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Pile History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Pile History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

The French name Pile has a history dating as far back as the Middle Ages. The name is thought to derive from the Old French word "pelon," which referred to the spiky outer shell of a chestnut; and from this, it has been suggested that the name was a nickname for a quick-tempered or unpleasant person. The history of this surname is intrinsically entwined with that of the region of Normandy, where the earliest records of the Pile family were found.

Early Origins of the Pile family

The surname Pile was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy. The name can also be traced to Brittany, where individuals of the Pillet family were lords of Hérconnais, such as Pierre, who was given noble status in 1435, and was father of Jean, secretary of the duke. Germain Pilon, who was born in 1515 and died in Paris, was a sculptor.

Jean-Baptiste Pilon, born around 1653, son of Jean-Baptiste and Marie (née Roussell), arrived in New France in the 17th century. After settling in Canada he married Elizabeth Bertaut, daughter of Jacques and Gillette (née Bonne), at Repentigny, Quebec on 29th February 1688. They had nine children together, five daughters and four sons. 1

Early History of the Pile family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pile research. The years 1771, 1772, 1792 and 1801 are included under the topic Early Pile History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pile 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 Pile include Pilon, Pile, Pilet, Pillet, Pilot, Pillot, Pillon, Pilier, Pillier, Dupillier, Pilaire, Pilard, Pillard, Pilleux and many more.

Early Notables of the Pile family

Notable amongst the family in this period was René-Martin Pillet, born in 1771, who was a general in Tours at the time of the Revolution; Claude-Marie Pillet, born in 1771, was a literary hack in Chambéry. He studied law and became a lawyer, but this trade never became his passion and instead he turned to mathematics...
Another 55 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pile Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pile migration to the United States +

Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 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. In 1793, the remaining French in these provinces came under British rule. 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 Pile were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Pile were

Pile Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Judeth Pile, who arrived in Virginia in 1664 2
Joseph Pile, who landed in Maryland in 1669 2
William Pile, who settled in Carolina in 1678
Robert, Ann and daughter Sarah Pile (Pyle) who, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1683
Robert Pile, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1683 2

Pile Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Pile, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 2

Pile Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Thomas Pile, who arrived in America in 1807 2
Mr. F. G. Pile, (b. 1814), aged 53, Barbadian merchant traveling aboard the ship "Gazelle" arriving in New York in 1867 3
Mrs. E. A. Pile, (b. 1827), aged 40, Barbadian settler traveling aboard the ship "Gazelle" arriving in New York in 1867 3
Miss Pile, (b. 1847), aged 20, Barbadian settler traveling aboard the ship "Gazelle" arriving in New York in 1867 3
Miss A. C. Pile, (b. 1851), aged 16, Barbadian settler traveling aboard the ship "Gazelle" arriving in New York in 1867 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pile migration to Australia +

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

Pile Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

James Pile, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Competitor" in 1848 4
George Pile, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Constant" in 1849 5
Andrew Pile, aged 25, a carpenter, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Ostrich" 6

Pile 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. 7

Pile Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Sarah Pile settled with her servants in Barbados in 1680

Contemporary Notables of the name Pile (post 1700) +

Richard Pile (b. 1849), American ordinary seaman serving in the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor for bravery
William Anderson Pile (1829-1889), American politician and minister from Missouri, Civil War general in the Union Army, and Governor of New Mexico Territory (1869-1871)
William Anderson Pile (1829-1889), American Republican politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri 1st District, 1867-69; Governor of New Mexico Territory, 1869-71; U.S. Minister to Venezuela, 1871-74 8
Ross I. Pile, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1948 8
Roscoe Pile, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Colorado, 1940, 1952; Member of Colorado State House of Representatives, 1950 8
James Pile, American politician, Representative from Kentucky 1st District, 1900 8
J. Charles Pile, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Wisconsin, 1952 8
Grace S. Pile, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Missouri, 1924 8
D. Pile, American politician, Member of Minnesota State House of Representatives 6th District, 1869 8
Mr. Brian Lionel Pile M.B.E., British recipient of the Member of the Order of the British Empire on 29th December 2018 for services to charity and to the community in Moldova 9
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Pile family +

HMS Dorsetshire

Samuel Frank Pile (d. 1945), British Petty Officer aboard the HMS Dorsetshire when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 10

HMS Repulse

Mr. Edward Pile, British Stoker Petty Officer, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 11

Victoria steamboat disaster

Samuel Pile, Canadian passenger who was killed in the Victoria steamboat disaster when the boat capsized in 1881

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
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)
Barbados archives retrieved 27th October 2021 from https://atthebarbadosarchives.wordpress.com/2003/07/18/barbados-heritage-passenger-lists-and-barbados-departures/
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) COMPETITOR 1848. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1848Competitor.gif
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The CONSTANT 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Constant.htm
South Australian Register Saturday 22nd July 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Ostrich 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/ostrich1854.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 15) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists
Force Z Survivors HMS Dorsetshire Crew List, (Retrieved 2018, February 13th), https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listdorsetshirecrew.html
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html