Origins, Meaning, and Heraldry of the name

There is evidence of `Plant like' names in France dating at least from the 9th century though, more traditionally, the Plant surname has been considered in connection with early evidence in England where it appears to have 13th century origins.

Radulphus Plente had, in 1219, duties to the king for the burbhote of Oxford and for reparations to the king's household (apparently at the royal palace of Woodstock). The spelling Plante occurs by 1262 and, by c1275, the names Plantin and Pl(a/e)nte coexist in Norfolk.

An 1890 book dealt with the spellings Plante and Plente together. The MED (Middle English Dictionary) lists plente and plante as variant spellings of plaunt. The following gloss introduces views and evidence about the meaning of this name.

1. Such evidence as that above for Radulphus Plente leads to Old Postulate 1 that Plant means a `royalist auxiliary'. The early distribution of Pl(a/e)nte records shows them to be generally in proximity to the Warren earls of Surrey who had descended from Geoffrey Plante Genest of Anjou. An 1860 Surname Dictionary and an 1862 book note that the Plant name is supposed to be corrupted from Plantagenet. It is not unknown for servants to have adopted names from their masters.

2. Further considerations lead on to Old Postulate 2 that Plant may allude in some way to illegitimate descent (cf. the Plant Heraldry). Early occurrences of Pl(a/e)nte are found near 1254-8 records for Roger Plantyn, who was an auxiliary to a Warren-Bigod earl, and Plantyn may be considered as a possible diminutive of some other Plant-like name. Diminutives of names are sometimes said to denote illegitimate descent. A 1916 book suggested Plant had such a meaning as a young offspring. The Welsh meaning of plant is children.

3. A 1916 book suggests that the name form de la Plaunt is locative and meant `from the plantation'. This forms a basis for Old Postulate 3 though this also carries such alternative connotations as `from the (Plantagenet) Palatine of Chester' or `from the Plantagenet manor of la Planteland' or `from the plant soul as the first principal of life' (rather as LeVert or de la Greene might mean `of vigorous young growth' and DuPlan(t)e might mean `earthly child' [i.e. minor mundis] or `from the planted Word of creation').

To an extent, the Plant name can be compared with the surnames Children, Child(e), and Young: the Welsh meaning of plant is children. There is also a possible analogy with the fact that Welsh occurrences of the surname Lewis are sometimes said to mean `family or followers of the Llywellyn Princes of Wales': this implies a playfulness with the Llewellyn name. The Warrens, like Llywellyn, participated in the Welsh Wars and there is evidence for a playfulness with the Warren name (e.g. the depiction of rabbit warrens on a Warren family seal). The Warrens were descendents of Geffrey Plante Genest and there may have been a similar playfulness with the Plantagenet name leading to such a Plant-like name as Plantyn

Initial DNA evidence suggests that the Plants descend largely from a single family and this does not directly confirm a traditional view that Plant is a "multi-origin" surname, albeit that there could have been multi-origin by-names before the formation of the hereditary surname.

The DNA findings (so far) do not support the view that the Plants were assorted servants of the `Plantagenet' nobility. A more ambitious contention that the Plants were (illegitimate) Plantagenet children would demand a greater onus of genealogical or DNA `proof'. Nineteenth-century claims to the effect that the Plants were illegitimate Plantagenet offspring can be dismissed as `too fanciful'. For further details of the long-standing debate about this contention, click on: on a possible connection to Plantagenet. The inital DNA evidence does not directly support the view of a 1958 Dictionary if we take its definition gardener to mean assorted scattered servants. An alternative view [J.S.Plant (1998 onwards) in Roots and Branches] has been that there is greater consistency with other Plant-like names, DNA, and locality if the definition is changed from `[metonym] gardener, planter' to `[ontological metaphor] offshoot, offspring'. I have published this in Volume 28 of the scholarly journal Nomina.

The Welsh word plant means children. The early meaning of planta (Latin) and plante (Old English) was a `shoot for propagation'; and there is evidence, in Middle English and early English books, that some people took the `offshoot' meaning of plante and mapped it up the Great Chain of Being to get `offspring' for a person. In Irish and in the historic Palatine of Chester, this word had the similar meaning scion or child.

Another possibility is that the original spelling of Plant may have been Plente, meaning `abundant' or `fertile', and this may have been inspired partly by impolite sense to the Plante Genest nickname. Shortly afterwards, the spelling of Plente may have been sanitised to Plante or Plonte, meaning `children'; and, still later, the Plantegenest nickname became sufficiently embellished with godly sense to make it acceptable as a royal surname.

The modern surname Plenty, and perhaps also Plant, may have derived from Plente. This possible theory has not yet been tested by a DNA investigation of the surname Plenty, however, to see if the Plentys belong to the same male-line family as Plant.

A more godly sense to Plantagenet can be related to `Plantagenet favoured' concepts of The Plant Soul providing collocations that relate to the implantation of seed, vertu, the Lord's creative Word, and the vegetable soul with its powers of growth and generation. A likely meaning for Plant can then be summarised as `a descended soul or descendant'.

This might be taken simply to imply religious `heavenly descent', since a local usage of plaunten around the main Plant homeland applied to the Lord's planted creation. However, the DNA finding that the Plants seem to be largely the offspring of a single family on earth mitigates against a meaning God's children. This also makes other published opinions seem less likely.

By the later 14th century, the Plant (or Plont) surname was hereditary in its Cheshire/Staffordshire homeland, to where it might perhaps have migrated from 13th century East Anglia. In both localities, there is evidence of a Welsh influence, as well as evidence of the surname Child: this supports the idea that Plant might have meant offspring throughout at least most of its formation. Instead of the previously suggested meaning young offspring as a nickname, the DNA evidence now makes it seem possible that Plant was a name of relationship literally meaning offspring from some (implied but unspecified) forefather. The more specific question of `descent from whose generation' remains unanswered.

In short, it is possible that there could have been some cultural influence from the Plante Genest nickname but there is no evidence that the Plants were genetically related to the Plantagenets. It is possible that the English Plants began with an `abundant' or `fertile' meaning to their name, with the spelling Plente, and that this had been influenced by a `hairy shoot' meaning to Plante Genest. Though the nature of this influence may not seem obvious, a medieval study reveals that there was a metaphysical connection, since the plant powers (i.e. vegetable soul) of a hairy shoot (Plantagenet) brought forth the plenty (Plente) of growth and offspring. Then, with the spelling Plante or Plonte, the `fertile' meaning of Plente could have been sanitised to `offspring', if that was not indeed the meaning of the Plant surname from its outset for this family.

Along with `hairy shoot' another satirical meaning of Plantagenet was cleansed, it seems. This name had a sense of base generation since, in Welsh, planta means to procreate, with similar meaning found in archaic English, and genet can mean a horse. Such a sense of bestial generation, in the common culture, evidently attained more decorum with Grosseteste's philosophy of godly creation; and this cleansing of an offensive meaning can explain the long delay before Plantagenet became accepted as a royal surname. I have published an academic paper, giving further details, including an Appendix relating to the cultural context of the Plant surname: J.S.Plant (2007) The tardy adoption of the Plantagenet surname, Nomina, Vol 30, pp. 57-84.

Still more recently, I have conjectured that the Welsh meaning `children' should be taken more literally, as the name could have been coined for the `many (polygynous) children of some unspecified forefather'. This would help to explain the evidence of an abnormally large population of DNA-matching Plants, as is discussed elsewhere on this website.

That is not to say, however, that there are not those who still persist with a gardener interpretation, especially for one early instance of the Plant by-name. That is not remiss in itself, except that `gardener' has often been presented as the only meaning. In particular, this meaning is justified in Hull, away from the Plants' main homeland though, upon closer examination, the evidence is debatable even there. Different meanings might have developed near and far from the surname's main homeland near Wales and, in the end, it may be appropriate to allow more than one meaning for the name, to match different contexts in different localities. Certainly, the medieval word plaunt had various meanings. My current thinking is to identify three particular hypotheses:

1. Gardener - in many ways, this theory is unconvincing though it has persisted for over half a century;

2. Offspring - this century-old explanation is compatible with more of the evidence and assumes particular significance in the surname's main homeland, near Wales, since the Welsh meaning is `children' or more generally throughout Celtic tradition `clan';

3. From la Planta - though the Alps are very distant from England, the latest evidence reveals an early migration of the Plante name from there to London and the earliest known evidence for the hereditary name is Planta in the Swiss Alps; also, an early `de la Planta' form of the name means precisely that and there are traces of its subsequent development into Plant.

These three hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Thus, the first meaning was evidently (3) above; and, the meanings (2) and (1) may have subsequently developed, or arisen independently, in different localities. In particular, meaning (2) is best evidenced for the surviving surname of the main English Plant family.

One further aspect of by-names that has received little attention is the direct link between occupations and nicknames. ... but occasionally the context supports the inference. For example, Reaney's explanation of Plant as a by-name for a gardener received little support from John Plant in his recent article [Plant J.S., 2005. Modern Methods and a Controversial Surname Nomina 28: 115-33] on the surname and yet `William Plant, gardiner' was a Hull taxpayer in 1379.

merchant (Geoffrey Plaunt in 1273); once bailiff of Marsfelde (Robert Plonte in c.1280); priest (Henry Plante in 1350); draperie (Will. Plante in 1376); agricole (Johannes Plante in 1381); and, chaplain (William Plonte in 1386).

A more comprehensive view is that the name originally meant `from the Planta' region of the Alps. This is supported by the 1350 record for the London priest, who was from Risole, evidently Risoul in the French Alps. The name then might have morphed or arisen independently for a gardener near Hull and to mean clan or children near Wales.

Reference: Dr John S. Plant (2001) Roots and Branches, Issue Number 21, etc.

For the gardener hypothesis, Reaney orginally used a partial argument, basing it on a couple of selected `Plant like' names. A fuller set of possible interpretations of such names is as follows:-

	-
Plant(a/e)genet	de facto establisher lord, or a horse borne establisher, or (from the) plant-horse genera, or perhaps an implanter of ingenuity, or more usually the meaning is said to be `sprig of broom', which is a hairy shoot
	-
Plantebene	hallowed establisher offshoot, or a pleasant establisher child, or a favour of the plant soul, or a petitioner of prayer to the Virgin Mary, or an implanter of little or nothing, or an implanter of (human) seed, or a gardener
	-
Plantefolie	wickedness offshoot, or foolishness or sinfulness establisher child, or an implanter of contrition of crime, or an implanter of wickedness, or perhaps a foot fuller or a foal borne establisher
	-
Plente	abundant or generous or fertile, or Nature's plenty, or an imparter of plenarty of the plant soul, or a variant spelling of Plante or Palente
	-
Palente	from the palace or palatine with associated rights
	-
Planterose	courtly establisher child, or an implanter of pride or praise, or an infuser of the virtue of the Virgin Mary, or a surveyor, or an establisher of land rights or order, or a gardener, or an aroused shoot, or a resurrected or ascended or elevated or augmented plant soul, or an implanter of females
	-
Plantyn or Plante	Nature's child, or an implanter of the augmentative or generative powers of the plant soul, or an imparter of virtue or gallantry, or an offshoot or offspring, or the Welsh meaning children
	-
le Plaunter	establisher, or infuser, or planter
	-
de la Planta or de la Plaunt	of the plant soul, or from the first principal of life, or from the shoot, or offshoot or offspring, or from the Alpine region of La Planta
	-
Plantefene	eager implanter, or happy child, or perhaps a shoot or spear lunger
	-
Von Planta, Planta	from the shoot, or from the first principal of life, or from the garden source of the River Inn (Engadin)
	-

Though these interpretations include some occupational meanings that are easy to understand in our modern world, these mundane allusions vary widely from a gardener, to a foot fuller, to a surveyor, to a spear lunger and they provide little or no consistent meaning for the name Plant. On the the other hand, an understanding of the medieval plant soul leads to a more consistent set of meanings whereby the name Plant can be interpreted as an offspring with implantation of soul that is virtuous or informed by the Lord, in keeping with the religious offices of some early Plants. In particular, in the main Plant homeland, near Wales, the Welsh meaning `children' is pertinent and the Plant surname may well have originated in this main homeland though, for early records such as de la Planta, which may or may not be genetically related to the main Plant family, there is also a possible locative interpretation `from the Planta' region.

Some early `Plant like' name records

Early records for `Plant like' names can be grouped into possible antecedants of the Pallant, Plenty and Plant surnames though there are, in principle, possible early inter-connections. For example, Palente may have been confused with Plente, which can be confused with Plante. There are also indications of early developments between such forms as de la Planta, de Plant', de la Plaunt, Plaunt, Plonte, de Plantes, Plante, and Plant.

Plant

1202	Geffrey Plante Genest's grandson, king John, captured his nephew Arthur of Brittany at Mirebeau in the Anjou-Poitou Marches on 1st August; and, a few weeks later, Emeric de la Planta alias de Plant' was dispossessed of lands there in Chinon and Loud[un]. Normandy Rolls.
1244	Bishop Vokart (of Chur) appointed Andreas Planta von Z(ouz), the Chancellor of Upper Engadine and so confirming the hegemony of the Planta family in the Zouz (Zutz or Suoz) neighbourhood lasting until 1798.
1262	Plaunte William, Essex, Forest Pleas
1273	de la Plaunt and Plaunt, 3 Rouen merchants, Patent Rolls
1275	Plauntes William, Norfolk, Rotuli Hundrederum
1279	Plante William, Cambridge, Rotuli Hundrederum
1279	At Burgh in Lincolnshire, `assize of mort dancestor arraigned by Alan son of Hugh Plante against John son of John Plante, touching land in.' Newly transcribed Patent Rolls
c1280-1303	Robert Plonte, of Saltford, once bailif of Marsfelde [Bath BC 151/4/14, 151/4/15]
1282	de Plantes Henry, appeal in Huntingdonshire, Patent Rolls
1301	Plant Richard, rights to coal, Ewelowe near Chester, Flint [Pipe Rolls Cheshire in LCRS 92, 205]
1303	Johannes Plonte [S.L.Thrupp and H.B.Johnson (1964) The earliest Canterbury freeman's rolls 1298-1363 in Kent Records (Ashford, 1912-) Kent Archaeological Society 18 181]
1328	Thomas Plonte and Robert his son [Bath BC 151/3/55]
1329	Robert Plonte son of Walter Plonte [Bath BC 151/2/46, 151/2/47]
1340	Robert son of Thomas Plonte [Bath BC 151/3/56]
1340-49	Robert Plonte [Bath BC 151/2/27, 151/2/28, 151/2/48, 151/2/25, 151/6/70, 151/5/90]
1344	Plant John, son of Alan, of Burgh Marsh co. Lincoln, Patent Rolls
1349	mention of tenement of John Plonte [Bath BC 151/2/42]
1350	cottage of William Plante. Deed dated 2 Oct 1350 at Haughley in Suffolk
1350	Henry Plante of Risole, priest of the diocese of London. Clergy, the religious and the faithful in Britain and Ireland
1352	Plant James, and others carried away goods at Welles, Warham and Styvekey co. Norfolk, Patent Rolls
c1360	mention of land of Walter Plonte [Bath BC 151/2/38]
1360 onwards	First known Plants in main homeland, as yet 2 with the surname Plontt have been found by 1360 and at least 7 in 35 entries in the 1370s, Macclesfield Court Rolls, east Cheshire
1373	Plontt Thomas had failed to pay the fee or fine for pasturing a bullock at the Black Prince's vaccary at Midgley, Macclesfield Court Rolls
1376	Will. Plante, draperie, Leicester Borough Archives
1379	William Plant, gardiner, taxpayer, Hull, East Riding Yorks
1379	John and Richard Plont, sued, trespassing herds of cows at Quarford, north Staffordshire
1381	Johannes Plante, agricole, Great Finsborough, Suffolk, Poll Tax returns
1381	wife of Walterus Plante amongst family servants at Pentlow, Essex, Poll Tax returns
1381	Thomas Plonte surrendered himself at Stafford to the complaint by the widow of John de Warton that he had abetted other Leek men in her husband's murder. Thomas was released on finding security for good behaviour. R+B,2,7. Historical context. A royal commission in 1379 had noted that the Abbot of Dieulacres, in order to control the area, had used armed men, 'to do all the mischief they can to the people in the county of Stafford and that they have lain in wait for them, assaulted, maimed, and killed some, and driven others from place to place...' In 1380 the abbot himself was arrested and imprisoned following the incident during which John de Wharton had been beheaded by men on the abbot's orders. Tellingly, the abbot was soon pardoned and released.
1383-84	Ranulph Plont (father of John Plont snr and grandfather of William Plont and John Plont jnr), leasing land at Rainow, east Cheshire. Macclesfield Court Rolls
1386	Plonte William, chaplain (land of prior and convent of Bath), rent in Olveston. Patent Rolls
1394	Plaint John, aged 60 years or more, witness at Lincoln to proof of age of John of Gaunt's mistress's husband's son - John Plaint had been servant to Master Thomas de Sutton, Calendar of Inquisitions
1395	John Plonte witnessed a conveyance of John de Grenley of land in Leek to Thomas Payge. R+B,2,7
1401	witness John Plonte the Younger of Overton. Staffordshire Historical Collections 1928 41, Ancient Deeds Preserved at the Wodehouse, Wombourne 76 2/65
1406	Edward Plont gained from the Abbot of Dieulacres Abbey, near Leek in north Staffordshire, a lease for 39 years of two mess' one croft called Calwoheye de Roche Graunge. R+B,2,7

Pallant

1285	ate Palente John, Sussex, Assize Rolls
1296	de Palenta John, Sussex, Subsidy Rolls
1343	Plente John, messuage of land, vicar of the cathedral church of Chichester, Sussex, Patent Rolls

Plenty

1219	Radulphus Plente (Oxon) Et in operatione castri de Oxon' infra idem castrum xxiij li. et iij s. et iiij d. per breve R. et per visum Petri de Haliwell' et Radulfi Plente. Et in reparatione domorum R. extra villam lxv s. per breve R. et per visum eorundem. [3 Henry III Pipe Rolls]
1219	William Plente (Kent) Et de dim. m. de Willelmo Plente pro panno vendito contra assisam. [3 Henry III Pipe Rolls]
1230	Simon Plente (York) Et de dim. m. de Willelmo filio Ailredi et Simone Plente pro eodem. (By reference back to the preceding records eodem equates to dissaisina.) [14 Henry III Pipe Rolls]
1230-1	Radulphus Plente [ A cartulary of the Hospitals of St John the Baptist, ed H.E.Slater (1914) in Oxford Historical Society Publications 68, 202]
1272	Symon Plente [Feet Fines Oxf. in Oxfordshire Record Society: Record Series (Oxford, 1919-) 12, 200]
1272-84	William Plente (and then his widow Gerbergia) of Ormesby (Norfolk) --- charter for piece of land at Hemesby [Norwich Cathedral Charters]
1307-26	Matillide Plente, Bosham. [Register of Bishop Walter de Stapeldon of Exeter, concerning Clerks and Clergy of Cornwall and Devon, 1307-26, p 56]
1342	Plente Walter, Exeter co. Devon, Patent Rolls
1343	Plente John, messuage of land, vicar of the cathedral church of Chichester, Patent Rolls
1343	Plente John, witness at Theydene Boys on release of claim to lands in Theden Boys, Close Rolls
1345, 1346	acolite Walter Plente [Register of Bishop John de Trillek of Hereford, Clerks and Clergy of Herrefordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire, pp. 419, 431]
1348	At Prestbury, Walter, son of William Plente of Bishop's Castle [Register of Bishop John de Trillek of Hereford, p. 399]
1349	sub-deacon Walter son of John Plente; deacon Walter Plente [Register of Bishop John de Trillek of Hereford, pp. 486, 491]
1350	presbiter Walter Plente de Castro episc., ad ti. domus de Sandone [Register of Bishop John de Trillek of Hereford, p. 543]
1364	Plente Roger of Exeter, license to take 20 packs of large cloth of divers colours from port of Exeter to Gascony, Spain, and other parts beyond seas; and to return with wine and other merchandise to the ports of London, Suthampton, Sandwich or Exeter, Patent Rolls
1364	Plente Roger, right to be collector of customs at Exeter, Fine Rolls
1364	Plente Roger, searcher of gold and silver exported without license in the county of Devon, assault on, Patent Rolls
1365	Plente Roger, merchant of Exeter, his ship `le Ceorge' of Exmouth, Patent Rolls
1367	Plente Roger, king's minister in Devon, Patent Rolls
1368	Plente Roger, collector of customs in port of Exeter, Patent Rolls
1386	Plente Reynold, rights to yearly rent had been granted by William Botreaux, knight, the elder, Inquisition at Launceston Cornwall
1394	Pleyntif Richard, Somerset, Patent Rolls

Other

1164	Geffrey Plante Genest's illegitimate son, Hamelyn, from Anjou, married Isabel de Warenne and inherited the earldom of Surrey with traditional lands in Norfolk etc. Hamelyn's offspring may have retained some cultural connection to the `de la Planta' name from their ancestral home of Anjou, though surviving primary evidence for the early use of the Plant(a/e)genet name is sparse.
1188-99	Plan' Roger de, Chester's Charters
1199	Radulphus Plantebene (Norfolk) [1 John Pipe Rolls]
1200	Radulphus Planteben' (Norfolk and Suffolk) [2 John Pipe Rolls]
1209	Plantefolie Gilbert, Leic', Curia Regis
1210	Plantefene Andrew, Inhabitants of Leicester (1103-1327).
1214	Planet' Susan de, Jelding' Kent, Curia Regis
1220	Plantan' William, Suff', Curia Regis
1221	Planetis Ralph de, Kent, Curia Regis
1226	Plantefolie John, Somerset, Curia Regis
1230	Planterose Robert, Warr' Wigorn', Curia Regis
1254	Plantin Roger, serjent of E. of Norfolk, Close Rolls
1258	Plantyn Roger, butler of E. of Norfolk, Close Rolls
1258	Plantyn Roger, lands in Norfolk, Patent Rolls
1263	Plauntefolie Maud, Weston', Close Rolls
1266	Plauntegenet Galfrido, serjent at arms, Wodestock, Close Rolls
1267	Ph'us filius Elye Plauntefolye, Nottingham. Fine Rolls
1268	Planteng' Roger, Guldeford' Norff', Close Rolls
1270	Plantefolie Adam, Welle Fanerwal' (co. York), Close Rolls
1285	Plauntain Henry, Patent Rolls
1310	Johannes Planterose [Two Bedfordshire subsidy listings ed S.H.A.Hervey (1925) Suffolk Green Books 18 87]
1341	le Plaunter Henry, Cambridge-Huntingdon border dispute, Patent Rolls

Some Alpine context and a background of the earldom of Chester and Lincoln

It is misleading to place too much emphasis on any one isolated record for the medieval Plant name. However, the following is an attempt to outline some of the general context for some of the available records.

There are some indications of a French, or still earlier Alpine, context to the name. In the Swiss Alps, Zuoz was the site of the Stammhaus, or original castle of the family of Planta, who as far back as 1139, in the times of Geffrey Plante Genest (1113-51), held the Engadine in feof. An early known Plant record, in 1202, in Anjou in western France, can be related to the feuding of Arthur of Brittany and his uncle King John, grandson of Count Geffrey Plante Genest (Plantagenet) of Anjou. It is unclear whether the early Plant records in Angevin France, in 1202 and 1273, were directly related to the noble Planta family, whose hegemony in the Upper Engadine is confirmed in the 1244 record listed above. Also in the Alps, Verbier Castle was probably built in the twelfth century and belonged to the Duchy of Savoy though it was largely destroyed in the Battle of La Planta in 1475.

In England, a Savoyard influence became important in the mid thirteenth century after the 1236 marriage of King John's son, Henry III, to Eleanor of Provence whose uncle, Peter of Savoy, had been granted lands in England by 1240. Peter was appointed guardian of Warenne lands, for example, including the Manor of Boston in south Lincolnshire and the Honour of Lewes in Sussex. These two places coincide with two early instances of the Plant name in England - in 1279, the Plante name was hereditary, apparently for three generations, at Burgh near Boston; and, around 1280, a Plonte is described as `once bailif of Marsfelde', which could have been the one near Lewes. Alpine Savoyard origins might also be associated with the 1301 record of the industrious Richard Plant in Flintshire, who might be set in the context of a Savoyard master mason who, in 1280-82, oversaw, on behalf of Henry III's son, King Edward I, the building of Flint Castle across the river Dee from Chester; this castle was partly rebuilt after a Welsh attack in 1294. Later, the 1350 mention of the London priest Henry Plante of Risole evidently refers to Risoul in the French Alps.

There might also have been associations of the Plant name with traditions ensuing from the earlier English earldom of Chester and Lincoln. As already indicated, the earliest known evidence that the Plant name was hereditary in England is the listed 1279 Plante record for Burgh in Lincolnshire, which suggests that the Plante name had been hereditary for one or two generations previously. A 1344 Plant record for Burgh Marsh indicates that the family was still there some time later. Burgh-le-marsh in Lincolshire is about 16 miles from Boston and 9 miles from Bolingbroke Castle which had been built by Randulf de Blundeville, earl of Chester, and earl of Lincoln from 1217, who also held Huntingdon, which is the location of the de Plantes listed record dated 1282. In 1189, Ranulph had married Countess Constance of Brittany, the widowed daughter-in-law of Geffrey Plante Genest; and, in 1214, he had founded Dieulacres Abbey, near Leek, to relocate the community of Poulton Abbey to the other side of Cheshire, safer from attacks from the Welsh. In 1237, the earldom was annexed by the crown. The Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, was buying wool from Dieulacres in 1347 and the Abbey owned land near Macclesfield, the location of the Prince's stud farm. Subsequently, there is evidence that the hereditary Plant surname was established in its main homeland, around both Macclesfield and Dieulacres, astride the Cheshire-Staffordshire border, as evidenced in the listed Plont(e) records of 1360, 1373, 1379, 1381, 1383-84, 1395, and 1406.

John of Gaunt, another son of Edward III, acquired Bolingbroke Castle in south Lincolnshire and lived there during the 1360s and 1370s. In 1394, a sexagenerian John Plaint appeared as a witness at Lincoln in connection with the issue of John of Gaunt's earlier extra-marital affair. The Angevin Warennes, descendants of count Geffrey Plante Genest, had by then relocated their main base to Poynton in east Cheshire, near Macclesfield in the main (?subsequent) Plant homeland. The 1352 Plant record can be tentatively associated with this relocation to east Cheshire from the Warenne's Hundred in Norfolk. Migration to the south from east Cheshire might have related partly to the fact that Dieulacres Abbey was a major landholder in Staffordshire; and, as indicated by the listed 1381 Plonte record, the maintenance of these land-holding rights attracted more attention than might be imagined from a more usual view of religious duties for the eleven monks in 1381 at Dieulacres.

How any of this relates to the modern Plant surname is a matter for conjecture and ongoing investigation, except to say that there was an early secondary cluster of the Plant name around Bolingbroke in south Lincolnshire, with the main cluster of the name persisting around Dieulacres, in Leek parish, at the northernmost tip of Staffordshire, just over the border from east Cheshire. This is described further elsewhere on this web site.

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