Mountfort History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Mountfort is a name whose history on English soil dates back to the wave of migration that followed the Norman Conquest of England of 1066. The Mountfort family lived in Warwickshire. The name, however, is a reference to the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, one of two places Montfort-sur-Lisle near Argentan in the Normandy district, or Montfort near Pont-Audemer, also in Normandy. 1

Early Origins of the Mountfort family

The surname Mountfort was first found in Warwickshire where the family claims descent from "Hugh de Montfort, son of Thurstan de Basternbergh, a Norman accompanied the Conqueror in 1066, and obtained for his services more than one hundred lordships in Kent, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk." 2

Nicknamed "Hugh with a Beard," he was son of Thurstan de Bastenburgh. His descendant Peter de Montford was one of the most zealous amongst the turbulent barons of the era and after the Battle of Lewes was one of the nine nominated to rule the kingdom, but he later fell at the conflict of Eversham. The direct male line became extinct with his great-grandson, Peter de Montfort who died in 1367 leaving a illegitimate son, Sir John Montfort to carry on the family. 3

Other early notables include: Simon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester (1165-1218), a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) and died at the siege of Toulouse in 1218. His youngest son, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester (c. 1208-1265), led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-1264, and subsequently became de facto ruler of England. He and his eldest son Sir Henry de Montfort were killed on 4 August 1265 at the Battle of Evesham. 4

Early History of the Mountfort family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mountfort research. Another 99 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1282, 1283, 1285, 1294, 1664 and 1692 are included under the topic Early Mountfort History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mountfort Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Montfort, Montford, Mountford, Mountfort and others.

Early Notables of the Mountfort family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

William de Montfort (also Mountfort), an English medieval Canon law jurist, Chancellor of the University of Oxford (1282-1283), Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, London (1285-1294)
the bell of St Clement's Church is reputed to have cracked when tolled at Mountfort's funeral

Mountfort migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Mountfort or a variant listed above were:

Mountfort Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William Mountfort, who landed in Virginia in 1622 5
Edward Mountfort, aged 20, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Thomas & John" 5
Edwin Mountfort, who landed in Virginia in 1663 5
Tho Mountfort, who landed in Virginia in 1663 5
Benjamin Mountfort, who landed in New England in 1679 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Mountfort Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Mountfort, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 5

Mountfort Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Mountfort, who settled in Boston in 1823

Contemporary Notables of the name Mountfort (post 1700) +

Guy Mountfort, Company Director

Citations +

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)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Burke, John Bernard, The Roll of Battle Abbey. London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. 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)