Lace History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The surname Lace comes from the place name Lassi, in the department of Calvados in Normandy.

Early Origins of the Lace family

The surname Lace was first found in Yorkshire, where Ibert de Lacy, son of Walter de Lacy (Lacie) was granted the castle and town of Pontefract and 164 lordships by William the Conqueror. Walter de Lacie (d. 1085) was one of the commanders that William the Conqueror "sent to Wales to subjugate the principality; and being victorious, he acquired large possessions there, in addition to those already obtained, as his portion of the spoil of Hastings. " 1

"His lands had been assigned to him in the West, where he held territory - to what exact extent is not known - under William Fitz Osbern, the first Norman Earl of Hereford; and upon the rebellion of William's son, Earl Roger de Britolio, the whole vast fief was conferred upon him by the Conqueror. He waged war successfully with the Welsh, defeating three of their princes with great slaughter in Brecon; and was killed in 1085 by a fall from a ladder while inspecting a new church he had founded at Hereford. " 2

Roger de Laci who also accompanied the Conqueror was rewarded with the tenure in capite of 116 lordships. It is presumed that the two were related but the relationship is unknown. 3

Rishton in Yorkshire was the place where a manor was held by Edmund de Lacye, who died 42nd Henry III. 4

There were at least two listings of the name in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379: Robertus Lascey; and Isabella Lassy. 5

Stanlow-House in the union of Great Boughton, Higher division of the hundred of Wirrall in Cheshire was an ancient family seat to one branch of the family. "An abbey of Cistercian monks was founded here in 1178, by John Lacy, constable of Chester; but on account of the inundations of the Mersey in 1296, it was removed to Whalley, in Lancashire." 4

Early History of the Lace family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lace research. Another 144 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1172, 1185, 1215, 1298, 1584, 1610, 1615, 1671, 1673 and 1681 are included under the topic Early Lace History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lace 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 Lace 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 Lace include Lacey, Lacy, Lassey, Lassy, de Lacey, de Lacy and others.

Early Notables of the Lace family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who was recorded on the Falkirk Roll. The roll lists those who fought at Falkirk in 1298, when the forces of Edward I defeated William Wallace's Scottish army. Henry wa...
William Lacey (1584-1673) was and English Jesuit whose real name was Wolfe. William Lacy (1610-1671) was a Royalist divine and a descendant of the noble family of Lacy

Lace migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Lace, or a variant listed above:

Lace Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Inv Lace, who landed in Virginia in 1656 6

Lace Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Francis Lace, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Lace (post 1700) +

Brigadier Frank Dwyer Lace, Commander Royal Artillery 2nd Canadian Division, North-west Europe (1944-1945) 7
Daniel Lace Quirk (1818-1910), American Democratic Party politician, Wayne County Auditor, 1852-54; Postmaster at Belleville, Michigan, 1853-54 8

Citations +

Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey. London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1848, Print.
Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 2 of 3
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, September 15) Frank Lace. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Lace/Frank_Dwyer/Canada.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html