Blanke History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
England
France

The name Blanke is part of the ancient legacy of the early Norman inhabitants that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Blanke was a Norman name used for a person who was fair haired or pale or white of complexion. The name stems from the Old French word blanc, which means white.

The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae includes entries for William Blanc and Robert and John Blanche in Normandy, 1180-1195, confirming the Norman origin of the family. 1

Early Origins of the Blanke family

The surname Blanke was first found in Northamptonshire at Peterborough Castle where Blanche of England, LG (1392-1409), also known as Blanche of Lancaster, was an English princess of the House of Lancaster. She was the sixth of the seven children born during the marriage of Prince Henry of Lancaster and his wife. Her brother, Henry of Monmouth would later become King Henry V of England.

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on a phonetic appreciation of the names.

The Feet of Fines for Lincolnshire list Alexander Blanche in 1208 and the same rolls but for Oxfordshire, list Matilda Blaunche in 1270. Thomas Blanch was found in Colchester in 1312 and later Matilda Blanache was recorded in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: John Blannche, Huntingdonshire; Elianora Blanche, Cambridgeshire; and Henry Blanche, Oxfordshire. 3

The Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III includes an entry for Clement Blaunche, Warwickshire, 20 Edward I (during the twentieth year of King Edward I's reign) and the Close Rolls have entry for John Blanche, 2 Edward IV. 3

Early History of the Blanke family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blanke research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1503, 1592, 1649, 1710, 1713, 1716 and 1725 are included under the topic Early Blanke History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blanke Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Blanch, Blanche, Blanck, Blank, Blance, Blanx and others.

Early Notables of the Blanke family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Thomas and Matthew Blanche of the Shetlands; Thomas Blanck, Lord Mayor of London. John Blanch (c. 1649-1725), of Wotton Court, near Gloucester and Eastington, Gloucestershire, was an English politician, Member (MP) of the Parliament of Great Britain for Gloucester from 1710...
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Blanke Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blanke migration to the United States +

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 Blanke name or one of its variants:

Blanke Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Hein Blanke, who landed in Iowa in 1849 4
Mrs. Hein Blanke, who arrived in Iowa in 1849 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Blanke (post 1700) +

Everett N. Blanke, American politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Greenwich, 1912 5
Hermann-Josef Blanke (1957-2023), German academic and legal scholar

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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, December 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html