Trimple History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The descendants of a Boernician family in ancient Scotland were the first to use the name Trimple. It is a name for a man named Rule (sometimes Ruel) who saved King Robert the Bruce at Stirling Park from a charging bull by turning the bull's head.

According to tradition, the King rewarded Rule with lands in Bedrule, and instructed him to change his name to Turnbull. This same man, Rule, is said to have served at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, against the English. Rule preceded the Scottish Army into battle with a huge black dog, and challenged any Englishman to fight him. Sir Robert Venal of Norfolk accepted his challenge and killed both Rule and his dog. 1 While the account of the fight is most certainly true and well documented, the legend behind the name Turnbull is questionable.

Early Origins of the Trimple family

The surname Trimple was first found in Roxburghshire. Referring to the aforementioned Rule reference, there was a noble family of Rule, which derived its name from the Water of Rule, an affluent of the Teviot.

This family dates back to 1214 when King William the Lion of Scotland granted lands to Alan de Rule. If the bull episode is true, then the bearer was either Adam de Rule or Thomas de Rule, the two Rule chieftains who appeared on the Ragman Rolls in 1296, just after the Stirling Park affair.

Later, King Robert the Bruce did in fact grant lands in the west of Fulhophalche to William Turnbull in 1315. King David II also granted the lands of Humdallwalschop (now Hundleshop) to John Turnbull. 1

The source "The History of Liddesdale and the Debatable Land" includes the following entries for the family: David Trumbull or Turnbull, 1494; George Trumbull or Turnbull, 1404-5; Jock Trumble, 1544; and Wat Trombull, 1562. 2

Early History of the Trimple family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Trimple research. Another 389 words (28 lines of text) covering the years 1214, 1296, 1315, 1329, 1333, 1400, 1447, 1450, 1454, 1545, 1562, 1591, 1633 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Trimple History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trimple Spelling Variations

Before the printing press and the first dictionaries appeared, names and other words were often spelled differently every time they were written. Trimple has appeared under the variations Turnbull, Turnball, Trimble, Trimbell, Trumbell, Trumbill, Turnbul and many more.

Early Notables of the Trimple family

Notable amongst bearers of this family name during their early history was William Turnbull (d. 1454), Bishop of Glasgow, who procured from the pope a charter to establish a university in the city...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Trimple Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Trimple family to Ireland

Some of the Trimple family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trimple migration to the United States +

The Scots who crossed the Atlantic were often on the run from poverty as well as persecution. They brought little with them, and often had nothing of their home country to hand down to their children. In the 20th century, Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations have helped the ancestors of Boernician Scots to recover their lost national legacy. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Trimple were among those contributors:

Trimple Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joh Meich Trimple, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1802 3

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)