PHOTO: William Peen presenting the Mayor of Gistel, Belgium, with a copy of "Twee Peenboeken In Een Band" by Raf Seys. The book is about the the Flemish villages of Norpeene and Zuytpeene (North Peene and South Peene), and the Battle of the Peene in 1677 (the Peene is a river which runs between the two villages).

BOTTOM RIGHT: Werner Peene of Gistel.

Click here to visit the web site of Werner Peene

The Peen(e) Family of Kent & The Peene Family of Flanders
July 1998

My name is William James Peen, and I began researching my family name about ten years ago.

I had chosen to research my paternal ancestors, despite having the memorable experience of speaking to my maternal Great Grandfather who was born in 1842, and who died in 1933 at the age of 91. I knew that my father was born in the small village of Ulcombe, situated a few miles to the west of Maidstone in Kent, on 14th February 1900, and also that his father was born in Sutton Valence (again a village close to Maidstone) in 1858. From this it was not difficult to trace my family back to Daniel Peene who was married in Loose (near Maidstone!) on 2nd December 1688, to Anne Quafe. Both were from the nearby village of Boughton Monchelsea. Why they chose to marry outside their own village I can only guess; perhaps it was due to ties with a branch of the Peene family that had been resident in Loose for many years (related, I believe, to the Daniel Peene mentioned earlier), and the two villages are only about two miles apart. It may even have been due to something more sinister, even the plague!

The copy of the inventory of William Peene of Loose, who died in 1695, gives an interesting glimpse of life at that time.

At this point in my search I have not yet found the father of Daniel, or his birthplace circa 1660. I do have some information, including wills, which indicates that he was descended from the Peene family of East Sutton, another nearby village. If this were to be proved, it would mean that I have a pedigree from Edward Peende (died 1570) of Hollingbourne, near Maidstone, going back to the 13th century.

The East Sutton family of Peende was known to exist in 1278, and they are believed to have been the owners of Peen Barn in East Sutton (still marked on today’s O.S. maps). In 1346 John de Peende held Rushford Manor in the village of Headcorn and it remained with the family until 1611 (265 years) when Stephen Peene transferred it to a Christopher Fullager.

One owner of Rushford Manor, Robert Peende (died 1465), had a brother, Thomas (died 1469) who lived in Cranbrook, Kent, who may possibly be the founder of the branch of the family in that area known as Peende, Pende and Peene, which was to continue in Cranbrook and Hawkhurst until 1793.

The Manor of Rushford apparently contributed towards the making of Edward, Prince of Wales, Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III (1330-1376).

There were other branches of the Peene family in Kent, for example in Canterbury where a William Pende is known to have lived in 1528, and where in 1754 William Peene was made a Freeman of the City just like his father before him.

In regard to the East Sutton family, I consulted a firm specialising in genealogical research based in Canterbury. The following is a quote from the report I received:

"A meeting was held with our Founder and consultant genealogist, Mr Humphrey-Smith, who immediately suggested to us that Peene or Pean from the old English/Anglo Saxon Pende/Pund means a pound or enclosure as in Pean Hill in Whitstable mentioned in the Domesday Survey.
Pean or Peen Barn in East Sutton near Maidstone is recorded as Pynde in 1278, Pende in 1304 and again in 1465. From this Mr Humphrey-Smith deduced given the clear Saxon connections with East Sutton that this family was an honourable and ancient Saxon family who perhaps, he remarked, should not be looking for their roots in the Low Countries but be proud of their heritage as part of the original Saxon settlers in the mid part of Kent."

I will now explain the reference in the above quote to the Low Countries.

THE PEENE FAMILY OF FLANDERS

In 1996 I had discovered that there was a possibility my surname may be of Flemish origin. My first move was to write to the Flemish Society in Belgium. They replied by sending me the address of Werner J. Peene, who is a member of that society. I wrote to him, and on receipt of my letter he immediately contacted me by phone. Soon after, he came to visit me in person, and his subsequent report was published in the K.F.H.S. Journal, September 1997. We have since exchanged a great deal of information, and the following is a short history of the Flemish Peene family.

Werner Peene has traced his family back to 1600. His family has lived in an area of Flanders which has been devastated by war many times, especially during the 1914/18 war, again in the 1939/45 war, not to mention previous European wars such as in 1677 when war broke out after France annexed part of Flanders. The centuries old homeland of the Flanders Peene family is around the two villages of Nordpeene (Northpeene) and Zuytpeene (Southpeene) and it was here in 1677 that a battle took place which became known as The Battle of the Peene’s, refering to the River Peene which flows between the two villages.

Despite the effects of these wars, some documents have survived, enough to allow Werner to trace his family back to 1600 with certainty, and he also has copies of many other documents relating to the Peene family from before this date. Three branches of the Flanders Peene’s have their own coats of arms (see Fig. 3).

In 1568 Lucas van Peene of Roeslare was forced to flee to England due to religious persecution in the Low Countries which were under Spanish control at that time. He was a wealthy linen merchant, and soon became head of the Dutch Church in London. His grandson Jerimias van Peene lived in Hawkhurst, Kent, where he died in 1619.
His daughter Maria (Mary) was married in St. Dunstan’s Church in nearby Cranbrook in 1617.
Why had Jerimias come to Hawkhurst? Could the Flemish Peene’s have had contact with the English Peene’s of Cranbrook during the previous years or even centuries? One of first places settled by the Flemish weavers invited to England by Edward III in 1330 was Cranbrook.

Over the centuries there have been many connections and trade between England and Flanders, for example the daughter of Alfred the Great married a Count of Flanders in 884 AD, and the wife of William the Conqueror (married 1053) was a daughter of Baldwin, Count of Flanders.

This line from the Counts of Flanders carries on to Wauthier de St. Omer who died at the Battle of Crecy in 1346, and to Amand van Zuytpeene who fought at Agincourt in 1415.

My friend Werner Peene and I are working to find a link between the two families. We both believe that a link exists.
SUMMARY

A number of similarities exist between the Peene’s of England and Flanders in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, for instance the surnames are spelt in the same way, and many forenames are shared by both families although I do not of course consider this to proof enough to connect the families.

I am still left with the question of the ancestry of my family:

1. Were they Saxons living in mid-Kent before 1066?
2. Did they come with William the Conqueror in 1066?
3. Did they come as Flemish mercenaries with William of Ypres, who helped King Stephen in the 12th century?
4. Did they arrive as Flemish weavers around 1330?
5. Were they Huguenots arriving in the 16th or 17th century?

Is it in England or Flanders that I find my Millennium?

William J. Peen
March 1998