Show ContentsScroll History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Scroll family

The surname Scroll was first found in Yorkshire where "few families were more important in the 14th and 15th centuries than the noble house of Scrope; their descent is unbroken from the Conquest. Few houses also have been more distinguished by the number of great offices of honour held both in Church and State." 1 The first record in Yorkshire was found in "Bolton, being from the period of Edward I., their principal seat and Barony." 1

The surname's origin can be traced to "one of King Edward the Confessor's foreign attendants named Richard, to whom the Anglo-Saxons gave the derisory name of Sceope, or 'the Scrub' either on account of some inferior office or perhaps as a merely satirical appellation, and who was one of the few Normans permitted to remain at court after the rest had been driven away." 2

Masham in the North Riding of Yorkshire "was anciently the residence of the baronial family of Scroop, of whom Henry, Lord le Scroop, lord treasurer, and Archbishop Scroop, were both beheaded for high treason in the reign of Henry IV." 3

Early History of the Scroll family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Scroll research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1327, 1346, 1350, 1364, 1371, 1378, 1380, 1403, 1405, 1601, 1649, 1660 and 1680 are included under the topic Early Scroll History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Scroll Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Scrope, Scroope, Scroop, Scope and others.

Early Notables of the Scroll family

Notables of the family at this time include Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton (c. 1327-1403), English soldier and courtier, serving Richard II of England, fought under the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy (1346), a knight of the shire for Yorkshire in the parliament of 1364, summoned to the upper house as a Baron by writ (1371), became Lord High Treasurer and Keeper of the Great Seal, became Lord Chancellor (1378), resinged in 1380 when governemtn collapsed, after his successor was beheaded, took up...
Another 88 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Scroll Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


New Zealand Scroll 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:

Scroll Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Nicholas Scroll, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Light Brigade" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 26th August 1868 4


  1. Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
  2. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  4. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html


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