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Cathcart History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Cathcart History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

In ancient Scotland, Cathcart was a Strathclyde-Briton name for someone who lived in the region of Cathcart near Glasgow, along the "Cart" river. 1

Early Origins of the Cathcart family

The surname Cathcart was first found in Renfrewshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù), a historic county of Scotland, today encompassing the Council Areas of Renfrew, East Renfrewshire, and Iverclyde, in the Strathclyde region of southwestern Scotland.

"The first of the family came to Scotland with Walter fitz Alan, the first of the Stewards, and from his name, Rainald, may like his leader, have been of Breton origin. Rainald appears as witness to a charter by Alan fitz Waiter conveying the patronage of the church of Ketheart to the monastery of Paisley c. 1178. He also witnessed, as Ranulfus de Ketkert, a similar charter by Alan, the son of Walter in favor of the same house c. 1202-1203. As Reginaldus de Cathekert, he witnessed another charter by the same Alan to Robert Croc of the lands of Kellebrid c. 1200. His son, William de Cathkert witnessed a charter whereby Duugallus filius Cristini de Levenax exchanged the lands of Cnoc with the monastery of Paisley for lands near Walkeinschaw in 1234. William de Kathkerte of the county of Arne rendered homage [to King Edward I of England] in 1296. Sir Alan of Cathcart, an adherent of Bruce, was probably the first to be designated dominus ejusdem in 1336." 2

Early History of the Cathcart family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cathcart research. Another 251 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1160, 1178, 1200, 1230, 1296, 1447, 1513, 1546, 1622, 1721, 1742, 1755, 1766, 1771, 1773, 1776, 1777, 1783, 1800, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1843, 1859 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Cathcart History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cathcart Spelling Variations

In Medieval times, spelling and translation were not nearly so highly developed as today. They were generally carried out according to the sound and intuition of the bearer. For that reason spelling variations are extremely common among early Scottish names. Cathcart has been spelled Cathcart, Cathert, Kethkert, Kethkart and others.

Early Notables of the Cathcart family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Charles Cathcart, 9th Baron Cathcart (1721-1776), soldier and ambassador, born 21 March 1721, the son of Charles, 8th Baron, a military officer of considerable distinction. The son at an early age ent...
Sir William Schaw Cathcart, 10th Baron Cathcart in the peerage of Scotland, and first Viscount in the peerage of the United Kingdom (1755-1843), general, was the eldest son of Charles, ninth Lord Cath...
Charles Murray Cathcart , 2nd Earl Cathcart (1783-1859), general, eldest surviving son of William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl of Cathcart [q. v.], was born at Walton, Essex, on 21 Dec. 1783, entered the...

Cathcart Ranking

In the United States, the name Cathcart is the 6,236^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Cathcart family to Ireland

Some of the Cathcart family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cathcart migration to the United States +

Unrest, poverty, and persecution caused thousands to look for opportunity and freedom in the North American colonies. The crossing was long, overcrowded, and unsanitary, though, and came only at great expense. Many Strathclyde families settled on the east coast of North America in communities that would form the backbone of what would become the great nations of the United States and Canada. The American War of Independence caused those who remained loyal to England to move north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the 20th century, Strathclyde and other Scottish families across North America began to recover their collective heritage through highland games and Clan societies. Among them:

Cathcart Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Cathcart who settled in New England in 1730

Cathcart Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

David Cathcart, aged 47, who landed in South Carolina in 1812 4
Gabriel Cathcart, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1812 4
Alexander Cathcart, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 4
Catherine Cathcart, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 4
William Cathcart, who arrived in Mississippi in 1819 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cathcart migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cathcart Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Isabella Cathcart, (b. 1855), aged 19, Scottish domestic servant, from Forfar travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Oamaru" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 17th February 1875 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Cathcart (post 1700) +

Richard Brook Cathcart (b. 1943), American geographer who specializes in macro-engineering
Daniel B. Cathcart (1906-1959), American two-time Academy Award nominated director
Isaac Cathcart (1845-1909), Irish-born, American businessman and Snohomish County, Washington pioneer
Charles William Cathcart (1809-1888), United States Representative and Senator from Indiana
Charles "Dick" Richard Cathcart (1924-1993), American Dixieland trumpet player
Hugh Cathcart, American politician, Member of Wisconsin State Assembly, 1867 6
George W. Cathcart, American politician, Candidate in Democratic primary for Delegate to Michigan State Constitutional Convention from Wayne County 5th District, 1961; Member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee, 1979 6
Freeda L. Cathcart, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Virginia State House of Delegates 17th District, 2011 6
David Cathcart, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Dayton, Ohio, 1831-43 6
Charles William Cathcart (1809-1888), American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Indiana State House of Representatives, 1835, 1843; Member of Indiana State Senate, 1837-40; Presidential Elector for Indiana, 1844 6
... (Another 15 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 20) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html