Forsee History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The illustrious surname Forsee is classified as a habitation surname, which was originally derived from a place-name, and is one form of surname belonging to a broader group called hereditary surnames. Habitation names were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Topographic names, form the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. Forsee is a place-name from in the parish of Prescot, Lancashire. The surname Forsee is a habitational name, which is a variety of local names, and belongs to the larger category of surnames, known as hereditary surnames.In this case, the name Forsee is derived from Fourgeres, a place-name found in Bretagne, France. It was brought to England by the Bretons who accompanied William the Conqueror in his conquest of England in 1066; while William was a Norman Duke, fully a third of his forces were from Brittany.

Early Origins of the Forsee family

The surname Forsee was first found in Buckinghamshire, where Ralph de Fougeres was tenant in chief and held many Lordships in Buckingham, Devon, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Surrey. The name Forshaw phonetically responds to this Breton name and has been linked to this notable Breton stock, which was descended from Alan, Baron of Fourgeres in Brittany living about 900 A.D. Descended in 1066 was Maine II who was Baron of Fougeres at the time of the Conquest. Maine was succeeded by Raoul or Ralph in 1084 and held his lands in chief in Devon. He was a great benefactor and founded the Abbey of Savigny and the Abbey of Risle which were amongst his vast domains in Normandy. His son Henry became a monk at the Abbey of Savigny. Both Ralph and William de Fougeres attended Duke William at the Conquest.

Early History of the Forsee family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Forsee research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Forsee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Forsee Spelling Variations

Since the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Foreshaw, Foreshawe, Forshaw, Forshawe, Foreshoe, Forshoe, Forshew, Foreshew and many more.

Early Notables of the Forsee family

More information is included under the topic Early Forsee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Forsee migration to the United States +

Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Forsee, or a variant listed above:

Forsee Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Francis Forsee, who immigrated to Powhatan County, Virginia in 1777