Spalding Links. The People and Places Sharing the Name

In the Domesday Book Survey of 1086, Earl Algar and Ivo Talbois held Spalding. The latter was Lord of Spalding, and nephew of William the Conqueror. Before being granted Spalding, his domains were in Angers, in Calvados, Normandy. He became the Sheriff of Lincoln, which he ruled with much pomp from his Castle at Spalding. The Lord of Spalding's dispute with the monks of Crowland which erupted in 1070 was continued by his successors until the 15th century. Lord Spalding had many other lands in the north, particularly in Lancashire and Westmorland.

The Spalding Name

The Spalding family originated in Flanders, the origin of many East Anglians of Britain. The surname Spalding appeared quite early in English history derived from the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire.
The first written record concerning Spalding was a charter issued in 716 A.D. by King Athelbald to the monks of Crowland Abbey. Another charter written in 868 A.D. referred to Spaldelying.

Spalding began as a division town of the fens and marshes of East Anglia, and was founded at the point where a road ran over the low country to the Wash. "Yng" is a Celtic word for fen or low meadow-land. Spalding was one of the Saxon divisions of the county known as "the Spalda." The Saxon suffix "ing" from the Teutonic "ingoz" denotes sons of a family or tribe, thus, the people who lived in Spalding were known as the "Spaldingas" or the Spalding tribe. In the doomsday book in 1085/6, Spalding is spelled "Spallinge." In Latin, Spall or Spald means "the shoulder." The town of Spalding of saxon derivation means literally: "the tribe who live at the shoulder (of marsh land)."

The Spalding tribe were known to have held land in South Holland in the 7th century. The "Doomsday Survey," showed Holland to be an area of large villages concentrated in the fens. The town became a market centre with two important industries: salt making and fisheries. The Manor of Spalding before the Norman Conquest belonged to the king's geld (a tax paid to the Crown by landholders).
William Duke of Normandy and King of England confiscated most land belonging to Anglo-Saxon nobles, but didn't touch land belonging to any of his feudal tenants in Spalding. The Manor of Spalding which had belonged to Algar, Earl of Mercia, was conferred upon the Duke's nephew, Ivo Talbois.

The first recorded Spalding name was Ralph de Spalding, 1273. Judge Charles Warren Spalding, author of "The Spalding Memorial," obtained a copy of an ancient deed naming him. When Edward III in 1327 ordered a wool merchant to be elected to Parliament for York, William de Spalding, son of Richard de Spalding, was elected for the borough or county. The Parliament of 1376 held at Westminster held both a William and John Spalding.

In later centuries, Spaldings went north into Scotland and west into central England, moving into both Suffolk and Norfolk. They settled around Bury St. Edmunds, Framlingham, and in the valley of the Waveney River.

The first recorded Spalding in the American colonies was Edward Spalding, his wife, son and daughter. They were living at Elizabeth City, Virginia, in Feb 1623. Edward and his family left Jamestown Virginia and sailed to New England where they became the progenitors of the large New England Spalding family.

The text on this page is taken from an essay by Pat Doster.

William Spalding of Westham near London settled in Massachusetts with his friend Thomas Harvard, also from London, about 1630. Many descending surnames, and location names in the USA derive from this source.

Spalding is the 4,016th most popular surname in the United States

A huge genealogical database about the name in the USA exists

SPALDING, Albert Goodwill(1850-1915), American professional baseball player and manufacturer of sporting goods, born in Byron, Ill. From 1871 to 1875 he was the star pitcher for the Boston team of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, the first major league. Spalding joined the Chicago team of the National League as a pitcher and manager in 1876, the first year of the existence of the league. He won 46 games and lost 12 that year. He retired in 1877 and subsequently served as secretary (1878-81) and president (1882-91) of the Chicago team. During this period he established the firm of A. G. Spalding & Bros., manufacturers and distributors of sporting goods. Spalding was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. See www.spalding.com

John Henry (Doc) Holliday. Born on August 14, 1851 and baptized on March 21, 1852 in the Presbyterian Church of Griffin, Spalding, Georgia

Spalding, Idaho
Spalding, Michigan
Spalding, Missouri
Spalding, Nebraska
Spalding, New Mexico
Spalding, Saskatchewan

The Maryland Spalding family who settled in the American Colonies c1657 who came from the Lincolnshire area.
"Gen-Link" www.spaldinggenealogy.com which gives Thomas Spalding lineage down to the present generation.

Spalding, South Australia.www.spalding.org.au Founded by William Edward Lunn in 1875-76 It is likely that the town was named after Spalding in Lincolnshire which happened to be the birthplace of William Lunn.
Spalding Primary School, South Australia www.spaldingps.sa.edu.au

Genealogy of the Thomas Kevin Spalding & Allied Families.

Here's a brief synopsis of research by David Spalding from Belle Plaine, Minnesota.
I have tracked my family to John Spalding I from Farnham, born ca 1450-1520 - married to Ann ?.
Next descendant: John Spalding II ca 1480-1535 - married to Anne ? born ca 1490.
Next descendant: Thomas Spalding ca 1520-1573 - married Agnes ? born ca 1520.
More descendants: Augustine Spalding 1560-1626 (Elizabeth ? - 1560-1626),
John Spalding 1590-1659(Margaret Sheircliff - ?),
Thomas Ford Spalding 1640-1713 Suffolk County (Katherine Hall 1651-1710 Dijon, France?) - Thomas came to Maryland ca 1658, they were wed ca 1674.
I'm looking for more info on my above listed ancestors as well as info that can take me further back into my family's history. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
datsbp@frontiernet.net

More Genealogy Resources

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