MacRandall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the MacRandall family

Early History of the MacRandall family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacRandall research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1625, 1657, 1717 and 1725 are included under the topic Early MacRandall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

MacRandall Spelling Variations

Pronunciation, rather than spelling, guided scribes and church officials when recording names during the Middle Ages. This practice often resulted in one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname MacRandall are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include McRannell, McReynolds, Reynolds, Grannell, Magranill, MacGrannell, MacRaghnald, MacRanel, McRanel, MacRannal, MacRannel, MacRanell, MacRanall and many more.

Early Notables of the MacRandall family

Another 44 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacRandall Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the MacRandall family

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the MacRandall family relocated to North American shores quite early: Christopher Reynolds, who came to Virginia in 1622; Nathaniel Reynold, who settled in Salem in 1630; Robert Reynolds, who settled in Salem in 1630 with his wife Mary and his four children.