Contents [hide]

Trumble History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Trumble History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

An ancient Scottish tribe called the Boernicians were the ancestors of the first people to use the surname Trumble. It is a name for a man named Rule (sometimes Ruel) who saved King Robert the Bruce at Stirling Park from a charging bull by turning the bull's head.

According to tradition, the King rewarded Rule with lands in Bedrule, and instructed him to change his name to Turnbull. This same man, Rule, is said to have served at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, against the English. Rule preceded the Scottish Army into battle with a huge black dog, and challenged any Englishman to fight him. Sir Robert Venal of Norfolk accepted his challenge and killed both Rule and his dog. 1 While the account of the fight is most certainly true and well documented, the legend behind the name Turnbull is questionable.

Early Origins of the Trumble family

The surname Trumble was first found in Roxburghshire. Referring to the aforementioned Rule reference, there was a noble family of Rule, which derived its name from the Water of Rule, an affluent of the Teviot.

This family dates back to 1214 when King William the Lion of Scotland granted lands to Alan de Rule. If the bull episode is true, then the bearer was either Adam de Rule or Thomas de Rule, the two Rule chieftains who appeared on the Ragman Rolls in 1296, just after the Stirling Park affair.

Later, King Robert the Bruce did in fact grant lands in the west of Fulhophalche to William Turnbull in 1315. King David II also granted the lands of Humdallwalschop (now Hundleshop) to John Turnbull. 1

The source "The History of Liddesdale and the Debatable Land" includes the following entries for the family: David Trumbull or Turnbull, 1494; George Trumbull or Turnbull, 1404-5; Jock Trumble, 1544; and Wat Trombull, 1562. 2

Early History of the Trumble family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Trumble research. Another 389 words (28 lines of text) covering the years 1214, 1296, 1315, 1329, 1333, 1400, 1447, 1450, 1454, 1545, 1562, 1591, 1633 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Trumble History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trumble Spelling Variations

Spelling rules only evolved in the last few centuries with the invention of the printing press and the first dictionaries. Spelling variations are extremely common in names from before that period. Trumble has been spelled Turnbull, Turnball, Trimble, Trimbell, Trumbell, Trumbill, Turnbul and many more.

Early Notables of the Trumble family

Notable amongst bearers of this family name during their early history was William Turnbull (d. 1454), Bishop of Glasgow, who procured from the pope a charter to establish a university in the city...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Trumble Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trumble Ranking

In the United States, the name Trumble is the 14,728^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Trumble family to Ireland

Some of the Trumble family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trumble migration to the United States +

After making their great crossing, many Boernician-Scottish families settled along the east coast of North America. When the War of Independence broke out, United Empire Loyalists moved north to Canada while the rest stayed to fight. The ancestors of many of these Scots still populate the continent. This century, through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations, they began to rediscover their collective national heritage. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Trumble or a variant listed above:

Trumble Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Mica Trumble, who arrived in Maryland in 1675 4

Trumble Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Miss Trumble, aged 31, who settled in America, in 1895

Trumble Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Archibald Trumble, aged 39, who landed in America from Belfast, Ireland, in 1909
Robert A Trumble, aged 49, who landed in America, in 1910
Kate Trumble, aged 31, who landed in America from Croydon, England, in 1913
Albert Trumble, aged 26, who settled in America from Reading, England, in 1913
Eva Trumble, aged 7, who landed in America from Croydon, England, in 1913
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Trumble 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:

Trumble Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Marcus E. Trumble, (b. 1834), aged 27, British labourer travelling from London aboard the ship "Mystery" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 7th January 1862 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Trumble (post 1700) +

Francis Trumble, American chair and cabinetmaker in Philadelphia during the 18th century
Angus Alexander Geoffrey Trumble (1964-2022), Australian scholar, art curator, author and director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia
David Trumble (b. 1986), British film writer/director and political cartoonist for The Sun newspaper
Thomas Trumble CMG, CBE (1872-1954), Australian public servant, Secretary of the Department of Defence during World War I, and Secretary from 1918 to 1927
John William Trumble (1863-1944), Australian cricketer who played 7 Test matches
Robert William Trumble (1919-2011), Australian musician and author
Hugh Trumble (1867-1938), Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches

Citations +

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)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html