First found in Wiltshire where they were anciently granted lands by William Duke of Normandy for their assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Mainville name or one of its variants: Gillis Mandeville, who settled in New York in 1659; Miss Mandeville settled in the Barbados in 1774; Mary Mandeville settled in Maryland in 1738. In Newfoundland, Canada, Patrick Mandavile from Clonmell, Tipperary, was married in St. John's in 1805.

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