The Haunted Borley Rectory
I have searched the internet for the name Borley and found hundreds
of sites on the hauntings of the Borley Rectory. The Rectory is located
in the town of Borley on the Essex-Suffok border, England. It was
originally built in 1863 by the Reverend Henry Bull.
It is believed that in 1362 Benedictine Monks built a monastery on the
site which would  later
hold the rectory. Legend told of a monk from the monastery eloping with
a nun from the Bures nunnery, some seven miles to the southeast. A friend
of the monk was to drive the getaway carriage. They were caught - the
monk hanged, and the nun bricked up alive in the walls of the nunnery.
Tunnels supposedly connected the two locations.
From 1885 onward there have been numerous reports of paranormal activity.
People have reported seeing the nun and then vanishing into thin air,
church bells ringing, ghostly footsteps, etc. The Rectory burnt down
in 1939, however, there are still reports of paranormal activity in
the area.
The Origins Of The Name Borley
No one knows for sure where the name Borley came from. The Penguin
Book of Surnames suggests it's Old English for "boar wood". Similarly,
it could come from the Anglo-Saxon word "barlea" meaning "Boars Pasture".
Borley has also made it into the Oxford English Dictionary as a piece
of dialect. A Borley is a boat used by trawlers about the estuary of
the Thames. "The trawlers sailing in boats known as 'Borley's". (The
Daily Telegraph 18 May 1864).
There are hamlets called Borley in Essex (on its border with Suffolk)
and in Worcestershire (not far from Droitwich).
Kevin Borley tells me the place name was recorded in the Domesday
book of 1086 when detailing the lands and holdings of the Countess
of Amule:" She holds Borley in Lordship which Leofwin, a free man held
before 1066, as a manor for two hides and thirty acres. Value then
and later eight pounds, now twelve pounds" Among the early references
to the name we read of one called Almar de Borlea in the Domesday Book
for Essex and the name of Roger de Borle was recorded in the subsidy
roles for the County of Sussex in 1327. The name traveled overseas
as early as the year 1653 when Anthony Borley was noted amongst the
arrivals in Virginia and no doubt it reached Australia in the Seventeenth
and Eigthteenth Centuries.
Borley Geneology
I was able to trace back Dad's side of the family to our "Great,
Great, Great, Great" Grandfather, John Borley who was born in 1760. However,
I could not find anything on the surname "Button". The
Borley's were all from the same area as the Town of Borley in Suffolk,
England. They stayed in this area from at least 1760 until
1885. They all had large families - Dad's Grandfather, Louis Borley
had 12 children and the previous 2 generations had 9. Dad's Father
and Grandfather died at approximately the same age as Dad, but previous
generations lived longer. Although, there is no information on when
Dad's Great Grandfather died. Click on this link roots
web type in surname Borley and given name Keith to find
out more information.
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