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he Anglo Saxon Chronicle related that the ancient deeds and exploits of this founding race. It is an ancient manuscript written about 980 by monks describing the Saxon presence in Britain from about 380 to the late 10th century.
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esearch analysts have carefully reviewed manuscripts, manuscripts such as the Domesday Book, the Ragman Rolls, the Curia Regis Rolls, the Pipe Rolls, the Heart Rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records and other ancient documents and found the first record of the name York, in Wiltshire where they were seated from very ancient times, before and after the Norman Conquest in 1066.
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he name York occured in many manuscripts, but from time to time the surname was also officially splet York, Yorke, and these different spelling versions frequently occured, even between father and son. For example, it was quite common for a person to be born with one spelling, married with another, and yet another to appear on his or her gravestone. Church officals or scriveners spelt the name as it was told to them, phonetically.
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vailabe records indicate that this distinguished family name York is descended originally from this Anglo/Saxon stock. The Saxons were a fair skinned people led by General/Commanders Hengist and Horsa, and settled in England from the Rhine Valley about the year 400 A.D. They settled firstly on the southeast coast but by the 5th century they had already begun probing north and westward, slowly advancing to the Welsh border, and during the next four hundred years forced the Ancient Britons back into Wales and Cornwall to the west, and as far north as Cumbria and Southern Scotland. The Angles, on the other hand, occupied the eastern coast, the south folk in Suffolk, the north folk in Norfolk. On the east coast the Angles frequently ravaged north as far as Northumbria and the Scotish border. Anglo/Saxon rule prevailed for five centuries and the nation divided into five seperate kingdoms, a high king being elected as supreme ruler. Alfred the Great emerged in the 9th century as the Saxon leader to dispel the Danish invasion. This viking intrusion, firstly successful, did more to unite England than any other factor. Finally in 1016, the Danes were massacred and there are few remaining families of this extraction.<
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ngland, in 1066, under Harlod, was enjoying reasonable stability. However, the Norman invasion from France and their victory at the Battle of Hastings, found many of the vanquished Saxon land owners to be forfeited their land by Duke William and his invading nobles. In 1070, Duke William devastated the north with an army of 40,000 men. Many Saxons and rebellious Norman landowners fled north over the border into Scotland.
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s relative peace was restored to the land the family name York emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Wiltshire. They first seated at Carne in Wiltshire, and soon after the Conquest branched to Fillback in Cornwall, and Wellington in Somerset. John York was Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1461. The branched to Dover and the Isle of Thanet. General Sir Joseph York was aide de campe to the Duke of Cumberland. Of this branch notable was the Baron Dover and the Earl of Hardwick. Sir Richard York of Gowthwaite was descended from the Dover branch of the family. He was Mayor of the Staple in Calais. The Erddig branch of the Yorks in Denbigh was the father of the first Earl of Hardwick. In Wales they intermarried with the celebrated Wynne family. Notable amongst the family at this time was General Sir Joseph York.
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urving the elments, the plaques and famines for the next two or three centuries, the surname York flourished and helped shape the culture of the nation. Later, during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, all Britain was ravaged by internal religious conflict. First protestantism, then the newly found poticial fevour of Cromwellianism, and the remnants of the Roman Church rejected all but their adherents, each doctrine fighting for supremacy. These were turbulent times. The conflicts between Church sects, the Crown and political groups all claimed their allegiances and imposed their influence on the population. Clans and families were deliberately broken and disbanded by reigning monarchs to reduce thier political influence. Many were banished to the north, to Scotland, Ireland or to the Colonies. In particular, many families were freely 'encouraged' to migrate to Ireland. Some were rewared with grants of lands at prices no one could refuse.
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n Ireland they became known as the 'Adventures for land in Ireland'. Essentially, government sponsored Protestant settlers 'undertook' to keep their faith, being granted lands previously owned by the Catholic Irish for nominal payment. In Ireland the family settled in Connacht and west Leinster.
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n the midst of this turmoil the New World beckoned the adventrous/ They migrated, some voluntarily from Ireland, but mostly directly from England, their home territories. Some also moved to the European continent. Members of the family name York sailed aboard the armada of small sailing ships know as the 'White Sails' which plied the stormy Atlantic. They were overcrowded ships, pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the passenger list never reached their distination, dying from dysentery, cholera, small px, typhoid and the elements, many being buried at sea.
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mongst the pioneer settlers in NOrth America which could be considered a kinsman of the surname York, or a variable spelling of that family name was John York settled in the Barbados in 1635; James York settled in Virginia in 1635, along with his wife Catherine; Sarah York settled in Jamaica in 1772; Edward Yorke settled in Virginia in 1635.
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rom the overcrowded settlements of the east coast ports many settlers looked westward and joined the wagon trains to the prairies or to the west coast. During the War of Independence, many crown loyalists made their way north to Canada, becoming known as the United Empire Loyalists. They were granted equivalent lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River and in the Niagara Peninsular. Contemporaries of this surname York, include many distinguished contributors, Christopher York, M.P.; The Earl of Hardwick; Herbert York, American Physicist; E.T. York, Educator.
During the course of our research we also determined the many Coat of Arms granted to different branches of the family name.
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms was:
Silver a blue cross (X)
The Crest is:
A lion's head
The ancient family motto for this distinguished name is:
"Nec Cupias Nec Metuas"
