Show ContentsBoorde History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture once found in Britain is the soil from which the many generations of the Boorde family have grown. The name Boorde was given to a member of the family who was a dweller at a cottage or small farm. 1 Alternatively, the name could have been derived from the French word "borde," 'a little house, lodging, or cottage of timber, standing alone in the fields. In Domesday [Book] the occupants of cottages are called bordarii, and amount to 82,119 in number." 2

Early Origins of the Boorde family

The surname Boorde was first found in Sussex, where one of the first records of the family was Andrew Borde or Boorde (1490?-1549), English "traveller and physician, ‘Andreas Parforutus’ as he jocosely calls himself, was born at ‘Boords Hill in Holms dayle,’ near Cuckfield, Sussex, some time before or about 1490, as by 1521 he was appointed suffragan bishop of Chichester, and must have therefore then been thirty years old." 3

Early History of the Boorde family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Boorde research. Another 52 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1490 and 1549 are included under the topic Early Boorde History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Boorde Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Boorde family name include Board, Borde, Bord, Boards and others.

Early Notables of the Boorde family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Andrew Boorde (or Borde) (1490-1549), an English traveller, physician and writer, born at Boords Hill, Holms Dale, Sussex

Migration of the Boorde family

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 Boorde surname or a spelling variation of the name include : George Board who settled in Virginia in 1639; Jacob Board settled in Virginia in 1663; John Board settled in Virginia in 1774; Thomas Boards settled in Virginia in 1652..


Contemporary Notables of the name Boorde (post 1700) +

  • Thomas E. Boorde, American politician, Prohibition Candidate for U.S. Senator from Virginia, 1946 4
  • Andrew Boorde (1490-1549), English Carthusian monk


The Boorde Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Perforatus
Motto Translation: Pierce.


  1. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  2. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  3. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  4. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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