Forreste History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The Forreste family lived in areas near or inside a forest. Some research suggests that the surname is also a shortened form of Forester. The Middle English word forest referred specifically to an area of woodland reserved by law as hunting grounds for the king or his nobles. As such, the surname, Forreste would have appeared independently in various parts of Britain.

Early Origins of the Forreste family

The surname Forreste was first found in Newlands, a parish, in the historic county of Peeblesshire. 1 The first on record was William de Forest who was a tenant of the Douglases in the barony of Newlands in 1376. In the same year, Hugh de Forest was a Douglas tenant in Drumcorke. A few years later, Morgan de Forest in Aberdeen was "cherged" with being a forestaller in 1402 and Master Thomas de Foresta, licentiate in decrees, was rector of the parish of Soudon (Southdean) in 1404. 2

Early History of the Forreste family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Forreste research. Another 187 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1390, 1411, 1430, 1453, 1463, 1472, 1518, 1520, 1526, 1527, 1533, 1540, 1588, 1602, 1608, 1633, 1635, 1642, 1654, 1664, 1668, 1698, 1701, 1703, 1706, 1709, 1711, 1714, 1715, 1720 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Forreste History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Forreste Spelling Variations

Over the years, Forreste has been written It appears under these variations because medieval scribes spelled names according to sound rather than by any over-arching set of rules. Forrester, Forester, Forrest, Forster, Foster, Forrestor and many more.

Early Notables of the Forreste family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was

Sir Thomas Forster (d. 1527) of Etherston, Northumberland; and his son, Sir John Forster (c.1520-1602), an English military commander and Warden of the Middle Marches; Sir George Forrester (d. 1654)...

Migration of the Forreste family to Ireland

Some of the Forreste family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 129 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Forreste family

When these Boernician-Scottish settlers arrived in North America they brought little with them and often had restart their lives from scratch. Through time, much of their heritage was lost, and it is only this century through Clan societies and highland games that many have recovered their national heritage. Research into various historical records has revealed some of first members of the Forreste family to immigrate North America: James Forest, who settled in Virginia in 1654; George Forest settled in Virginia in 1608; 12 years before the "Mayflower"; Toby Forrester settled in Virginia in 1655.

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)