Pratt Family Website

Pratt Family Website

Origin of The Pratt Name

The name of Pratt is variously spelled in more ancient writings, thus, Pratt, Prat, Prattie, Pradt, Pread, Prate, also, Praer, Prayers. It is a sir-name, derived, like many of the Norman and Saxon names, from a locality; from the Latin, Pratum, a meadow; Spanish and Portugese,Prado; French, pre, preux,prairie.

The clerks, by whom the "Liber censualis" (DomesDay Book), and other records and enrollments of the 11th & 12th centuries were written, translated words and names either in Latin or French, or retained them in Saxon, at their pleasure.[2] Hence, of those occupying meadow lands, some would be entered by the reigistrars, DePrato, or Pratensis; others as Du Pre; while others still, would be called in the language of the conquered people, Maedes, Maed, or Mead.

From these topical adjuncts to a given name, a large class of English patronymics has arisen. Thus Pratt, Durpe' and Mead, also Meadows, have a common, and probably too, a synchronous origin. Names of families, which among other European nations have precisely the same signification with this, are, Italian, Prato; Spanish, Prados; French, Dupres; German, Weise, Matt, Mattes; Danish, Eneng, (En-eng). The English names, Praer and Prayers, seem to have come through the Latinized French form, Prairie, to-wit, DePraeriis.

With regard to the "home" of the English Pratts, as they were anciently, so are they, at this day, chiefly seated in the eastern and southern parts of England, in the contiguous counties of Leicester, Huntington, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Devon, Lincoln and Hertford.

The name of Pratt appears as the designation of several persons in France, and the south of Europe, paticularly of one possessing the barony of Pratella, near Rouen, in Normandy, whose lord, in 1066, is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, as accompanying William The Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings. The clerks indifferently transcribed names in Latin or Norman French, and as this list is in the latter, we find it "le Sire de Preaux."

In 1066, Le Sire De Preaux accompanied Duke Robert Courte Hare, of Normandy, to the 1st Crusade. With him went his kinsman, William de Preaux, who had for arms "Gules, an Eagle, or a baton, barry, argent and anzure." John de Preaux was also with Duke Robert, but his shield bore "Argent, a lion rampant, Gules a chief." The use of devices upon a shield or coat armor, could hardly have become hereditary at the time, so that issue can be obtained from the arms of individuals at this early period. The Sire de Preaux and these knights of his family must have been of considerable importance at this time, as their names are often repeated in charters and other public records, and they continued to occupy the estate from which their family name, for a succession of generations.

The seigneurs of Preux have been great and powerful persons in France. One of them was killed at the head of his household, at the Battle of Agincourt. Numbers of the family have titles and large estates in France, still attest the position of the descendants of these barons. But it is unnecessary to pursue these branches of the name, our purpose being with those who have preserved, in later times, the Latin form, and we return to the English line and its connections.

In 1173, Hamelin de Pratellis and Mathew de Pratellis, are found with the party of the Earl of Chester and Ralph de Fouguers, who joined with Louis of France, in the revolt of Normandy, against Henry II, in which the king's sons are all engaged against their father. Henry, however, speedily beseiged the Normans and French, in the town of Dol, where the two knights above mentioned, with many others, were made prisoners.[3]

The name of Pratt occurs among the earliest of English surnames, and the family, in many of its branches, held stations of influence and power in the British empire. The earliest notice of Pratts in England, is prior to the year 1200 of the christian era, and shows that they, probably, came to England from Normandy. The manor of Patrikborne, (Merton & Petham Hundred) was held by Margerie de Bornes, who carried it, in marriage, to John de Pratellis, or de Pratis, as he was sometimes written, who soon after the year 1200, gave it to his newly erected priory of Beaulieu or de Bello-loco, in Normandy.

Four brothers, John, William, Engelraw and Peter de Pratellis, figured largely in the reigns of Richard and John. They were all living A.D. 1201, as they witness the settlement of Robert, Earl of Mallent, at Peter's marriage.

John de Pratellis was a favorite minister of Richard Coeur de Lion. In 1193, we find him associated with William, Bishop of Ely, and Chancellor William de Roehes and William Bruyere, as the English commissioners to make peace with Philip Augustus, concluded at Mayence, on the eighth day of the Ides of July. He and his brother Peter de Pratellis are witnesses to a charter granted at Rodley, in 1199, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert de Sens, William de Hunas, Richard de Harcourt, and others.

From his wife, Margerie de Bornes, he received the manor of Patrickborne in Kent, which he gave, soon after then year 1200, as an alien priory, to the then newly elected Abbey of Beaulier, in Normandy. In various places the records show his possessions in Northamton, Berkshire and Oxford. The estate in Berkshire was given to the Abbey above mentioned, and his other lands in England were confiscated, in consequence of the rebellion in Normandy in the sixth year of King John, and its separation from the English Crown.

In 1911, William de Pratellis, brother of the preceding, accompanied King Richard to the Holy Land, and became of great service to the king, when he was reduced to extremity, as told by the quaint chronicler, Vinisauf: "About this time King Richard went out hawking with a small escort, and intending, if he saw any small body of Turks, to fall upon them. Fatigued with his ride he fell asleep, and a body of Turks rushed suddenly upon him to make him prisoner. The king awakened at the noise, had hardly time to mount his bay Cyprian horse, and his attendants were still getting on their horses also, when the Turks came upon them, and tried to take him; but the king drawing his sword, rushed upon them, and they, pretending flight, drew him after them to a place where there was another body of Turks in ambush. They started up with speed and surrounded the king to make him prisoner. The king defended himself bravely, and the enemy drew back, though he would still have been captured if the Turks had known who he was. But in the midst of the conflict, one of the king's companions, William de Pratellis, (William Pratt) called out in Saracenic language that he was the "Melecle," i.e. the King; and the Turks believing what he said, led him off captive to their own army. At the news of this action our army was alarmed at the ambush. But in the midst of the conflict, some of the soldiers, seizing their arms, came at full gallop to find the king, and when they met him returning safe, he faced about and with them pursued the Turks, who had carried off William de Pratellis, thinking they had gotten the king. They could not, however, overtake the fugitives, and King Richard, rescued by the divine hand, for greater things, returned to the camp, to the great joy of his soldiers, who thanked God for his preservation, but grieved for William de Pratellis, who loyally redeemed the King at the price of his own liberty." Of course, King Richard could not leave the Holy Land without ransoming the gallant friend who had saved his life at such a cost. But he was not released until the following year, when at the truce between Richard and Saladin, he was exchanged for ten emirs, a ransom sufficiently high, showing somewhat the esteem in which he was held by his knightly brethren. He was knighted for his valor.

We find him first A.D. 1189, as a witness to a grant of land to the Earl of Norfolk, and again in a charter of privileges to the Jews, in the first year of Richard I. He married the widow of Reginald de Courtenay, as appears by the record of the fine paid to the King in the year 1200, the second of John I. His name occurs very frequently in the charter and documents of John's reign, and this one given, connects him with Rouen, near which the family possessed estates. "The Mayor of Rouen is ordered to cause William de Pratellis to have the vacant place between the Viscount of Rouen and the Palace of the City of Rouen, upon the banks of the Seine; witness ourself at Rouen, on the 7th day of March, 1202." There are grants of land in Normandy, in the records and payment of fines for charges made during the reign of John. In the list of lands in England, seized by King John, A.D. 1205, Herrington, in county Somerset, is set down to William de Pratellis.

In the Pell records, of the 10th year of the reign of Henry III, A.D. 1226, is the following treasury order, as translated: "Henry, by the Grace of God, &c. Payment of our treasury, &c. to William de Pratellis, 10, which we owed him at Easter, in the 10th year of our reign, for the 20 yearly he receives at our exchequer, for the town of Aulton. Witness ourself at Westminster, the 8th day of May, in thew same year."

Peter de Pratellis, another distinguished crusader, in the same war, also wiyth his brother, William, appears first at the seige of Acre. From the adjudgement to him of his claim to the standard, as against Richard Trusebut, it seems that he was the hereditary standard-bearer. He was sent with the Bishop of Salisbury and Earl Robert to the Marquis of Montterrat, on an occasion of much importance, and particularly distinguished himself at Ramleh, where the Earl of Leicester defeated a vastly superior force of the infidels. The chronicler thus tells us of this presence at Jaffa, in 1192.

[1] "The Pratt Family" by Rev. F.W. Chapman, A.M. (1864) Pages 13-30.

[2] Parliamentary Writs: Vol. I, Folio #409.

[3] Horeden: Vol. I, Page 372.

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	Pratt Family Website A Puritan Man Origin of The Pratt Name Introduction[1] The name of Pratt is variously spelled in more ancient writings, thus, Pratt, Prat, Prattie, Pradt, Pread, Prate, also, Praer, Prayers. It is a sir-name, derived, like many of the Norman and Saxon names, from a locality; from the Latin, Pratum, a meadow; Spanish and Portugese,Prado; French, pre, preux,prairie. The clerks, by whom the "Liber censualis" (DomesDay Book), and other records and enrollments of the 11th & 12th centuries were written, translated words and names either in Latin or French, or retained them in Saxon, at their pleasure.[2] Hence, of those occupying meadow lands, some would be entered by the reigistrars, DePrato, or Pratensis; others as Du Pre; while others still, would be called in the language of the conquered people, Maedes, Maed, or Mead. From these topical adjuncts to a given name, a large class of English patronymics has arisen. Thus Pratt, Durpe' and Mead, also Meadows, have a common, and probably too, a synchronous origin. Names of families, which among other European nations have precisely the same signification with this, are, Italian, Prato; Spanish, Prados; French, Dupres; German, Weise, Matt, Mattes; Danish, Eneng, (En-eng). The English names, Praer and Prayers, seem to have come through the Latinized French form, Prairie, to-wit, DePraeriis. With regard to the "home" of the English Pratts, as they were anciently, so are they, at this day, chiefly seated in the eastern and southern parts of England, in the contiguous counties of Leicester, Huntington, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Devon, Lincoln and Hertford. The name of Pratt appears as the designation of several persons in France, and the south of Europe, paticularly of one possessing the barony of Pratella, near Rouen, in Normandy, whose lord, in 1066, is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, as accompanying William The Conqueror, at the Battle of Hastings. The clerks indifferently transcribed names in Latin or Norman French, and as this list is in the latter, we find it "le Sire de Preaux." In 1066, Le Sire De Preaux accompanied Duke Robert Courte Hare, of Normandy, to the 1st Crusade. With him went his kinsman, William de Preaux, who had for arms "Gules, an Eagle, or a baton, barry, argent and anzure." John de Preaux was also with Duke Robert, but his shield bore "Argent, a lion rampant, Gules a chief." The use of devices upon a shield or coat armor, could hardly have become hereditary at the time, so that issue can be obtained from the arms of individuals at this early period. The Sire de Preaux and these knights of his family must have been of considerable importance at this time, as their names are often repeated in charters and other public records, and they continued to occupy the estate from which their family name, for a succession of generations. The seigneurs of Preux have been great and powerful persons in France. One of them was killed at the head of his household, at the Battle of Agincourt. Numbers of the family have titles and large estates in France, still attest the position of the descendants of these barons. But it is unnecessary to pursue these branches of the name, our purpose being with those who have preserved, in later times, the Latin form, and we return to the English line and its connections. In 1173, Hamelin de Pratellis and Mathew de Pratellis, are found with the party of the Earl of Chester and Ralph de Fouguers, who joined with Louis of France, in the revolt of Normandy, against Henry II, in which the king's sons are all engaged against their father. Henry, however, speedily beseiged the Normans and French, in the town of Dol, where the two knights above mentioned, with many others, were made prisoners.[3] The name of Pratt occurs among the earliest of English surnames, and the family, in many of its branches, held stations of influence and power in the British empire. The earliest notice of Pratts in England, is prior to the year 1200 of the christian era, and shows that they, probably, came to England from Normandy. The manor of Patrikborne, (Merton & Petham Hundred) was held by Margerie de Bornes, who carried it, in marriage, to John de Pratellis, or de Pratis, as he was sometimes written, who soon after the year 1200, gave it to his newly erected priory of Beaulieu or de Bello-loco, in Normandy. Four brothers, John, William, Engelraw and Peter de Pratellis, figured largely in the reigns of Richard and John. They were all living A.D. 1201, as they witness the settlement of Robert, Earl of Mallent, at Peter's marriage. John de Pratellis was a favorite minister of Richard Coeur de Lion. In 1193, we find him associated with William, Bishop of Ely, and Chancellor William de Roehes and William Bruyere, as the English commissioners to make peace with Philip Augustus, concluded at Mayence, on the eighth day of the Ides of July. He and his brother Peter de Pratellis are witnesses to a charter granted at Rodley, in 1199, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert de Sens, William de Hunas, Richard de Harcourt, and others. From his wife, Margerie de Bornes, he received the manor of Patrickborne in Kent, which he gave, soon after then year 1200, as an alien priory, to the then newly elected Abbey of Beaulier, in Normandy. In various places the records show his possessions in Northamton, Berkshire and Oxford. The estate in Berkshire was given to the Abbey above mentioned, and his other lands in England were confiscated, in consequence of the rebellion in Normandy in the sixth year of King John, and its separation from the English Crown. In 1911, William de Pratellis, brother of the preceding, accompanied King Richard to the Holy Land, and became of great service to the king, when he was reduced to extremity, as told by the quaint chronicler, Vinisauf: "About this time King Richard went out hawking with a small escort, and intending, if he saw any small body of Turks, to fall upon them. Fatigued with his ride he fell asleep, and a body of Turks rushed suddenly upon him to make him prisoner. The king awakened at the noise, had hardly time to mount his bay Cyprian horse, and his attendants were still getting on their horses also, when the Turks came upon them, and tried to take him; but the king drawing his sword, rushed upon them, and they, pretending flight, drew him after them to a place where there was another body of Turks in ambush. They started up with speed and surrounded the king to make him prisoner. The king defended himself bravely, and the enemy drew back, though he would still have been captured if the Turks had known who he was. But in the midst of the conflict, one of the king's companions, William de Pratellis, (William Pratt) called out in Saracenic language that he was the "Melecle," i.e. the King; and the Turks believing what he said, led him off captive to their own army. At the news of this action our army was alarmed at the ambush. But in the midst of the conflict, some of the soldiers, seizing their arms, came at full gallop to find the king, and when they met him returning safe, he faced about and with them pursued the Turks, who had carried off William de Pratellis, thinking they had gotten the king. They could not, however, overtake the fugitives, and King Richard, rescued by the divine hand, for greater things, returned to the camp, to the great joy of his soldiers, who thanked God for his preservation, but grieved for William de Pratellis, who loyally redeemed the King at the price of his own liberty." Of course, King Richard could not leave the Holy Land without ransoming the gallant friend who had saved his life at such a cost. But he was not released until the following year, when at the truce between Richard and Saladin, he was exchanged for ten emirs, a ransom sufficiently high, showing somewhat the esteem in which he was held by his knightly brethren. He was knighted for his valor. We find him first A.D. 1189, as a witness to a grant of land to the Earl of Norfolk, and again in a charter of privileges to the Jews, in the first year of Richard I. He married the widow of Reginald de Courtenay, as appears by the record of the fine paid to the King in the year 1200, the second of John I. His name occurs very frequently in the charter and documents of John's reign, and this one given, connects him with Rouen, near which the family possessed estates. "The Mayor of Rouen is ordered to cause William de Pratellis to have the vacant place between the Viscount of Rouen and the Palace of the City of Rouen, upon the banks of the Seine; witness ourself at Rouen, on the 7th day of March, 1202." There are grants of land in Normandy, in the records and payment of fines for charges made during the reign of John. In the list of lands in England, seized by King John, A.D. 1205, Herrington, in county Somerset, is set down to William de Pratellis. In the Pell records, of the 10th year of the reign of Henry III, A.D. 1226, is the following treasury order, as translated: "Henry, by the Grace of God, &c. Payment of our treasury, &c. to William de Pratellis, 10, which we owed him at Easter, in the 10th year of our reign, for the 20 yearly he receives at our exchequer, for the town of Aulton. Witness ourself at Westminster, the 8th day of May, in thew same year." Peter de Pratellis, another distinguished crusader, in the same war, also wiyth his brother, William, appears first at the seige of Acre. From the adjudgement to him of his claim to the standard, as against Richard Trusebut, it seems that he was the hereditary standard-bearer. He was sent with the Bishop of Salisbury and Earl Robert to the Marquis of Montterrat, on an occasion of much importance, and particularly distinguished himself at Ramleh, where the Earl of Leicester defeated a vastly superior force of the infidels. The chronicler thus tells us of this presence at Jaffa, in 1192. [1] "The Pratt Family" by Rev. F.W. Chapman, A.M. (1864) Pages 13-30. [2] Parliamentary Writs: Vol. I, Folio #409. [3] Horeden: Vol. I, Page 372. Table of Contents Introduction Cont'd \| Pratt Manors \| Branches of Pratt Family \| Abstracts of Wills \| Abstracts Cont'd \| Pratts of Weymouth \| 1st & 2nd Generations \| 3rd Thru 7th Gen \| Related Links \| Contact Us