Lane History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Italy

Etymology of Lane

What does the name Lane mean?

Today's generation of the Lane family bears a name that was brought to England by the migration wave that was started by the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Lane family lived in Staffordshire. Their name is derived from the Old English word lanu and literally translates as dweller in the Lane.

Early Origins of the Lane family

The surname Lane was first found in Staffordshire where the family claim descent from De La Lane as listed in the Roll of Battle Abbey. 1

This source continues "a family illustrious in history for the part they took in the preservation of King Charles II. After the battle of Worcester, Col. John Lane, head of the house, received the fugitive Prince at his mansion of Bentley, whence his Majesty was conveyed in disguise by the Colonel's eldest sister, Jane Lane, to her cousin Mrs. Norton's residence in Bristol. This loyal lady received after the Restoration an annual pension of £1,000 for life. Her brother, the cavalier Col. Lane was granted the especial badge of honour, the arms of England (three lions passant guardant on a red field) in a canton for his efforts." 1

The Royal Crown in the crest also bears to the family's recognition as does the family motto which translates as "Guard the King."

Bentley Hall [in Bentley, Staffordshire], the ancient manor-house of the Lane family, is distinguished as the residence of Colonel Lane. The Hall is a neat building standing on an eminence." 2

Early History of the Lane family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lane research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1591, 1609, 1626, 1630, 1644, 1651, 1660, 1661, 1662, 1663, 1667, 1675, 1689 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Lane History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lane Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, Norman French and other languages became incorporated into English throughout the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Lane include Lane, Lawn, Lone, Loan, Lain, Laine and others.

Early Notables of the Lane family

Benjamin Lany (Laney) (1591-1675), an English academic and bishop from Ipswich, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge (1630-1644) and (1660-1662), Bishop of Peterborough (1660-1663) of Lincoln (1663-1...
Colonel John Lane of Bentley (1609-1667), English Member of Parliament for Lichfield, Staffordshire (1661 to 1667), and Royalist colonel who had given refuge to King Charles II at his Bentley estate f...
Jane Lane (c. 1626-1689), who played a heroic role in the escape of Charles II in 1651, by having the king play the part of her servant during his escape

Lane World Ranking

the United States, the name Lane is the 182^nd most popular surname with an estimated 134,298 people with that name. 3 However, in Canada, the name Lane is ranked the 438^th most popular surname with an estimated 10,797 people with that name. 4 And in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Lane is the 75^th popular surname with an estimated 363 people with that name. 5 Australia ranks Lane as 165^th with 18,753 people. 6 New Zealand ranks Lane as 387^th with 1,678 people. 7 The United Kingdom ranks Lane as 197^th with 28,857 people. 8

Migration of the Lane family to Ireland

Some of the Lane family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lane migration to the United States +

In England at this time, the uncertainty of the political and religious environment of the time caused many families to board ships for distant British colonies in the hopes of finding land and opportunity, and escaping persecution. The voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, though, and many arrived in North America sick, starved, and destitute. Those who did make it, however, were greeted with greater opportunities and freedoms that they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Early immigration records have shown some of the first Lanes to arrive on North American shores:

Lane Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Lane, aged 30, who landed in Virginia in 1613 aboard the ship "Treasurer" 10
Alice Lane, aged 24, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship "Bona Nova" 10
Henery Lane, aged 20, who arrived in Virginia in 1623 aboard the ship "Southampton" 10
Thomas Lane, who landed in Virginia in 1623 10
Rachell Lane, who landed in Virginia in 1628 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Anne Lane, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 10
Jos Lane, who landed in Virginia in 1703 10
Henry Lane, who arrived in New England in 1706 10
Eliza Lane, who arrived in Virginia in 1711 10
James Lane, who arrived in Virginia in 1729
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Ellen Lane, who landed in New York, NY in 1811 10
Mary Lane, who arrived in New York, NY in 1811 10
Mary Anne Lane, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 10
Guat Lane, aged 28, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 10
Judith Lane, aged 51, who arrived in Kennebunk, Me in 1830 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

L Mary Lane, who landed in Colorado in 1906 10

Lane migration to Canada +

Lane Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Hugh Lane in Salvage, Newfoundland in 1681 11

Lane Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Edward Lane in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1706 11
John Lane, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1749
William Lane, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1749
William Lane, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
Mary Lane, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Juliana Lane, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1829
James T Lane, who arrived in Canada in 1831
Peter Lane, aged 17, a clerk, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the brig "Charity" from Kinsale, Ireland
John Lane, aged 37, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the brig "Charity" from Kinsale, Ireland
Ann Lane, aged 30, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the ship "Providence" from Cork, Ireland
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet, Second Fleet and Third Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

First Fleet

Mr. Thomas Lane, (1759 - 1790), aged 30, British settler convicted at Devon, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for stealing a cow, transported aboard the ship "Neptune" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 9
Mr. George Lane, (1763 - 1790), aged 26, British settler convicted at Middlesex, England in 1787, sentenced to 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the ship "Neptune" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790, may have died on the ship 10

Second Fleet

Mr. David Lane, (1765 - 1796), aged 25, Irish settler convicted in Cork, Ireland in 1790, sentenced to Life for theft, transported aboard the ship "Queen" leaving in 1790 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1791, he was murdered 10

Third Fleet

Mr. William Lane, (b. 1755), aged 32, English labourer convicted in Chelmsford, Essex on 28th July 1784, sentenced for 7 years for theft of food, transported aboard the ship "Scarborough" leaving in 1787 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1788 10

Following the First, Second and Third Fleets, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Lane Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. George Lane, (b. 1773), aged 27, British Convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl Cornwallis" in August 1800, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1835 12
Mr. William Lane, British Convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 4th December 1803, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 13
Mr. James Lane, British weaver who was convicted in Middlesex, England for life for pick pocketing, transported aboard the "Fortune And Alexander" on 31st December 1805, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 14
Mr.Robert Lane, British settler who was convicted in Norfolk, England for life for stealing, transported aboard the "Fortune" on 31st October 1812, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 14
Mrs. Ann Lane, (b. 1782), aged 30, English servant who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years for larceny, transported aboard the "Emu" in October 1812, the ship was captured and the passengers put ashore, the convicts were then transported aboard the "Broxburnebury" in January 1812 arriving in New South Wales, Australia, she died in 1869 15
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane 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:

Lane Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Elizabeth Lane, aged 20, a servant, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Catherine Stewart Forbes" in 1841
Mr. John Lane, British settler travelling from Gravesend, UK aboard the ship "Blundell" arriving in Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1848 16
Mrs. Lane, British settler travelling from Gravesend, UK with 5 children aboard the ship "Blundell" arriving in Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1848 16
Anne Lane, aged 25, a domestic servant, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850
Mr. William Lane, (b. 1818), aged 32, British butcher travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 17
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lane migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 18

Lane Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Richard Lane, aged 28, who landed in St Christopher in 1635 10

Contemporary Notables of the name Lane (post 1700) +

Ray Lane (1930-2025), American sportscaster from Detroit, Michigan. During the late 1940s, played baseball and basketball for the Stags of Mackenzie High School, in 1949, enrolled at Michigan State University and played baseball for the Spartans
Ruth Elizabeth Lane (1924-2007), née Boggues, American private in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, first all-female, all-African-American battalion to server overseas
Susan Russell "Sara" Lane (1949-2023), American actress, best known for her role as an orphaned Wyoming frontier girl Elizabeth Grainger in the NBC western series The Virginian (1962)
Mills Bee Lane III (1937-2022), American boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada, District Court Judge, and television personality
Tommy Lane (1937-2021), American actor from Liberty City, Miami, Florida, known for his work on Live and Let Die (1973), Shaft (1971) and Shamus (1973)
John Michael Lane (1936-2020), American epidemiologist and director of the Epidemic Intelligence Service's Global Smallpox Eradication program between 1973 and 1981, known for his leading role in the eradication of smallpox
Kenneth Jay Lane (1932-2017), American costume jewelry designer, known for his work for Jacqueline Kennedy, Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, Britney Spears and Nicole Richie and many others
Mark Lane (1927-2016), American attorney, New York state legislator and conspiracy theorist on the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy
Richard Gautier "Dick" Lane (1927-2015), American politician, Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1966 to 1984, eponym of the Dick Lane Bridge over the Chattahoochee River
... (Another 75 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Lane family +

Arrow Air Flight 1285

Mr. Randall Alan Lane (1962-1985), Maine, USA, American Specialist 4th Class from Clarksville, Tennessee, USA who died in the Arrow Air Flight 1285 crash 19
Mr. Herbert F W Lane (b. 1918), English Able Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Blue Town, Sheerness, Kent, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 20
Mr. Cyril F Lane (b. 1911), English Shipwright 2nd Class serving for the Royal Navy from Kingston, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 21
Mr. Frederick J Lane, British Signalman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 21
Mr. Albert V. Lane, British Stoker 1st Class, who was aboard the ship "HMS Vanguard" when she exploded in the Scapa Flow off the Orkney Islands, Scotland on 9th July 1917
... (Another 12 entries are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Lane Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Garde le Roy
Motto Translation: Guard the king.

Sources +

Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey. London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1848, Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
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)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 13th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-cornwallis
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 22nd March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel-and-experiment
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/Emu
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
American War Memorials - Flight 1285. (Retrieved 2016, August 24) . Retrieved from http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=317&MemID=550
H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html