Domesday Book Goes Online

Digital-lifestyles.info ^ | 04 Aug 2006 | Simon Perry

[annie laurie]

Today, a rather old book from the late 11th century England (1086 to be precise) will be brought online to be searched. The Domesday Book, is the earliest surviving survey and valuation of the King, his senior supporters, the land they owned and their resources.

If you'd wanted to look through it previously, you had to drag yourself over to the National Archive in a rather calm building in Kew West London, or cough up a couple of thousand pounds to get them on CD.

By going to the Domesday Web site, you can search and get an idea if there's anything in The Book about your chosen subject. If you want to see a scan of the page, you, me and anyone in the World will be able to pay £3.50 per page to see it.

Those not wanting to pay for the documents can head over to Kew where they can be printed out for nothing.

You might think that there's a little difficulty in using it, as many of the surnames used by people and names of areas have changed substantially over the last thousand-odd years. Luckily they thought of that one. Simply enter the modern name in the Place Name box, if you're a boffin with knowledge of ye-olde world, you enter the old name in the Other keywords box.

We don't want to cast a shadow over this notable event, but we wonder if it's right that UK residents, who already fund the National Archives through their taxes, should pay the same amount to access the info as those from abroad.There's a couple of theories as to why it's called the Domesday or Doomsday Book (depending on your preferenece) - Biblical Day of Judgement or when some bloke called Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. Neither of them particularly jolly.

Those long in the tooth will remember the BBC launch the BBC Domesday Project, to put the book on the 12-inch laserdisc. Sadly, these days, this project is remembered as an example of information lost to an old format that cannot be retrieved.

[annie laurie]

Search the Domesday Book:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/domesday.asp

Homepage; general information about the Domesday Book:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/

[annie laurie]

Ping

[NonValueAdded]

Genealogy bump

[fhayek]

We like to trace our ancestry back to the Mayflower. The Brits like to trace back to the Norman invaders.

[Publius6961]

I always wondered why copies of a country's written treasures need to be bought by its citizens for exorbitant amounts.

It stands to reason that a digital format copy be created to prevent permanent loss due to a variety of possible causes but, once a digital copy is created, it shouldn't cost that much to get the info on DVD or any other future format.

Wasn't there a recent creation of a "universal format" that won't be subject to change every few years?

[ProudFossil]

There are several printed versions of the book available. I am using a Penquin Classics translation of the original in my genealogical hobby. It cost only $30 and is indexed as to place and surname. Unfortunately these names have changed over the last 1000 years and so the index is only half usable. But it is still fascinating reading although a bit boring as there is no plot, only lists of property, slaves, livestock, etc., etc. 1436 pages of very small print but does have an excellent glossary which is absolutely necessary.

[fhayek]

Slaves? I thought slavery only existed in the American south from 1690 to 1865.

[kalee]

ping

[ProudFossil]

But remember the Brits (or actually the French/Normans when the book was written) are enlightened. Here is a small sample from the book:
"The Church of St. Mary of Lambeth holds ... There are 6 slaves and 3 female slaves. It was worth 100 s(hillings); now 4 pounds."

[TontoKowalski]

Slaves? I thought slavery only existed in the American south from 1690 to 1865.

Land sakes, no! You have to keep up!

You could purchase your very own Christian slave in parts of Africa today.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Annie. I'm going to check out the old hometown (not mine, the ancestors').

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[SunkenCiv]

"The index uses pre-1974 county boundaries"

Heh... yeah... my personal favorite of that bureaucratic success story was the Ridings of Yorkshire...

[Interesting Times]

ping.

[SoCalPol]

I have gone through some of the Domesday surveys and can be quite helpful for genealogy research.

Some of these are already on line for some time.

[longtermmemmory]

Slavery exists to this very day. Particularly in the Sudan.

[fhayek]

The Normans were the descendants of Vikings that had invaded "France" a few generations earlier. So its not like the the Brits are proud of there "French" ancestry. The real French could barely invade Lichtenstein.

[Krodg]

I read the Bible and I know my earthly genealogy goes back to Adam and Eve.

[fhayek]

Yes, but is it through Cain or Seth? ;^)

[gondramB]

>>Today, a rather old book from the late 11th century England (1086 to be precise)<<

You can see how the English might have been in a Doomsday kind of mood in 1086 since its only 20 years after the invasion of William the Bastard - the last time England would ever be conquered by a foreign power.