Chamberlayn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
England

The Chamberlayn family was an integral part of the history ancient France since it was derived from the northern, coastal region of Normandy. Chamberlayn was a name given to a person who worked as a chamberlain. A chamberlain was one who was in charge of the private chambers of a noble, and later was a high ranking title having derived from the Anglo Norman French word, "chamberlan."

Early Origins of the Chamberlayn family

The surname Chamberlayn was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat.

"John, Count de Tankerville, of Tankerville Castle, in Normandy, took part in the expedition against England, but returned after the battle of Hastings to his hereditary estates, leaving a son in the conquered country, who became chamberlain to Henry I., and whose son, Richard, assumed the surname of Chamberlain from his office." 1

Early History of the Chamberlayn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chamberlayn research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1616, 1666, 1703 and 1723 are included under the topic Early Chamberlayn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chamberlayn Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Chamberlayn some of which are Chamberland, Chambellain, Chamberlan, Chamberlain, Chambellan, Chambellayn, Chambelain, Chamberlayne, Chamberlaine, Chamberllayne, Chamberlayn, Chamberleine, Chamberlane, Chambelan, Chambelane, Chambelaine and many more.

Early Notables of the Chamberlayn family

Notable amongst the family in this period was

Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, knight, one time English ambassador in the Low Countries

Migration of the Chamberlayn family

By 1643 there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Since immigration was slow, early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Chamberlayn has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Chamberlayn were Mrs. Chamberlain who settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1638; Mrs. Chamberlain who settled in San Francisco in 1853; Ann Chamberlain who settled in Maryland in 1741.

The Chamberlayn 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: Virtuti nihil invium
Motto Translation: Nothing is impervious to valour.