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THE ISLE OF AXHOLME
The Heart of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire
Descendants of Axholme, once an island within the sceptred British Isles, shaped western civilisation, from the Viking Sweyn Forkbeard,
to the wife of Alfred 'the Great',
through George Washington's Mayflower heritage,
to John Wesley's 70 million Methodist followers.
"The past is like a story, where one thing leads to another and the world can be comprehended" (Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth).
The Isle of Axholme before drainage by Vermuyden 1626
Legend records a Kingdom of Axholme as an independant state under King Ornulffsson during the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy before Alfred 'the Great' who's wife was from Axholme, united the English against Viking invasions in about 880.
After the Norman conquest of 1066, the Manors of Epworth, Belton, Haxey, Owston, Crowle, Althorpe, Luddington, Burnham and Lound,
that is the whole of The Isle of Axholme were given to Geoffrey de la Guerche (Wirce), together with the Manors of Blyborough, Gainsborough and Somerby.
The Pilgrim Fathers led by William Brewster left their roots in Axholme arriving in America aboard The Mayflower in 1621, and their marriages link to the first Presidents of the USA George Washington and John Adams.
In 1626 Charles I contracted Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden, later knighted, to drain the Isle so that today
we find the Isle land-locked between the major towns of Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough.
From these ancestors many descendants and relatives now reside around the world. You will find many of them here on our site
Our timeline extends from living memories to photographs; headstones; census records; baptismal, marriage and death certificates; parish records; manorial rolls; medieval visitations; monastic gospels; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles; to the fall of Rome, The Classics, folklore and biblical accounts.
"Elswitha" of the Gaini, Queen of England, oldest recorded Axholme inhabitant, see our Hall of Fame (and Infamy)
Axholme means "island by Haxey" from Old Norse holmr "island", recorded as Hakirhomle in 1196. Old English suffix "ey" in "Haxey" indicates an island, see Wikipedia
Of the 108 Billion people that have ever lived on Earth, 6.5% (7 Billion) are alive today, and 0.00025% are recorded on this website
"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;..
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!" "If", 1895 Joseph Rudyard Kipling (b. 30 Dec 1865 Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra, India d. 18 Jan 1936 The Middlesex Hospital (closed 2005), Mortimer Street, Fitzrovia, Middlesex)
This site is administered by Adrian Oates and his team of gifted and respected researchers. See Adrian's
ancestors here or Skype him:
"It's an Aladdin's cave of goodies and I'm sure newcomers will appreciate seeing just how much is there if they look a little bit harder. It's a brilliant site" Pip Townley
"If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England ..""The Soldier", 1914 Rupert Chawner Brooke (b. 3 Aug 1887 Rugby, Warwickshire d. 23 Apr 1915 aboard a French hospital ship off, Skyros, Greece, Aegean Sea)
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" - It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.
From Roman lyrical poet Horace (b. 8 Dec 65 BC Venusia, Lucania, Italy d. 27 Nov 8 BC Rome (Roma)), , Lazio (Latium), Italy)'s Odes (III.2.13) inscribed on the wall of the chapel of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1913
"The old lie" the final stanza of Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (b. 18 Mar 1893 Plas Wilmot, Oswestry, Shropshire d. 4 Nov 1918 Sambre-Oise Canal, Tergnier, Picardie, France)'s 1917 poem "Dulce et Decorum est"
John of Gaunt:
"This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England"
"King Richard II", Act 2 scene 1, William Shakespeare (bp. 26 Apr 1564 and d. 23 Apr 1616 at Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire)
EUROPE EMERGES FROM ISLAM
"Without Muhammad, Charlemagne is inconceivable"
(1937) Henri Pirenne, Belgian Historian
While Byzantium checked Muslim expansion to the west, disruption of ancient mediterranean trade forced northern Europe to develop independent of the south
Judith Herrin's 'Byzantium, A Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire'
NOTICES
Information herein has been offered freely for sharing by our members or can
otherwise be found in public records, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Exact date of birth of
living persons have been restricted to year of birth only and our members have
ensured permission has been given by those individuals to be included in our reseach.
We have taken great care to protect personal details, but
should information need to be removed or if you have questions or
comments about the information on this website please email
We offer our grateful thanks to all who have generously contributed to this record and we hope you will enjoy exploring our research
As the second millennium of Christ's resurrection approaches in 2033 we can empathise with the trepidation of those who witnessed the dawning of the first millennium in the 11th century. From 990 and for the next 50 years, the people of the Middle Ages expected a second coming or biblical armageddon. When neither arrived they just got on with building our current civilisation, see Henry IV Emperor of Germany. We experienced the dawning of the second millennium wondering if we will can reach the next century let alone a third millennia. Science predicts that by 2033 climate change will send the planet irrecoverably over the edge. Do not despair, learn from the past to build a future for our descendants.
With reference to Tom Holland's 'Millennium', Astronomer Royal Martin Rees' 'Our Final Century' and James Lovelock's 'The Revenge of Gaia'
