Guernsey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Guernsey family

The surname Guernsey was first found in Hampshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Ansneville, a commission of Duke William in 1050 from the island of Guernsey, taken by pirates in the island hand who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Guernsey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guernsey research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1061 and 1066 are included under the topic Early Guernsey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Guernsey Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Guernesy, Gourneys, Gurnsey and others.

Early Notables of the Guernsey family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

the Gurnsey family of Guernsey

Guernsey Ranking

In the United States, the name Guernsey is the 12,213^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Guernsey migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Guernsey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James Guernsey, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1849 3
S W Guernsey, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 3

Guernsey migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Guernsey Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Hosea B Guernsey, who arrived in Canada in 1833
John Guernsey, who arrived in Canada in 1841

Contemporary Notables of the name Guernsey (post 1700) +

Lisa Guernsey (b. 1971), American early education researcher, author, and former journalist
John Guernsey (b. 1953), American bishop in the Anglican Church in North America
George H. Guernsey (1839-1900), American architect from Montpelier, Vermont
Frank David Guernsey Jr. (1917-2008), American tennis player, a finalist at the 1946 US Open
Frank Edward Guernsey (1866-1927), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine (1908-1917)
William Greville Hudson "Wellington" Guernsey (1817-1885), Irish composer, poet, and military man
Henry Guernsey Hubbard (1850-1899), American horticulturist, botanist, and entomologist
Guernsey T. Cross (b. 1889), American Democratic Party politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Sullivan County, 1920, 1922-24, 1927-28; Defeated, 1920; Candidate for U.S. Representative from New York 27th District, 1930 4
Guernsey S. Parsons (1835-1898), American Democratic Party politician, Mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, 1880-82 5

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
"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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html