The surname NOYES is rare. It may have originated
in East Anglia at a very early period. Land held by Walter Noyse
was mentioned in a fine concerning land in 'Scroteby',
Norfolk, on 10 May 1209. William and Simon Noysse
were both listed in the Ville of Laxfield, in Hoxne Hundred, Suffolk, in 1327. There were six Noyse wills proved in the Court of Archdeacon of Suffolk
before 1600: Robert Noyse, of Fressingfield,
1463; Agnes his widow, of Fressingfield, 1464;
William, of Ubbeston, 1469; Robert, of Wingfield, 1471; William, of Laxfield,
1510; and Robert, of Laxfield, 1510.
The adjoining parishes of Laxfield,
Fressingfield, Wingfield,
and Ubbeston lie in the north-central part of the
county. The chief landholder in the region then was the de la Pole family,
first Earls, then Dukes of Suffolk. The land came into their family through the
marriage of Katherine, heiress of Sir John de Wingfield,
to Michael de la Pole, first Earl of Suffolk. The manor of Ramridge,
Hampshire, had also been acquired through the Wingfield
marriage. For this reason it is possible that the Duke sent one of his Suffolk
men to oversee the distant Hampshire manor, founding the Noyes family in that
county. Ramridge was important as one of the greatest
fairs in England was held partly on its lands.
Ramridge was held by the first Earl of Suffolk at his death in
1391. The Wingfield estates passed to his eldest son,
Michael, who succeeded as Second Earl (d. Sept. 1415), but, importantly, Ramridge was settled on the male heirs of his younger
brother, Sir Thomas de la Pole. On Thomas's death (21 Aug. 1420), it passed to
his son Thomas, who died seised of 'Ramrugge' on 27 July 1430. Because he died without male
issue, Ramridge passed to his cousin, William de la Pole
(son of the Second Earl), who was created first Duke of Suffolk. Thus Ramridge was reunited with the Wingate estates in 1430. The
first of the Noyes family in Hampshire may have arrived as servants of the
first Duke of Suffolk at his manor of Ramridge about
1430-32. The court rolls of the manor of Ramridge
record that Robert Noys was farming the manor
(rendering its accounts) in 1432-33.
The Duke and his wife, Alice Chaucer,
granddaughter and heir of the poet, were granted license to found God's House,
better known as Ewelme Hospital, in 1437, but it was
not endowed with the manor of Ramridge until 1442. It
was during this short period between 1430 and 1442 that a Noyse/Noyes
from Laxfield or Wingate, Suffolk, might have ended
up on the distant manor of Ramridge, as the Hospital
would have had no Suffolk interests by which to draw a Noyes from that county
to Hampshire.
The Noyes family continued as farmers of the manor
of Ramridge for at least two more centuries. The
court rolls are intermittent, so the line of descent in the earliest
generations in Hampshire is not clear. Robert Noys is
recorded as rendering accounts for the manor of Ramridge
in 1432-33. John Noyse was the farmer of Ramrugge on 26 November 1476, 28 November 1477, 1478,
1482/3, and 1484. He likely died in the next few years, as Robert Noyes was
farmer of Ramrugge in 1493 and 1497. The abstract
under date 21 May 1 Henry VIII [1509] states, "To this court came Thomas Noyse and took of the lord a cottage called the Saynte with lands and one acre of meadow ... to hold to the
said Thomas and Agnes his wife and the longer liver of them - to pay heriot on death. And give as fine 20s. Same paid 19 Henry
VIII (1503/4) [sic]." The entry for 27 September 4 Henry VIII [1512]
reads, "presented that Thomas No[y]se farmer of this lordship and his
predecessors, time out of mind, had amongst other things a parcel of land
called the "Stallys" and "Bothis" lying on the King's way leading E&W as
appears by metes and bounds." On 16 September 9 Henry VIII [1517] the
Master of Ewelme granted Thomas Noyse
the lease of the capital messuage of his manor of Ramrugge with the lands thereto belonging, courts, etc.,
excepting the advowson of Wee [Weyhill]
Church, for a period of 50 years at a rent of £8 6s 8d. Another lease, dated 21
June 10 Henry VIII [1518] granted the same, at the same rate, for a period of
40 years. Thomas Noyse was farmer of the manor on 6
October 20 Henry VIII [1528] when he made agreements with his tenants This last
Thomas Noyes is certainly Thomas Noyes (b. say 1488), from whom descent can be
traced with certainty.
There are two likely scenarios by which Ramridge might have descended through the earliest
generations of the Hampshire Noyes family. The first scenario assumes a direct
descent through [1] Robert (b. say 1390), [II] John (b. say 1415), [III] Robert
(b. say 1440), [IV] Thomas of Andover (b. say 1465), to [V] Thomas (b. say
1488).
The second scenario takes into account the
possibility that the Robert who farmed Ramridge from
1493 to 1497 might have been Thomas's uncle Robert, who later acquired the
lease of the manor of Littleton, and may have held Ramridge
during the minority of his nephew Thomas as guardian. The earliest [I] Robert
(b. say 1390) who farmed Ramridge in 1432-33 would
again be the first generation, then the second generation would be unknown.
[III] John (b. say 1440) who farmed Ramridge from
1475 to 1484 would be next, and father of both [IV] Thomas (b. say 1465)
mentioned in the court rolls of Andover 1490-1491, and Robert, of Kimpton, who farmed Ramridge from
1493 to 1497 during the minority of his nephew, [V] Thomas Noyes (b. say 1488).
But as only names and dates have been gleaned from
the manorial records, no specific relationships are known with certainty until
we reach Thomas Noyes (b. say 1488). It is impossible at this point to
determine which descent is correct. [Excerpted from "The
English Ancestry of Peter Noyes" by Paul C. Reed and Dean Crawford Smith,
NEHGR 152:259, July 1998].
From this family descended Nicholas, son of Robert
and Joan (Mondey) Noyes, who was on a 1545 list of
taxpayers for the benevolence of Cholderton in the
county of Wilts. This Nicholas had a son, Robert, who
was the father of William, rector of the church at Cholderton
in 1601. Two of William and Ann (Parker) Noyes' sons, James and Nicholas were
the immigrant ancestors in 1634 of nearly all families with the Noyes surname
existing today in the United States.
The other Noyes immigrant at this time was Peter who arrived in New England in 1638 and settled in Sudbury. The line of Peter Noyes ended when there were no sons born to the third generation. Until only recently, Peter was suspected to have been a cousin of James and Nicholas. That relationship has now been proven.