Youren History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

While surnames were well-known during the English medieval period, Cornish People originally used only a single name. The way in which hereditary surnames came into common use is interesting. Under the Feudal System of government, surnames evolved and they often reflected life on the manor and in the field. Patronymic surnames were derived from given names and were the predominant type of surname among the Celtic peoples of Britain. However, the people of Cornwall provide a surprising exception to this rule, and patronymic surnames are less common among them than other people of Celtic stock, such as their Welsh neighbors. This type of surname blended perfectly with the prevailing Feudal System. One feature that is occasionally found in Cornish surnames of this type is the suffix -oe or -ow; this is derived from the Cornish plural suffix -ow. is a patronymic surname that came from the ancient Cornish given name Urion or Urien, meaning town born. 1

Early Origins of the Youren family

The surname Youren was first found in Cornwall, where they held a family seat from very ancient times at Trewarevra, and were descended from Driff in Cornwall. The original name was Trewren and Uren is an abbreviation thereof.

Urien (Urien Rheged or Uriens) was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom in northern England and southern Scotland. According to Arthurian legend, he became the "King Urien of Gorre" and his son Owain mab Urien was later known as Ywain. Known for his victories at the battle of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, the Brythonic poet Taliesin later celebrated his life in poems. 2

In Staffordshire, we found an early entry as a forename: Urian de St. Pierrs in the Assize Rolls of 1272. In Yorkshire, William Urine was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for 1301 and in Gloucestershire, Robert Vryen was listed in 1459. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: John filius Urian, Huntingdonshire; and Uryene (without surname), Cambridgeshire. 4

Early History of the Youren family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Youren research. Another 108 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1633, 1635, 1671, 1675, 1680, 1696, 1724, 1726 and 1731 are included under the topic Early Youren History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Youren Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Uren, Trewren, Hurin, Hurrion and others.

Early Notables of the Youren family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Thomas Trewren of Sancreed, last of an ancient line who held the manor house at Monkton. John Hurrion (1675?-1731), was an independent divine, descended from a Suffolk family and was trained for the ministry among the independents. About 1696 he succeeded William Bedbank at Denton in Norfolk. There he engaged in a controversy respecting the divinity of Christ with William Manning, the Socinian minister of Peasenhall, Suffolk. He removed...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Youren Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Youren migration to Australia +

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

Youren Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Youren, (b. 1808), aged 26 born in Gwennap, Cornwall, UK convicted in Cornwall on 27th March 1834, sentenced for life for housebreaking, transported aboard the ship "Augusta Jessie" in 1834 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 5
Mr. James Youren (b. 1808), aged 26, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 27th March 1834, sentenced for life for housebreaking, transported aboard the ship "Augusta Jessie" on 27th September 1834 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 6
Mr. James Youren, Cornish covict who was convicted in Cornwall, England for life, transported aboard the "Augusta Jessie" on 27 September 1834, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
Mr. David Youren, (b. 1856), aged 20, Cornish labourer travelling aboard the ship "Samuel Plimsoll" arriving in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 19th August 1876 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Youren (post 1700) +

Jan Youren (b. 1942), American rodeo rider, five-time World Champion in Bareback Bronc Riding, inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1993
Harold Wilfred Youren (1910-1983), New Zealand lawyer, farmer, farmers’ advocate and peace campaigner
George Youren (1891-1967), Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in 1919, father of Colin Youren
Colin George Youren (1939-2015), Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn (1958-1965)

Citations +

Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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 14th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/augusta-jessie
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 19). Emigrants to Australia NSW 1860 -88 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/nsw_passenger_lists_1860_88.pdf