ad Montem in Latin literally means “at the hill”. It is included here because it is linked with the name atte hill in more than one instance, while the intriguingly named “Luke of the hill (ad Montem)” in Staffordshire (see detail below) would seem to offer the best support yet for a topographical origin of the name.
One mediaeval form of the family name “Hill” was Atte-Hill. The Hills of Hawkestone, Shropshire, were descended from Hugh de la Hulle (of the Hill); the Hills of Stallington in Staffordshire were descended from the family of De Monte of Castle Morton, Worcestershire. Their name was anglicised to Hyll in the 15th C[1].
This could suggest a link between Hill, atte Hill and ad Montem, but is a little tenuous. The Cambridge and other links below seem more reliable, with further links in Devon between uppe Hill, atte Hill and Hillman in the same family (see atte Hyll and uppe Hylle below).
The name ad Montem also occurs in an old custom at Eton College. This dated from 1561 until 1847, involving the pupil body marching to a small hill some distance from the college, at the same time “salt” was collected – contributions towards the Captain of the School when at Cambridge[2].
There is Bowers (or Bewers) ad Montem parish, as well as the Manor of Estaynes ad Montem (now Great Easton) in Essex, NW of Colchester[3].
The church of St. Mary, Billingsgate in London is variously recorded including “at Hill (apud montem)”, in 1560 (2 Eliz.)[4].
It is unlikely that these three last facts have anything to do with the use of the name to identify a person, but indicate the locational use of ad Montem in names.
It is evident that the name ad Montem is definitely related to a person living with relationship to a geographical hill, and that it may well have been one origin for the name Hillman in later times. The few examples below show how rare it is in the literature – or how limited the availability of the literature for this period is still.
1214 Walter ad Montem (Walt’ ad Mo’tem in the original) in “Dereby” (Derby, Derbyshire) paid 2 merks to the Sheriff relating to a charter[5].
In 1260 Geoffrey ad Montem was witness to a deed in “Stivichall”, Warwickshire[6].
1260-1290 Richard de ate hill was witness to a land grant at Neweham, Cambridge[7].
1271 “Luke of the Hill” (ad Montem) of “Wystewyk” (Westwick, Lichfield, Staffordshire) illegally held soil of the King’s forest without warrant and will lose land and the corn grown on it[8].
1272-1307 Richard ad Montem (Attehill) was witness to a land grant at Grantchester, Cambridge[9].
1296 Bernard ad Montem (Attehill) held land at Newham, Cambridge; transfer of adjoining land was witnessed by Richard ad Montem and Humfrey ad Montem[10].
It is possible that this Richard ad Montem is the same person in both references – Richard ad Montem (Attehill) in Grantchester, Cambridge and/or Richard ad Montem in 1296 at Newnham, Cambridge. The dates overlap completely, and the locations are very close to each other.
1362 (50 Edward III) John ad Montem of Bulwick, Northants, granted land to John Bauston of the same location[11].
| Figure 1 The occurrence of the surname ad Montem in England |
Sources
[1] Lower, Mark. 1860. Dictionary of the Family Names of the United Kingdom; http://www.selectsurnamelist.com/hill2.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_Montem
[3] Catholic Church. Diocese of London. 1904. Registrum Simons de Sudbiria Diocesis Londoniensis A.D. 1362-1375, Volume 38. Canterbury & York Society.
[4] Anc. Deeds, A. 11332
[5] FONS from Commissioner of Public Oaths.
[6] National Archives, DR10/534
[7] http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F2938%2FCCCC09%2F36;recurse=1
[8] FONS from www.british-history.ac.uk
[9] http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F2938%2FCCCC09%2F36;recurse=1
[10] http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F2938%2FCCCC09%2F13%2FCCCC09%2F13%2F1-68
[11] National Archives E 210/5139