PACE, Thomas wed Mary CLARKE
  27 Feb 1662Saint Michael, Coventry, Warwick
• HOLDINGS, John wed Jane PACE
  8 Jan 1664 Saint Michael, Coventry, Warwick
• PACE, Samuel wed Elizabeth LUKEMAN
  17 Jun 1736 Holy Trinity, Coventry
• PACE, Thomas wed Mary COLEMAN
  28 Dec 1744 Tredington, Warwick
• PACE, William head M 71 M Ag Lab born Barford,War
  Elizabeth PACE wife M 66 F Laundress Kineton,War
  Address: Castle End, Kenilworth Warwickshire - from 1851 census

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' Christmas is coming , the geese are getting fat,
please put a penny in the old mans hat
If you havent got a penny then a ha'penny will do.
If you havent got a ha'penny then God bless you. '

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• History of the United Kingdom dozens of interesting links back to PRE - MEDIEVAL era - up to PRESENT DAY

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