Garnet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Garnet is one of the names that was brought to England in the wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is a name for a person who grew or sold pomegranates. This metonymic name, which is a type of name that refers to the principal object associated with the activity of the original bearer, is derived from the old French words pome, which meant fruit or apple, and grenate, which meant full of seeds. The name of the precious stone is derived from the same source. The name Garnet is also a metonymic occupational name for a maker or fitter of hinges, derived from the Old French word carne, which means hinge. The name Garnet was brought to England after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and it spread into the county of Lancashire.

Early Origins of the Garnet family

The surname Garnet was first found in Lancashire at Leck, a township and chapelry, in the parish of Tunstall, union of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands. "This township belonged to the Gernets, of Halton, in the reign of John." 1

"According to Domesday Book, Skelmersdale, [Lancashire] was in 1066 held by Uctred, who also held Dalton and Uplitherland; like these it was assessed as one ploughland, and was worth the normal 32d. beyond the usual rent. Later it was part of the forest fee, held by the Gernet family. The first of them known to have held it, Vivian Gernet, gave Skelmersdale and other manors to Robert Travers; these were held in 1212 by Henry Travers under Roger Gernet." 2

Early History of the Garnet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Garnet research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1555, 1575, 1605, 1606 and 1608 are included under the topic Early Garnet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Garnet Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Garnet are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Garnet include Garnett, Garnet, Garnette, Gernet, Gernett and others.

Early Notables of the Garnet family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir Roger Gernett of Lancashire; Henry Garnet (1555-1606), sometimes Henry Garnett, an English Jesuit priest executed for his complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born at Heanor, Derbyshir...
Saint Thomas Garnet (c.1575-1608), was a Jesuit priest of Saint Omer executed at Tyburn and is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was son of Richard Garnett, who had been a fellow of Ba...

Garnet migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Garnet, or a variant listed above:

Garnet Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Elizabeth Garnet, who settled in Virginia in 1623
John Garnet, who arrived in Maryland in 1672 3
James Garnet who settled in Maryland in 1685

Garnet Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Johann Christian Garnet, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1764 3
Johannes Garnet, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1764 3

Garnet 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:

Garnet Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Alfred Garnet, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "City of Auckland" in 1870
Eliza A. Garnet, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "City of Auckland" in 1870

Contemporary Notables of the name Garnet (post 1700) +

Frances Garnet Wolseley (1872-1936), 2nd Viscountess Wolseley
Harold Garnet Callan FRS, FRSE (1917-1993), British biologist
Garnet Samuel "Sam" Richardson (1933-2016), Canadian four-time gold medalist curler; he played second on the "World famous Richardsons," which won four Briers and four World Curling Championships
Sir Garnet Wolseley (1915-1991), 12th Baronet of Mount Wolseley, English peer
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913), 1st Viscount Wolseley, Irish-born, British army officer, known for the Ashanti campaign (1873-1874) and the Nile Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884-1885, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1895 to 1900
Garnet Edward "Ace" Bailey (1948-2001), Canadian professional NHL ice hockey player and scout
Garnet Mimms (b. 1933), American singer
Garnet W. Jex (1895-1979), American artist and historian
Garnet F. Coleman, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Texas State House of Representatives 147th District
Garnet V. Storey, American Democratic Party politician, Mayor of Carl Junction, Missouri, 1948-49 4

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
'Townships: Scarisbrick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1907), pp. 265-276. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp265-276 [accessed 21 January 2017].
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html