Flemings in the Fens

Aveling

References:  Aveling, as a Cambridgeshire Fens Stranger name dating from ca. 1670, is included in a list prepared by a former curator of the Thorney Museum (please visit http://www.thorney-museum.co.uk/family-list.htm).  Various other Stranger-related documents previously cited (see sources given in this Section) give the following variants in Eastern England: Avelin, Aveline, Avelyn.

The IGI files at FamilySearch.org suggest these and possibly other variants occurred at other locations in England since long before the 17th C.  For example, there is reference to Aveling christenings at Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 1562 and 1564. Another website (below) mentions d’Avelin wool merchants in Norfolk in the 13th C.  The variants Avelin and  Aveline are known at various locations in France, with some concentration seemingly around Paris (possibly for reasons of employment).

Unfortunately, none of the spelling variants found in the Fens Stranger literature is given in Debrabandere’s (1993) dictionary of names for Belgium and Northern France.

Origin/Meaning:  A place name; the village of Avelin is south of Rijsel (now Lille) in old Walloon Flanders (now French Flanders).  Meaning uncertain, but the name possibly comes from the French word ‘aveline’ (= filbert in English).

Distribution:  Variants of this surname have fairly broad distribution in Europe, Australia and North America.  The Avelin/Aveline spelling variants can be found in the Pas-de-Calais and Nord Departements (French Flanders) of France at present.  However, special studies are needed to determine historical occurrence along the Flemish-French border region to (1) confirm occurrence in 15th – 17th C Flanders (and also in Northern France and Wallonia), and (2) for verification of the French/Flemish connection to the fenlands of Eastern England especially.

Some Family History:  Girard d'Avelin was a member of the court of William the Conqueror (and his wife, Mathilde of Flanders).  Some recent excavation work shows the community of Avelin to have roots in the early middle ages. 

A scan of the IGI files suggests that a strong location for
Aveling in the Fens of Eastern England was the town of Whittlesey (in Cambridgeshire), just a few miles east of Peterborough.  The name can still be found in this area today.

There is also a comprehensive “Aveling Family of Whittlesey” posted at:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/a/v/e/Arthur-John-Aveling.Victoria/.  This line stems from three Flemish (d’Avelin) brothers who immigrated to England in the 13th C.  Accordingly, occurrence of Aveling in Eastern England precedes the arrival of the French- and Dutch-speaking land drainers and farmers at the Isle of Axholme in 1626, and at the Bedford Estate at Thorney a few years later.  This immigration sequence indicates the arrival of the name in England on more than one occasion, and at more than one location, perhaps beginning during the times of  Edward I (1239-1307) and Edward III (1312-1377) and extending to the commencement of agricultural enterprises in the 17th C Fens. 

During this period of the Edwards, the monarchy was short of cash, and Flanders was an important destination for shipments of English wool.  The English Kings (especially Edward III) encouraged Flemish craftsmen and merchants to immigrate and help build up the English textile industry (as well as his personal income via taxation of exports).  Norwich, Colchester, and London, for example, became weaving centers where skilled foreigners from the Flemish-French border region of today led in the establishment of the now-famous English textile industry.  Likewise, the early Stuart kings invited skilled land drainers and farmers from Flanders, then a significant part of the Southern Netherlands, to help turn the Fens into prime farmland (and to help fill their entrepreneurial royal pockets) beginning ca. 1626. 

There is a “Concise Version of the Aveling Family Tree” at the Aveling website above. The first proven descent of this family in England is from Geoffrey Avelin who died at Whittlesey in 1478.  Additional  information about this surname can be found at FamilyHistory.com, RootsWeb.com, and other websites.