THEYDON BOIS. 155
as De Bosco, using a termination he was accustomed to, as in Como,
Arno, Duro, Toledo, Antonio, etc.8
Before the end of the reign of Henry the Third (1216-1272),
charters, grants, etc., were drawn either in Latin or in Norman-
French, and the Norman word for wood, Boys, came into use to
designate the portion of Theydon situated in the wood.
In the reign of Edward the First (1272-1307), in a grant made to
Waltham Abbey, the name is spelt Tenden Boys.
1343.—Ellen and Joan, daughters of Laurence de Boys, released
all the lands formerly belonging to their grandfather.9
1345.—Adam de Wells held a tenement called Hemerhales, in
Theydon Garnon, and in Theydon Boys; John, his son, held land in
Theydon Garnon, Epping Hethe, and Theydon Bois.10
1413-1422.—Henry the Fifth ordered Simon de Boice, ancestor of
the Archer Houblon family (of Coopersale), to change his name
to Archer; and in a deed connected with the change of his name,
dated 1575, he is called Simon de Boys.11
1534.—Sir William Fitz William had six acres of meadow land in
Theydon Boys.12
1594.—Norden, in his map of Essex (of which a copy was lately
given in the Essex Naturalist), spells the name Theydon Boys.
In the "Perambulation of Waltham Forest, Essex," in Charles the
First's time (1642), the name is given as Thoydon Boys."
There is no absolute certainty as to the pronunciation of a word
by our forefathers some hundred years ago ; but by comparing the
sound of the letters where used in other words familiar to us, a con-
clusion may be drawn from analogy, probably not far from correct.
8 The following words from Mr. Halliwell's Archaic Dictionary, having the word "Bosz" for
their root, show the changes it has undergone. Bosc, a lush; Boscage, a wood; Boschayle, A.N.,
a thicket or wood; Bosches, bushes; Bosholder, the chief person in an ancient tithing of ten
families; Boske, a lush. Bailey (Dictionary, 1742) has Boscus, O.L., all maner of wood. And there
are several places in England, as Boscombe, in Hampshire and Wiltshire; Bosham, near Chichester,
Bosheston, Pembrokeshire ; having for the origin of their name the Teutonic word for wood.
9 Morant's "History of Essex," Vol. I., page 162, note T.
10 Morant's "History of Essex," Vol. I., page 158.
11 Ogborne's "History of Essex," page 269. Mrs. Ogborne, in her "History of Essex," men-
tions that the founder of the family in England came over with William the Conqueror, and that his
name was Simon de Bois or Boice. His grandson was Brian Boice, whose descendant, Bernard
Boyce, through his marriage with the daughter and heiress of John Hallam, became entitled to
estates in Theydon Garnon. He was the father of Simon de Boice, whose name was changed to
Archer, and as he appears to have been the first of the family who came into Theydon, it could not
have derived its family name from Theydon Bois. Nor could the manor have derived its name from
the family, inasmuch as it had been known as Theydon Boys during the hundred years or more
which preceded the introduction of Bernard Boyce, through his marriage, into the Manor of
Theydon Garnon. But this entry has an interest, bearing upon the pronunciation of Bois ; for
the writer who entered the name of the first Simon de Bois, by the alternative spelling of Boice,
appears to wish to convey the pronunciation of the name, and the clerk spelling the name of
Simon de Boice in the deed of 1575, Simon de Boys, leads to the conclusion that at that date the
combination of letters, although differing, had the same sound.
12 Morant's "Hist. of Essex," Vol. I., page 160. 13 Farmer's "Hist. of Waltham Abbey."