Contents [hide]

Orchard History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Orchard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The tale of the name Orchard begins with a family who lived in the old barony of Urquhart, which is located on Loch Ness in the county of Inverness.

Early Origins of the Orchard family

The surname Orchard was first found in Elginshire a former county in northeastern Scotland, in the present day Scottish Council Area of Moray, where Galleroch de Urchart "who lived temp. Alexander II" 1 was granted lands in Cromarty, and Inverness. He held a family seat at the Castle of Urquhart in 1214. "His descendants were "hereditary sheriffs of Cromarty." 1

Early History of the Orchard family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Orchard research. Another 177 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1114, 1306, 1358, 1611, 1650, 1660 and 1759 are included under the topic Early Orchard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Orchard Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Urquhart, Urquhard, Urchard, Orchard and many more.

Early Notables of the Orchard family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Sir Thomas Urquhart (Urchard) of Cromarty (1611-c.1660), a Scottish writer and translator, most famous for his translation of Rabelais.Down in London, Thomas Urquhart (fl. 1650?), was a "noted violin-maker and was distinguished...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Orchard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Orchard Ranking

In the United States, the name Orchard is the 12,363^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Orchard family to Ireland

Some of the Orchard family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Orchard migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Orchard Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Richard Orchard, who settled in Maryland in 1634
Giles Orchard, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1635
Ann Orchard, who arrived in Virginia in 1636 3
Anne Orchard who settled in Virginia in 1636
Nathaniel Orchard, who arrived in Maryland in 1640 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Orchard Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Easter Orchard, who landed in Virginia in 1703 3

Orchard Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Orchard, aged 42, who arrived in Maryland in 1812 3
Benjamin Orchard, who landed in New York in 1832 3
Clara Orchard, aged 18, who arrived in New York in 1868 3
Leonora Orchard, aged 14, who landed in New York in 1868 3
Ruth Orchard, aged 20, who arrived in New York in 1868 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Orchard migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Orchard Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Thomas Orchard, aged 19, a farmer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the ship "Amynta" from Plymouth, England

Orchard migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Orchard Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Henry Orchard, a tailor, who arrived in New South Wales, Australia sometime between 1825 and 1832
William Orchard, English convict from Cornwall, who was transported aboard the "Argyle" on March 5th, 1831, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 4
Mr. William Orchard, (b. 1791), aged 39 born in Mawgan, Cornwall, UK convicted in Cornwall on 9th August 1830, sentenced for death reduced to life for stealing sheep, transported aboard the ship "Argyle" in 1831 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 5
Mr. William Orchard (b. 1791), aged 39, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 9th August 1830, sentenced for life for stealing a sheep from Henry Dale of Mawgan, transported aboard the ship "Argyle" on 5th March 1831 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 6
Mr. John Orchard, British Convict who was convicted in Wiltshire, England for 14 years for machine breaking, transported aboard the "Eleanor" on 26th June 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Orchard migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Orchard Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. William Orchard, (b. 1813), aged 37, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 8
Mrs. Mary Orchard, (b. 1825), aged 25, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 8
Mr. Hiram Orchard, (b. 1838), aged 12, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 8
Miss Sarah Orchard, (b. 1840), aged 10, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 8
Miss Caroline Orchard, (b. 1843), aged 7, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Randolph" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand in September 1850 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Orchard migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Orchard Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Thomas Orchard, who settled in Barbados in 1684

Contemporary Notables of the name Orchard (post 1700) +

Henry John Orchard (1922-2004), American professor emeritus of electrical engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
John Orchard (1928-1995), English actor, best remembered for playing anesthetist "Ugly John" Black in the television series M*A*S*H and for his work in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and The Whisperers (1967)
William Edwin Orchard (1877-1955), English cleric, who was first a Presbyterian, then Congregationalist minister, and finally converted to the Roman Catholic Church
Anthony "Tony" Frederick Orchard (1941-2005), Welsh inorganic chemist, his research contributed to much of modern consumer electronic technology
Robert Orchard, New Zealand professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s, brother of Phillip Charles Orchard
Phillip Charles Orchard, former New Zealand rugby league player who played for New Zealand in the 1972 and 1975 World Cups
Leonard "Len" Orchard (b. 1912), Welsh professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s
Julian Dean C. Orchard (1930-1979), English comedy actor
Donald Warder Orchard (b. 1946), Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1995, Minister of Health (1988-1993)
Robert Orchard (b. 1953), British journalist and presenter, known for his work with the BBC
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2015, January 8) Argyle voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1831 with 251 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/argyle/1831
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/tasmanian_convicts_cornish.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eleanor
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies