Fossey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Early Origins of the Fossey family

The surname Fossey was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Doncaster at Nigel and Robert Fossard who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Fossey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fossey research. Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fossey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fossey Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Fossard, Fossart, Fozzard, Fossie, Fossey, Fosser and others.

Early Notables of the Fossey family

More information is included under the topic Early Fossey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fossey Ranking

In France, the name Fossey is the 4,696^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,500 - 2,000 people with that name. 2

Fossey migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Fossey name or one of its variants:

Fossey Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Cap Fossey, who arrived in Boston in 1767

Fossey migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Fossey Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Peter Fossey U.E. who settled in New Brunswick c. 1783 was a passenger aboard "Cyrus" on August 21, 1783 from New York to Saint John River 3

Fossey 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. 4

Fossey Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

John Fossey, who settled in Jamaica in 1736

Contemporary Notables of the name Fossey (post 1700) +

Dian Fossey (1932-1985), American field researcher of African gorillas
Brigitte Fossey (b. 1947), in Tourcoing, Nord, France, is an actress
Fossey John Cobb Hearnshaw (1869-1946), English professor of history, specializing in medieval history

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies