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Glasse History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Glasse Surname History

Origins Available:
Germany
Scotland
Ireland
England

The Hebrides islands and Western coastal mountains of Scotland were once part of the ancient kingdom of Dalriada. The name Glasse was born there, as a nickname for a person with gray hair. The surname Glass is derived from the Gaelic word glas, which means gray, however, it may also be a shortened Anglicized form of the surname MacGille Glais, which means son of the gray lad. 1

In England, the name is an occupational name for "one who made or sold glassware." 2

Early Origins of the Glasse family

The surname Glasse was first found in Buteshire (Gaelic Siorrachd Bhòid), an island region of western Scotland within the ancient Kingdom of Dál Riata, now part of the Council Area of Argyll and Bute. Glass is a "parish, of which the name, in the Gaelic language, signifying "grey," is descriptive of the uncultivated portion of its surface, is about eight miles in extreme length, and five miles in extreme breadth, comprising an area of nearly 19,000 acres." 3

Early records of the family are very scarce. The name is thought to be "a shortened form of Mac Gille glais [who were] families locally called barons from the fifteenth century till recently. In 1506 there is record of a grant of half the lands of Langilculcreich in Bute to Alexander Glass. The name is also in record in Perth in 1674, and fifteen of the name are recorded in the Commissariot Record of Dunblane from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century." 4

Much father to the south in Devon, England "the present home of the name of Glass in this county is in the Exbourne district. Nicholas Glass was the name of the mayor of Barnstaple in 1787 and 1804. Glass was the name of two Tiverton churchwardens in 1723 and 1724. The name is also established in Wiltshire." 5

Early History of the Glasse family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Glasse research. Another 150 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1652, 1674, 1695, 1724, 1773 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Glasse History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Glasse Spelling Variations

Translation in medieval times was an undeveloped science and was often carried out without due care. For this reason, many early Scottish names appeared radically altered when written in English. The spelling variations of Glasse include Glass, Glas, MacGilleglas, Glasse and others.

Early Notables of the Glasse family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was John Glas (1695-1773), Scottish sectary, only son of Alexander Glas (d. 1724), minister of Auchtermuchty, Fifeshire, afterwards of Kinclaven, Perthshire. He was born at Auchtermuchty on 21 Sept. 1695. "Glas was of even and cheerful disposition, in company free from professional stiffness, and not without a sense of humour. ‘I too can be grave at times,’...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Glasse Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Glasse family to Ireland

Some of the Glasse family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Glasse migration to the United States +

Many of the ancestors of Dalriadan families who arrived in North America still live in communities along the east coast of Canada and the United States. In the American War of Independence many of the original settlers traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the ancestors of many Scots began recovering their collective national heritage through Clan societies, highland games, and other patriotic events. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Glasse or a variant listed above:

Glasse Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Duning Glasse, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 6

Glasse Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Glasse, who landed in Virginia in 1724 6

Glasse migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Glasse Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Alexander P. Glasse, aged 32, a gardener, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Hindostan" in 1875
Jane B. Glasse, aged 25, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Hindostan" in 1875
Frances E. Glasse, aged 6, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Hindostan" in 1875

Contemporary Notables of the name Glasse (post 1700) +

Dr. Samuel Glasse (1735-1812), English theologian, son of the Rev. Richard Glasse of Purton, Wiltshire
Hannah Glasse (b. 1747), English author of a popular treatise on cookery entitled " ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, which far exceeds any Thing of the kind ever yet Published. … By A Lady. "
George Henry Glasse (1761-1809), English classical scholar and divine, the son of Dr. Samuel Glasse

Citations +

Dixon, Bernard Homer, Surnames. London: John Wilson and son, 1857. Print
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)