Jervois History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Jervois reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Jervois family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Jervois is based on the Norman personal name Gervase. The surname Gervais indicates that the bearer is a descendant of someone named Gervase. 1

Gervase of Canterbury (Gervasius Dorobornensis) (fl. 1188), was an English "chronicler, was born, apparently of a Kentish family, about 1141. As he had a brother Thomas in his monastery, who is conjectured to be identical with one Thomas of Maidstone, we have a possible clue to his birthplace; but the information is too imperfect to warrant more than an hypothesis. Gervase became a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, on the first Saturday in Lent, 16 Feb. 1163." 2

Gervase of Chichester (fl. 1170), was an English commentator, one of the band of learned young men who gathered round Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury and Gervase of Tilbury (fl. 1211), was author of the ‘Otia Imperialia,’ was no doubt a native of Tilbury in Essex, though he appears to have been brought up in Rome, and to have spent some years of his early life in Italy. 2

Early Origins of the Jervois family

The surname Jervois was first found in Cornwall. The Gervais surname also spelled Jarvis, Gervays and Gervis, was first found in Mobonnaiss and Vallee, in Brettagne, the ancient name for Brittany, and arrived in England with William, Duke of Normandy, in 1066. 3

The first records of the family were listed in their Latin form, as in John filius Gervacii, Cambridgeshire; William filius Gervasii, Huntingdonshire; and Stephen Gervcis, Cambridgeshire. All were listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. 4

Early History of the Jervois family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Jervois research. Another 176 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1262, 1268, 1273, 1379, 1393, 1397, 1410, 1587, 1616, 1621, 1625, 1628, 1629, 1640, 1653, 1654, 1666, 1667, 1675, 1693, 1739, 1799 and 1804 are included under the topic Early Jervois History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jervois Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Jervois are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Jervois include Gervais, Gervays, Gervis, Jarvis, Jervis and others.

Early Notables of the Jervois family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir Thomas Jervoise (1587-1654), an English politician from Britford, Wiltshire, Member of Parliament for Whitchurch (1621-1625), (1628-1629) and (1640-1653)

Migration of the Jervois family to Ireland

Some of the Jervois family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 229 words (16 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jervois 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:

Jervois Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John Jervois, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Celestial Queen" in 1870
Miss A. K. Jervois, British settler travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Tongariro" arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 13th August 1887 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Jervois (post 1700) +

Jervois Arthur Newnham (1852-1941), Anglican bishop in Canada from 1893 to 1921

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html