Lover History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the Lover surname lived among the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. The name comes from when they lived in the township of Great Lever in Lancashire as well as in Little Lever the chapelry in the parish of Bolton in Lancashire. The Lover family were industrialists and millers, perhaps giving rise to the modern city of Liverpool, from their own Leaver's Port.

Early Origins of the Lover family

The surname Lover was first found in Lancashire at Little Lever, now a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester. Great Lever, a township nearby "was long held by the family of Lever, but in the 6th year of Edward IV., Sir Rauff Assheton, Knt., sued out a 'write of right of warde' against Roger Lever, for the recovery of the manor, and obtained judgment against him at the assizes of Lancaster. Lever, however, with a number of dependants of his name, and a large concourse of persons, many of whom had been outlawed, riotously broke into Lancaster Castle, and carried off the record of recovery. Sir Rauff complaining of this outrage to the two houses of parliament, they ordained that the copy of the record which was annexed to his petition should be of the same force and efficacy as the original; and the justices thereupon ordered execution to issue, and reinstated him in the possession, which, notwithstanding, was not undisturbed until some time after. " 1

The village's name was derived from the Old English word "laefre," which means "place where the rushes grow." 2 The first listing of the place name was found in 1212 when it was listed as Parua Lefre. 2 Nearby is Darcy Lever which was the ancestral home of the D'Arcy family since 1590.

Early History of the Lover family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lover research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1521, 1551, 1553 and 1577 are included under the topic Early Lover History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lover Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Lover include Lever, Leaver, Leyver and others.

Early Notables of the Lover family

Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lover Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lover migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Lover Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Lover, who landed in Virginia in 1662 3

Lover Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

James Lover, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1775 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Lover (post 1700) +

Seth Lover (1910-1997), American inventor, most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup used on the electric guitar
Samuel Lover (1797-1868), Irish writer

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)