Bloy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the Bloy family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in Leicestershire, Suffolk, and Worcestershire. The family name, however, is not a reference to any of those locations, but to the family's residence prior to the Norman Conquest, in Blois, in the Loir-et-Cher region of France.

Early Origins of the Bloy family

The surname Bloy was first found in Suffolk, where they held a family seat since the reign of Richard I or King John. 1 However, some of the family were established at Bishop's Waltham in Southampton at early times. "Here are the remains of the once magnificent palace annexed to the see of Winchester, built in 1135 by Bishop Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and greatly embellished by Wykeham. Henry II. held a great council in this palace in 1182." 2

Early History of the Bloy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bloy research. Another 157 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1135, 1154, 1205, 1219, 1327, 1497, 1600, 1634, 1686 and 1997 are included under the topic Early Bloy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bloy Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Bloss, Blos, Blois, Bloy, Bleys, Blosse, Bloyce and many more.

Early Notables of the Bloy family

Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bloy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bloy migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Bloy or a variant listed above were:

Bloy Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jacob Bloy, aged 23, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1740 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Bloy (post 1700) +

Francis Eric Irving Bloy (1904-1993), the Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles between 1948 and 1974
Harry Bloy (b. 1946), Canadian BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly
Léon Marie Bloy (1846-1917), French author

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)