First found in Devon where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say long before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Calvin surname or a spelling variation of the name include : William Colvin who settled in Maryland in 1714; Hugh Colvin settled in Pennsylvania in 1773; followed by Charles, James, Jane, John, Robert and William Colvin, all settled in Pennsylvania between 1811 and 1856.

Motto Translated: Under this sign thou shall conquer.

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