The English ancestry of Reinold and Matthew Marvin of Hartford, Ct ...

10 The English Ancestry of
through the Parish, has considerable marsh land near its
banks, and is crossed by a bridge which unites " Ramsey
Street" on the west side, south of "The Ray," with "Ramsey
" on the east — both portions of the same Parish. A
legacy "vnto the buyldinge of the Brydge" was given by
John Marvin in his will, 1570.
From Newcourt's Repertorium* we learn that "Ramsey,
alias Mikeltow, sometimes Ramsey cum Mickelstow, and on
some old records Michaelstowe, was the name of the place
in the time of William the Conqueror, when it was held by
Ralph Baynard." The old name " Michaelstowe " seems to
have applied more particularly to the eastern side. The
adjoining Parishes are Dovercourt which has a certain con-
nection with Harwich, on the east, the Oakleys on the south,
Wix on the south-west, Wrabness on the west, and the river
on the north. Little Bentley, Great Bentley and Thorington
are a few miles away south-westerly. In all of these Parishes
some members of the Marvin families were found, and in all
but two, and perhaps in all, they held landed property a
century or more before the emigration to New England.
The name "Ramsey," Morant tells us, signifies Ram's
Island, and whether or not the ancient inhabitants chose the
place as a home for its advantages for flocks and herds, —
farming and grazing, with an occasional fishing venture into
the North Sea, seem to have furnished the chief employ-
ment of the people there, three hundred years ago. All the
Parishes named were in Tendring Hundred.
* Repertorium, II : p. 484.