Keitch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Keitch has a history dating as far back as the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name for a person who because of their physical characteristics and physical abilities was referred to as kedge a Old English word that described someone who was brisk or active. 1

Although one notes source has a different understanding of the origin on the name. In this case, Keitch is from the "Middle English [word] keech ‘a lump of congealed fat; the fat of a slaughtered animal rolled up into a lump’, used in the 16th century for a butcher: ‘Did not goodwife Keech the Butchers wife come in then?’ (Henry IV); ‘I wonder, That such a Keech can with his very bulke Take vp the Rayes o’ th’ beneficiall Sun, And keepe it from the Earth’ (Henry VIII), where the reference is to Cardinal Wolsey, a butcher’s son. " 2

Early Origins of the Keitch family

The surname Keitch was first found in Cambridgeshire and Surrey where Reginald and Hugo Keche were listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1206 and 1219. 2

Years later, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included Peter Kech, Norfolk; and Adam Kyg, Buckinghamshire. 1

In Somerset, early rolls there show John Keche holding lands 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign.) 3

In Norfolk, John Keche, was rector of Erpingham in 1430 and "a brass plate in the ancient church of St. Helen's, Norwich, reads: 'Hie jacet corpus Dni. Edmundi Keche, presbyteri' " 4

Early History of the Keitch family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Keitch research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1206, 1620, 1621, 1640, 1673, 1686 and 1704 are included under the topic Early Keitch History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keitch Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Keitch have been found, including Ketch, Keech, Keach, Kedge and others.

Early Notables of the Keitch family

Distinguished members of the family include Hugo Ketch of Cheshire; John (Jack) Ketch (died 1686), one of King Charles II's executioners, who became quite infamous for the terrible suffering of his victims; his name has lived on as slang for the gallows or even for death itself. Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)...
Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Keitch Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keitch migration to the United States +

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Keitch, or a variant listed above:

Keitch Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Keitch, who landed in New York in 1817 5

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. 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)