Bosc History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Bosc is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Bosc family once lived near a bush. The name Bosc is derived from the Old Norman buskr, which means bush. The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae listed Gilbert and William le Busc in Normandy 1180-95. 1

Early Origins of the Bosc family

The surname Bosc was first found in Yorkshire. It is likely that the name was first assumed by someone living in this county near a prominent bush. The first known bearer of the name was Richard de la Busce, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1181. 2

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Thomas atte Busk; Agnes at Busk; and Thomas Bosc. 3 Earlier the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had included Hamo le Bosco and Henry del Busk, but no county was listed.

Early History of the Bosc family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bosc research. Another 188 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1181, 1275, 1305, 1379, 1668, 1772, 1780, 1796, 1800 and 1862 are included under the topic Early Bosc History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bosc Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Bosc family name include Busk, Buske, Busce, Bosc, Buscke, Bosk, Busker and many more.

Early Notables of the Bosc family

Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bosc Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bosc Ranking

In France, the name Bosc is the 1,750^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,475 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Bosc family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Bosc surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Anne Buske who arrived in Virginia in 1654; John Busk, who emigrated from London to Maryland in 1736; Conrad Buskey, who settled in Baltimore in 1839.

Contemporary Notables of the name Bosc (post 1700) +

Adrien Jean-Baptiste Amable Ramond du Bosc, Count du Dutaillis, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 5
Sir Edward Bosc Sladen (1827-1890), British army officer, known for his work in India

The Bosc Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Suaviter sed fortiter
Motto Translation: Mildly, but firmly

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 24) Adrien Bosc. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html