Blaugh History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Blaugh is an Anglo-Saxon name. The name was originally given to a blower, or one who plays the horn. 1

Early Origins of the Blaugh family

The surname Blaugh was first found in Staffordshire at Bloore-in-Tyrley or Blore Heath, a sparsely populated area of farmland best known as the site of the first major battle in the English Wars of the Roses fought on 23 September 1459. 2

This parish in the north division of the hundred of Totmonslow, which was known as Blore or Blore-Roy dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was recorded as Blora 3 and literally meant "place at the swelling or hill." 4

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. Randulf Bla was listed in the Assize Rolls for Lincolnshire in 1202 and later in Huntingdonshire, Roger Blowe was listed there in 1271. Up in Yorkshire, the Subsidy Rolls of 1327 included an entry for Thomas Blaue. 5

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included the following entries for the family: Henry Blowe, Cambridgeshire; Isabella Blowe, Oxfordshire; and William Blowe, Oxfordshire. 1

In Somerset, there was one entry, 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III), that of John Blowe. 6

Early History of the Blaugh family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blaugh research. Another 303 words (22 lines of text) covering the years 1459, 1548, 1574, 1575, 1618, 1639, 1640, 1648, 1649, 1662, 1669, 1701, 1708 and 1761 are included under the topic Early Blaugh History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blaugh Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Blaugh has appeared include Bloor, Blore, Bloare, Bloore, Blour, Bloure and others.

Early Notables of the Blaugh family

Distinguished members of the family include John Blow (1649-1708), an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669. He "is said by all his biographers to have been born at North Colfingham, in Nottinghamshire, in 1648, but the registers of that parish...
Another 45 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Blaugh Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Blaugh family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Blaugh arrived in North America very early: the farmer of the name Bloor who settled in York in Upper Canada, from him came the name Bloor Street, one of the longest and most important streets in Toronto. This caused almost a chain reaction of streets in other cities of Canada to be also named Bloor. James Bloor landed in America in 1762.

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.