Dunbarr History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

In the ancient Scottish-English border region, the ancestors of the name Dunbarr lived among the Boernicians. They lived in the barony of Dunbar on the North Sea coast near Edinburgh. The place name comes from the Gaelic words dùn, meaning "a fort," and barr, meaning "top," or "summit."

Early Origins of the Dunbarr family

The surname Dunbarr was first found in the barony of Dunbar in the Lothians where they held a family seat from very ancient times; ever since the 11th century, when Cospatrick was deprived of his Earldom of Northumberland by William the Conqueror, and fled to Scotland.

There he was granted the lands of Dunbar and Lothian, Cumnock in Ayrshire, and Mochrum in Wigtown by Malcolm Ceanmore, the King of Scotland. Traditionally, the family descend from Crinan of Dunkeld, the Earl of Northumberland, ancestor of both King Duncan I (d. 1040) and the Earls Gospatrick, who were the later the Earls of March.

Of this line, Patrick V, Earl of March (c.1285-1369) gave English King Edward II sanctuary at the fortress of Dunbar Castle following the Battle of Bannockburn. He was one of the Scottish nobles, who signed, the declaration of Scottish independence to the Pope dated at Arbroath on 6 April 1320.

He was married to the infamous "Black Agnes," Agnes Dunbar, 4th Countess of Moray (1312-1369), "that brawling boisterous Scottish wench" as an English balladeer had called her. In the Earl's absence, she held Dunbar castle for several months before succumbing to the overwhelming English army in 1337. 1

Early History of the Dunbarr family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunbarr research. Another 132 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1370, 1390, 1435, 1457, 1465, 1490, 1530, 1532, 1547, 1797 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Dunbarr History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dunbarr Spelling Variations

Spelling rules only evolved in the last few centuries with the invention of the printing press and the first dictionaries. Spelling variations are extremely common in names from before that period. Dunbarr has been spelled Dunbarr, Dumbar, Dumbare, Dumber, Dounber, Dunbar, Dounbar and many more.

Early Notables of the Dunbarr family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was John Dunbar, Earl of Moray (died 1390), a Scottish nobleman; William Dunbar (c.1465-1530), Scottish poet, Franciscan friar, and later became a diplomatic agent for James IV of Scotland, best known for "The Thrissil and the Rois," an allegory about marriage; Gavin Dunbar (died 1532), Bishop of Aberdeen; and his nephew, Gavin Dunbar (c. 1490-1547), Archbishop of Glasgow. He was the fourth son of Sir Alexander Dunbar of Westfield...
Another 77 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dunbarr Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dunbarr family to Ireland

Some of the Dunbarr family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 81 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dunbarr migration to the United States +

After making their great crossing, many Boernician-Scottish families settled along the east coast of North America. When the War of Independence broke out, United Empire Loyalists moved north to Canada while the rest stayed to fight. The ancestors of many of these Scots still populate the continent. This century, through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations, they began to rediscover their collective national heritage. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Dunbarr or a variant listed above:

Dunbarr Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Alexander Dunbarr, who landed in Virginia in 1654 2
John Dunbarr, aged 22, who arrived in Maryland in 1684 2

Dunbarr Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Dunbarr, who settled in Virginia in 1716
Jeremiah Dunbarr, who arrived in Maryland in 1716 2
Jerom Dunbarr, who arrived in Maryland in 1716 2

Dunbarr migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 3

Dunbarr Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

William Dunbarr, who settled in St. Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635
William Dunbarr, aged 15, who landed in St Christopher in 1635 2
Mr. William Dunbarr, (b. 1620), aged 15, British settler traveling aboard the ship "William and John" arriving in St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 4

The Dunbarr 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: In promptu
Motto Translation: In readiness.

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. 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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's (Retrieved October 4th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm