Tillor History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Tillor is a name that first reached England following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is a name for a tiler. The name describes a person whose job it was to bake clay into tiles in an oven, a common occupation in medieval times.

Early Origins of the Tillor family

The surname Tillor was first found in Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Herefordshire where they were granted large estates after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

One of the more interesting entries for the name was Walter or Wat Tyler, Tegheler (d. 1381), and English "rebel, had no real surname, all the above designations referring to his trade, which was that of covering roofs with tiles. There were several others of his calling among the ringleaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, one, it is said, of the same Christian name, and some confusion has resulted. He is usually credited, for instance, with having given the signal for the rising in Kent by killing a collector of the poll-tax who insulted his daughter. " 1

Early History of the Tillor family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tillor research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1341 and 1381 are included under the topic Early Tillor History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tillor Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Tyler, Tilliere, Tylor, Tiler, Tellier and others.

Early Notables of the Tillor family

More information is included under the topic Early Tillor Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Tillor family to Ireland

Some of the Tillor 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.

Migration of the Tillor family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Tillor name or one of its variants: John Tyler settled in Virginia in 1623 with Elizabeth, Robert, William; John Baptist Tyler settled in Maryland in 1706; Nathaniel settled in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1630.