I began researching my family history in 1991 and joined the Guild of One-Name Studies that year. My early research focused on my given name, but over the years I have devoted much more time to my mother’s family tree. Determined to break through the brick wall that defied me for a decade, I finally found a will for a man who proved to be my 5 x great uncle, and through his bequest was able to identify that my 4 x great grandmother was Anne Markenfield.

The Markenfield name has fascinated me ever since. In part because it is such a rare name, and in part because the fate of the Markenfields was so intrinsically tied up with that of Sir Thomas Markenfield who was in many ways the catalyst for the Northern Rebellion of 1569. Following his attainder, the family’s fortunes declined and never recovered. It is also a name that has died out in the United Kingdom. The last person born a Markenfield died aged thirty-nine in 1890 and his widow died in 1928. Whilst there are examples of the name elsewhere around the world, so far I have been unable to identify any that share the same origin (they are for the most part derivatives of German surnames e.g. Margenfeld).

I would be fascinated to hear from anyone who has a Markenfield connection. There is always new information to find!  Please email me at markenfield@one-name.org to share your Markenfield information. I am very happy to tell you as much as I can about your Markenfield ancestors.

There are many variations of the name from Merchefeld to Markenfield with the main ones being Markinfield, Markenfeild and Markinfeild. They also include Merchingfeld, Merkingfeld, Markynfeld, Merkyngefelde, Markingfield and Markingefeild. I have registered just a few! It is possible that a derivative is in the form of Markendale, but I have found no clear connection as yet.

The surname is inextricably tied up with Markenfield Parish at the centre of which is what remains of the Markenfield Estate with its 14th century moated hall. The research that has been done into the name, most notably by Janet C. Senior (The Markenfields of Markenfield Hall) and J.C.B. Sharp suggests that the name was adopted by the le Bret family who owned land which was sold to Fountains Abbey and which is adjacent to the Markenfield estate. However, this family was still using the appellation of le Bret or Le Breton into the thirteenth century. Intriguingly I have a reference to a Galfrus de Markinfeild in the list of Yorkshire nobility 1189 (Yorkshire County Magazine Vol 1 1891). A Walter de Markinfeld attested a charter in the time of Roger, Archbishop of York (1154-1181). Neither Walter or Galfrus appear on the tentative pedigrees based on the le Bret line. However, it remains the case that the name is almost certainly a locational one and its occurrence is almost exclusively in Yorkshire until the late seventeenth century when some references can be found in London.

The name was more significant before the Northern Rebellion in 1569. As part of the minor nobility in Yorkshire, Markenfields played a part in Medieval and Tudor history. Notably Sir Ninian Markenfield was a commander at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 and Robert Markenfield fought at Agincourt as part of Lord Scrope's retinue.  

From the earliest reference in 1189 to the last recorded burial in 1928, I have accumulated just under five hundred references. As the frequency of the name fell dramatically at the beginning of the nineteenth century, there is no clear evidence of migration with the overwhelming majority of references in Yorkshire and a few in London.

The name is predominantly a Yorkshire one.  Within Yorkshire, the majority of references are located in Markenfield, Ripon, Hampsthwaite, Bedale, Spofforth and the parishes nearby. 

Some of the Data Collected:

All births, marriages and deaths identified from Parish Register Transcriptions

Markenfields in UK census returns

A selection of wills

As the name is now extinct there are limited avenues for DNA research, however, there is a possibility for some remote autosomal DNA matches. At present there have been no matches.