Contents [hide]

Blanch History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Blanch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Ancestry of the Blanch name lies with the Norman Conquest of England. This Norman name was used for a person who was fair haired or pale or white of complexion. The name stems from the Old French word blanc, which means white.

The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae includes entries for William Blanc and Robert and John Blanche in Normandy, 1180-1195, confirming the Norman origin of the family. 1

Early Origins of the Blanch family

The surname Blanch was first found in Northamptonshire at Peterborough Castle where Blanche of England, LG (1392-1409), also known as Blanche of Lancaster, was an English princess of the House of Lancaster. She was the sixth of the seven children born during the marriage of Prince Henry of Lancaster and his wife. Her brother, Henry of Monmouth would later become King Henry V of England.

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on a phonetic appreciation of the names.

The Feet of Fines for Lincolnshire list Alexander Blanche in 1208 and the same rolls but for Oxfordshire, list Matilda Blaunche in 1270. Thomas Blanch was found in Colchester in 1312 and later Matilda Blanache was recorded in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: John Blannche, Huntingdonshire; Elianora Blanche, Cambridgeshire; and Henry Blanche, Oxfordshire. 3

The Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III includes an entry for Clement Blaunche, Warwickshire, 20 Edward I (during the twentieth year of King Edward I's reign) and the Close Rolls have entry for John Blanche, 2 Edward IV. 3

Early History of the Blanch family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blanch research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1503, 1592, 1649, 1710, 1713, 1716 and 1725 are included under the topic Early Blanch History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blanch Spelling Variations

Norman surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Blanch, Blanche, Blanck, Blank, Blance, Blanx and others.

Early Notables of the Blanch family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Thomas and Matthew Blanche of the Shetlands; Thomas Blanck, Lord Mayor of London
John Blanch (c. 1649-1725), of Wotton Court, near Gloucester and Eastington, Gloucestershire, was an English politician, Member (MP) of the Parliament of Great Britain for Gloucester from 1710 to 1713

Blanch Ranking

In the United States, the name Blanch is the 15,265^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4

Blanch migration to the United States +

Many English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World under extremely harsh conditions. Overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Blanch or a variant listed above:

Blanch Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Roger Blanch, who arrived in Virginia in 1634 5
Eliza Blanch, aged 20, who landed in Virginia in 1635 5
Roger Blanch, who settled in Virginia in 1635
Thomas Blanch, who arrived in Maryland in 1670 5
John Blanch, who arrived in Maryland in 1679 5

Blanch Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Hans Blanch, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1750 5
Marguerite Blanch, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1763 5
Peter Blanch, who arrived in Philadelphia with his wife and three children in 1791
Peter Blanch, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1791 5

Blanch Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mary Blanch, aged 21, who landed in America in 1822 5
Cristobal Blanch, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1829 5
Gertrudis Blanch, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1829 5
Rita Blanch, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1829 5
S Blanch, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Blanch migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Blanch Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

John Blanch, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1822
Catherine Blanch, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1833

Blanch migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Blanch Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Blanch, (b. 1784), aged 31, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 25th August 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1841 6

Blanch 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:

Blanch Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John Blanch, aged 27, a labourer, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Steinwarder" in 1864
Margaret Blanch, aged 28, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Steinwarder" in 1864
Ellen Blanch, aged 3, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Steinwarder" in 1864
Thomas Blanch, aged 7 mths., who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Steinwarder" in 1864
Thomas Blanch, aged 28, a farm labourer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Berar" in 1875
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Blanch (post 1700) +

Rev. Stuart Yarmouth Blanch (1918-1994), English Baron Blanch of Bishopsthorpe, Archbishop of York
Arthur Blanch, Australian country singer
Isabel Blanch (1906-1985), Cuban actress
Lesley Blanch, cookbook author, made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2001
Vera Blanch DeLano, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Montana, 1924 (member, Committee on Rules and Order of Business)
Blanch Staley, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Ohio, 1928 7
Blanch Kelwe, American Republican politician, Member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee, 1949 8

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)
"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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 13) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html