Boudica

[Mary Jane Battaglia]

Although this is Off Topic (or at least, Too Early a Topic) I would appreciate some suggestions from readers as to where to find some accurate information on REAL early British history..
A neighbor with the surname of PEABODY claims descent from kin of Queen Boudica (Boadicea) who participated in the revolt against Rome in AD 60.
My only source, "BOUDICA, the British Revolt against Rome AD 60" by Graham Webster, 1978, identifies Boudica's spouse as Prasutagus, a client king of the Iceni. Was he Roman or Iceni?
My neighbor claims that a kinsman of Boudica, named "Boadie," a patriarch of one of the Icena tribes, escaped the crushing defeat of the Romans and fled into the hills of Wales where a prefix was added to his name (PEA representing a significant hill or a mountain)--thus evolving into Pea-boadie.
Personally, I think that's a bit of a stretch, but he's elderly and I don't want to hurt his feelings since he feels a strong connection to Queen Boudica. However, for my own edification, does anyone have suggestions for more recent sources of either "Peabody" or "Boudica."
mjbattaglia

[John Townsend]

>A neighbor with the surname of PEABODY claims descent from kin of Queen
Boudica (Boadicea) who participated in the revolt against Rome in AD 60.

On the surface this sounds, to put it mildly, unlikely. When the Romans
eventually took their revenge, it is said that Boudica's army was
annihilated. It is almost unthinkable that any of the queen's close
adherents could have been allowed to live long after that battle.

>However, for my own edification, does anyone have suggestions for more
recent sources of either "Peabody" or "Boudica."

The sole reference to "Peabody" given in Burke's Family Index is to
"Distinguished Families of the U.S.A." Ironically, this family is said to
have been formerly of St. Albans - one of the towns which Boudica destroyed
while she was on the rampage!

Best wishes,

John Townsend
Genealogist/Antiquarian Bookseller
http://www.johntownsend.demon.co.uk

[paulv...@gmail.com]

"Mary Jane Battaglia" wrote:

> A neighbor with the surname of PEABODY claims descent from kin of Queen Boudica (Boadicea) who participated in the revolt against Rome in AD 60.

There are no written records for Britain until about 500 AD.

> My only source, "BOUDICA, the British Revolt against Rome AD 60" by Graham Webster, 1978, identifies Boudica's spouse as Prasutagus, a client king of the Iceni. Was he Roman or Iceni?

Prasutagus was a Briton, the King of the Iceni. Boudicca was his widow.

> My neighbor claims that a kinsman of Boudica, named "Boadie," a patriarch of one of the Icena tribes, escaped the crushing defeat of the Romans and fled into the hills of Wales where a prefix was added to his name (PEA representing a significant hill or a mountain)--thus evolving into Pea-boadie.

The Welsh did not adopt surnames until very recently, so ancient Welsh
surnames do not exist.

"Pea" does not mean mountain; it means "pea" (as in peacock).

Boadie is not a first century AD British name; it is the English word
"body".

Hence Peabody means "a showy person" (Hanks & Hodges "A Dictionary of
Surnames").

[WJho...@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/6/2006 12:44:39 PM Pacific Standard Time,
paulv...@gmail.com writes:

"Pea" does not mean mountain; it means "pea" (as in peacock).

When you say "Pea" ...means "pea" do you mean
"a small round green vegetable" ?

[Renia]

WJho...@aol.com wrote:

A peacock is a beatiful male blue bird with exhuberant plumage.

A pea is a small green vegetable.

There is no recent genealogical relationship between the two.

[Leo van de Pas]

What if the peacock eats the pea, then there is some relationship I would
think :-)

Sometimes it is interesting to use a dictionary. In mine, the Pea and the
Peacock each have their own entry.
Pea - a new singular formed from pease (Pease is there also with same
description)
there is quite a lot with all kinds of peas (plants)
Pea - (separate entry) a pea fowl ec.
Peacock - genus (Pavo) of large birds of the pheasant kind

I cannot find any reference to Peabody. Could it be tall tale told, later
taken literally?
Leo

[Renia]

I don't know. But in Sussex, there is a village called Pease Pottage.
For many years, the roadsigns were spellt Peas Pottage, and some local
wag used to rush out with his paintbrush, and add the extra "e". Now,
the signs all say Pease Pottage, with the "e".

[Jwc...@aol.com]

Dear Will, Leo, Renia and others,
I believe Peabody is a
relatively recent spelling of the name. In the seventeenth century a more common
form was Pabodie.

Sincerely,

James W Cummings

Dixmont, Maine USA

[Clive West]

Forgetting about the peas and getting back to the original question, it is impossible for anyone to have evidence that they are descended from Queen Boadicea or her family. The earliest source of information about Boadicea and the only one which might be considered reliable are a couple of pages in the Annals (Book XIV 31-39) of the Roman historian Tacitus, who was writing about 30-40 years after she reputedly took poison. The only relatives whom he mentions are her husband and two unnamed daughters.

Clive West

[rockcreek...@gmail.com]

As for written records of Britain, check writings by Julius Caesar, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio. All before 500 AD.