Du Plessier History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
England

Normandy is the region of ancient France from which the name Du Plessier was derived. It comes from when the family lived in the region of Plessis.

Early Origins of the Du Plessier family

The surname Du Plessier was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat at Plessis.

However, we must look to ancient England to find the first record of the family. For is there that we found John de Plessis or Plessetis (died 1263), Earl of Warwick. He was of Norman origin, and was probably a son of the Hugh de Plessis who occurs as one of the royal knights from 1222 to 1227. He was possibly a grandson of the John de Plesseto who witnessed a charter of John in 1204. 1

Early History of the Du Plessier family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Du Plessier research. Another 125 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1203, 1585, 1621, 1634 and 1642 are included under the topic Early Du Plessier History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Du Plessier Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of French surnames; in part, as spelling, and the spelling names was not yet standardized during the early development of the written French language. Later, there was much branching and movement of families, and spellings would change according to region. Variations of the name Du Plessier include Plessis, Plessieies, Plessier, Plessix, Plessy, Plessys, Le Plessis, Le Plessieies, Le Plessier, Le Plessix, Le Plessy, Le Plessys, Du Plessier, Du Plessix, Du Plessy, Du Plessys, Du Plessix, Duplaix, Deplaix and many more.

Early Notables of the Du Plessier family

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

Migration of the Du Plessier family

France finally gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the 1700s. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In the treaty of Utrecht, the Acadians were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Du Plessier were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Du Plessier were John Louis Plessis who arrived in Quebec in 1713 from Lorraine.