|
WATERHOUSE
" dweller in a house near a lake or stream "
The Waterhouse Family
Coat of Arms
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
The family name Waterhouse descended from the Norman race,
frequently presumed to be of French origin although they
were more accurately of Viking origin. The Vikings had landed in the Orkney
Islands and Northern Scotland about 870 AD
under their King, Stirgud the Stout. Thorfinn Rollo, his descendant, landed
in Northern France about the year 940 AD
and laid siege to Paris. The French King, Charles the Simple conceded defeat
and granted Northern France to Rollo.
Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy, the territory of the north men,
married Charles' daughter and converted to
Christianity. Descended from Rollo was Duke William of Normandy ( William
the Conqueror ) who invaded England
in 1066 AD and was victorious of the Saxon King Harold at Hastings.
Duke William granted his Norman nobles much of the land of England for their
assistance at the Battle of Hastings and
amongst these is believed to be the first known Waterhouse ancestor. The
first record of the name is found in Lincolnshire
in the lands of Kirton in the 13th Century as Ab Aquae Domo, or Sir Gilbert
Waterhouse, to whom the Arms were granted
during the reign of Henry III.
Sir Gilbert's descendant in Kirton in Lindsay in Lincolnshire, through his
son Roger, was a Sir Edward Waterhouse who
was the ancestor of the Waterhouse branches at Hemel Hempstead and
Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire.
They migrated to Ireland to Castle Waterhouse in Fermanagh.
Some ancestors also settled in Dublin where, in the1500's, a Sir Edward
Waterhouse was knighted by the
Lord Deputy of Ireland. Descendants of Sir Gilbert also acquired Hope Hall
and Shibden Hall in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Some of these Yorkshire ancestors then migrated to Derbyshire.
My earliest known ancestors hailed from these ancient lands of Derbyshire.
RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|