Fettiplace

Fettiplace is an English family name of Norman descent, with at least 800 years of history. They were landed gentry, chiefly in the counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Origin

Fettiplace is probably from old French "faites place" for 'make room', the shout given by the ushers/bodyguards/protectors of the French Kings and nobility. The name Fettiplace is now largely modernized within the direct descendants as Fetterplace and known as Phetteplaces in the United States

English family

They are said to have first arrived in England with William the Conqueror. The first notable recorded family member was Adam Fettiplace who was Mayor of Oxford for eleven terms from 1245 until 1268. His family's first estate was North Denchworth in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). Thomas Fettiplace of East Shefford in Berkshire married Beatrix, widow of Gilbert, Earl Talbot; she was illegitimately descended from the Royal House of Portugal. Employment by the Kings and Queens of England continued with the Fettiplaces for many hundreds of years with records show the knighting of family members during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. During the latter's reign, Sir Thomas Fettiplace of Compton Beauchamp in Berkshire accompanied the King to the Field of the Cloth of Gold to meet the French King, Francis I in 1520. Another Fettiplace accompanied the entourage that escorted Anne of Cleves to England. Records also show Elizabeth I awarding the family for service. Most but not all family members supported Charles I in the Civil Wars and suffered as a result. The six family tombs at Swinbrook church in Oxfordshire, with two sets of effigies ranged on shelves above each other, are fine examples of English Renaissance and Baroque funerary art. The main landed English branches of the family died out in the early 18th century, but a small number from younger branches remained and do so to this day. The English Fettiplaces have spread over England, the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

US family

The US 'Phetteplace' spelling is a result of a mistake dating from Phillip Fettiplace arriving on Rhode Island (Massachusetts) in the 17th century). However, the original line actually arrived in 1607, some 50 years earlier, and helped found Jamestown. However, as adventurers in the employ of John Smith, they returned with him when he was injured in 1609. The current American Phetteplaces therefore are not directly related to the Jamestown brothers, although they do have common ancestors. Two direct descendants of the Jamestown Brothers Fettiplace (now Fetterplace) do live in the United States.

External links

* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/fettiplace_family.html Royal Berkshire History: The Fettiplace Family]