Rennitch History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Rennitch is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in the region of Renwick beside the Eden river in Cumberland. Rennitch is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties.

Early Origins of the Rennitch family

The surname Rennitch was first found in Cumberland where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Early History of the Rennitch family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rennitch research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1662, 1676, 1685, 1687 and 1688 are included under the topic Early Rennitch History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rennitch Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Rennitch family name include Renwick, Rennick and others.

Early Notables of the Rennitch family

Distinguished members of the family include James Renwick (1662-1688), a Scottish minister, the last of the Covenanter martyrs, sentenced to die by hanging. He was the youngest child of Andrew Renwick (d. 1 Feb. 1676), a weaver, born near the village of Moniaive in the parish of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire. Several previous children had died in infancy; James received the careful training of an only child. Renwick refused to join the insurrection of 1685 under Archibald Campbell, ninth earl of Argyll. On 18 Oct., 1687, a...
Another 85 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rennitch Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Rennitch family to Ireland

Some of the Rennitch family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Rennitch family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Rennitch surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Samuel Renick settled in Philadelphia in 1804; John Renwick was banished to New Jersey in 1685; Francis, James and William Renwick arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860..