Mayne

Mayne One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Mayne

Variants: Main, Maine, Mains, Mayn, Maynes, Mayney

Category: 2 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way, but currently in some countries only.

Guild hosted website: mayne.one-name.net

Contact: Mr Henry Mayne

About the study

This MAYNE study was instigated by David Gore, who joined the Guild in 1987. With the help of other researchers, David started on the creation of pedigrees for Mayne families in England, Ireland and Scotland. The results of his work, published in 2007, are available to view online at the website connected to this study.

In 2020, as a result of his advancing age, David decided to relinquish his role in the Guild and I agreed to take over from him. It is my aim to extend and add to the pedigrees that David established, and to examine whether any links can be found between them.

My own line of descent is through a family whose origin is found in the 16th century in the village of Swimbridge in Devon.

LATEST NEWS: A family tree has been completed for the Mayne family of Illogan in Cornwall, with links to Australia, New Zealand, and the USA (See vol 3 of my History of the Mayne Family), and the link of the Mayne family of Sedborough in Ireland to the Mayne family of Buckinghamshire has been identified (See vol 4 of my History of the Mayne Family).

Variant names

Main, Maine, Mains, Mayn, Maynes, Mayney, Mean and Meane.

It should be mentioned that this study tends to concentrate on families where the spelling of the surname is mostly found as MAYNE, and that the variants of the surname mostly relate to records where that name has been spelt differently in parish records. The variant of Mayney is found in Kent and the variants of Mean and Meane in Cornwall.

Name origin

It appears that the origin of many Mayne families may relate back to the Lords of Mayenne, evidence showing that a holder of that title in the 12th century exchanged manors the family held in France for manors held in Devon and Somerset in England by King Henry I of England. Historically, the majority of instances of the surname Mayne are found in the county of Devon.

Historical occurrences of the name

Saint Cuthbert Mayne (1543-1577) - Hung, drawn and quartered for treason, for practicing the Catholic faith.

Jasper Mayne (1604-1672) - Chaplain to King Charles II of England.

Sir John Mayney (1608-1676) - Staunch Royalist supporter of King Charles I of England.

Sir Simon Mayne (1612-1661) - Juror at the trial of King Charles I, and a signatory on the warrant for his execution.

Sir Robert Mayne (1796-1868) - One of the first commissioners of the London Metropolitan Police Force.

Robert Blair 'Paddy' Mayne (1915-1955) - Became head of the SAS in 1943.

Some of the historical events of which these and other Maynes have been a part are described within the work of David Gore, and some are further detailed in his book *Soldiers, Saints and Scallywags*, which was written to accompany the Mayne study. It can be read in full here.

Distribution of the name

This study incorporates Mayne families with origins found in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

In England the study currently includes families found in Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Hertfordshire, Kent, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Yorkshire.

Descendants from some of these families are later found in many countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.

Data

Extensive records of births, marriages and deaths are held, as well as some wills and family pedigrees.

Four volumes of my book 'The History of the Mayne Family' are available via my website.

Volume 1 : A complete history (between the years 780 and 1220) of the Medieval family who became the Lords of Mayenne, and who it is thought are the origin of some of the Mayne families later found in England, Ireland and Scotland.

Volume 2 : A complete family tree for my own line of descent, which stems from the village of Swimbridge in Devon in the 16th century.

Volume 3 : Pedigrees of other Mayne families found in Kent, Devon, and Cornwall. Pedigrees completed for Devon are for families that originate in Hatherleigh, Shirwell and Exeter. Pedigrees completed for Cornwall currently just includes Illogan.

Volume 4 : The lineage for the Mayne family first found in Buckinghamshire in the 15th century, and whose descendants are later found in Hertfordshire and Warwickshire. It also appears that the Maynes of Mount Sedborough in Ireland are descended from this family.

Volumes 3 remains a work in progress and is still being updated.

DNA

A very limited number of DNA test results for persons with the surname MAYNE have been obtained so far. It is hoped to expand the number of results to examine if a common haplogroup exists.

My own DNA Haplogroup is I-M253, which does appear to provide confirmation of the suggested heritage of Mayne families in England being linked with the Lords of Mayenne, their ancestry thought to be linked to the tribes of Franks that originated from the Rhine delta. Apart from moving west into northern France, descendants of those Rhine tribes mostly travelled north and founded populations in Scandinavia. The majority of men with DNA Haplogroup I-M253 living today would be found in Sweden and Denmark. I would be very interested to hear from any Mayne who shares the I-M253 haplogroup.

A MAIN/MAYNE worldwide DNA project is available online at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Main/

Links

A video biography of George Everett Mayne (1901-1975) of Canada is available here.

Contact Details

Mr Henry Mayne

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Mayne in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 167
Global Marriages (members)* 173
Inscriptions Index 1
Modern Newspaper Index 15
Probate Index* 34
Datastores 9
Study materials for the study Mayne* 19
References to the name Mayne in the Guild Journal 2
Stories for the name Mayne 2

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