Cheshire Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Cheshire Origin:

England

Origins of Cheshire:

This interesting and unusual name is of an old English origin and is habitational from the division in North West England. It was first listed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of 980 as “Legecaesterscir”, and after that in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Cestrescire”, which is a combination of the name of the district town Chester and the Old English pre 7th Century word “scir”, which means county or division, with the previous first component “lege”, which means under Roman atmosphere, from the Latin word “legionum”, fighters, soldiers. So, the whole meanings of the name mean an army town. In the new style, the derivations contain as Chesshire, Chesshyre, Cheshir, Chesher, Chesser and Chessor. Habitational names were often developed by old residents as a source of recognition. Recorded in the National Biography is an important name heritor, John Cheshire (1695-1762), a doctor who released treaties on rheumatism and gout.

Variations:

More common variations are: Cheshirre, Cheschire, Cheshir, Cheshure, Cheshira, Cheshare, Chesheir, Cheshrie, Cheshrre, Cheshyre.

England:

The origins of the surname Essex were found in Cheshire where people held a family seat from early times. Someone say better before the success of Normans and the entrance of Duke William at Hastings1066 A.D.

The very first recorded spelling of the family was shown to be that of Richard de Cestesir, dated about 1219, in the “Yorkshire Assize Court.” It was during the time of King Henry III who was known to be the “The Frenchman,” dated 1216 – 1272. The origin of surnames during this period became a necessity with the introduction of personal taxation. It came to be known as Poll Tax in England.

Ireland:

Many of the people with surname Cheshire had moved to Ireland during the 17th century.

United States of America:

Individuals with the surname Cheshire settled in the United States in three different centuries respectively in the 17th, 18th, and 19th. Some of the people with the name Cheshire who settled in the United States in the 17th century included William Cheshire, who arrived in Maryland in 1664.

Some of the people with the surname Cheshire who settled in the United States in the 18th century included Thomas Cheshire settled in New England in 1700. John Cheshire arrived in Maryland in 1731.

The following century saw many more Cheshire Surnames come. Some of the people with the surname Cheshire who settled in the United States in the 19th century included Samuel Cheshire in New York, NY in the year 1811. Sarah Cheshire, Andrew Cheshire and Andrew Cheshire who arrived from Ireland in New York in the same year 1816 during the 19th century.

Canada:

Some of the people with the surname Cheshire who settled in Canada in the 18th century included George Cheshire, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749-1752. James Cheshire and William Cheshire, both landed in Nova Scotia in the same year 1749. Geo Cheshire and Mary Cheshire, both landed in Nova Scotia in the same year 1750.

Australia:

Some of the people with the surname Cheshire who settled in Australia in the 19th century included Joseph Cheshire and William Cheshire, both are English prisoner from Staffordshire, who shifted aboard the “Anna Maria” in March 1848, settling in Van Diemen’s Land, Australia.

New-Zealand:

Some of the people with the surname Cheshire who settled in New Zealand in the 19th century included George Cheshire, who was a worker, at the age of 21 arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship “Alma” in the year 1857.

Here is the population distribution of the last name Cheshire: United States 3,850; England 3,694; Australia 655; South Africa 329; Wales 305; Canada 268; Germany 202; Scotland 184; New Zealand 99; Northern Ireland 60.

Notable People:

Stuart Cheshire is an outstanding Engineer, Scientist and an expert in Technology (DEST) at Apple. He was selected as a manager at Zeroconf networking while working at Apple. Zeroconf was originally published by Apple as Rendezvous, but after sometimes renamed Bonjour. Originally, he rewrote the book Zero Configuration Networking: The Definitive Guide, announced by O’Reilly, with Daniel H Steinberg. He is also the writer of Bolo, a networked tank game, ultimately composed for the BBC Micro and after sometime ported to the Apple Macintosh.

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

Notes: (Dublin; granted in Ireland, 1618; Henry Cheshire, some time Sheriff of Dublin, d. 5 Oct., 1622, Fun. Ent. Ire.). Blazon: Az. on a bend betw. two arrows ar. three fusils gu. Crest—A leopard’s head ar. jessant three roses gu. leaved vert.