Bonn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The name Bonn comes from a name for a person who was of good character. It originally derived from the Old French as le bon which was used as a term of endearment. The surname was adopted in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. 1
Early Origins of the Bonn family
The surname Bonn was first found in Oxfordshire, where Edward le Bon was recorded in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1204. In Wiltshire, the first record there was that of Rocelin le Bun who appeared in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1255. Walter le Bone was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and Thomas Bonne was found in Herefordshire in 1379. 2
Walter Buns was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 in Oxfordshire. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included Rogerus Bonne; and Johannes Bunne. 3
Early History of the Bonn family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bonn research. Another 229 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1204, 1255, 1296, 1379, 1500, 1618, 1788, 1796, 1823, 1826, 1830, 1833, 1840 and 1860 are included under the topic Early Bonn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Bonn Spelling Variations
Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Bonn include Bunn, Bun, Bon, Bonn, Bone, Bonne, Bunne and others.
Early Notables of the Bonn family
Notables of the family at this time include Alfred Bunn (1796-1860), a prominent theatrical figure who served as joint manager of the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres in London in the 1830s. Elliston gave him his first appointment as stage-manager of Drury Lane in 1823, when he was quite a young man; and he first obtained a certain celebrity as a manager by endeavouring some dozen years afterwards to establish an English Opera. In 1826 he was manager of the Birmingham Theatre, and in 1833 held the same post at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. For most of these operas...
Another 101 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bonn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Bonn migration to the United States +
Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Bonn or a variant listed above:
Bonn Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Herman Bonn, who settled in Germantown in 1689
Bonn Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Frans Bonn, who arrived in New York in 1709 4
- Franz LeFebure Bonn, who landed in New York, NY in 1710 4
- Mr. Bonn, who landed in New York, NY in 1710 4
- Frantz Bonn, who arrived in New York, NY in 1710 4
- Johannes Bonn, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1750 4
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bonn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Juan Bonn, aged 40, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1830 4
- Miss Cath. Bonn, aged 17, who arrived in New Orleans in 1845 aboard the ship "Agnes"
- Christoph Bonn, aged 23, who landed in Missouri in 1845 4
- Mathias Bonn, who arrived in Galveston, Tex in 1846 aboard the ship "York" 4
- Jacob Bonn, who arrived in Galveston, Tex in 1846 aboard the ship "York" 4
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Bonn migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Bonn Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- William Bonn, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Condor" in 1851 5
Bonn migration to West Indies +
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association.
6Bonn Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- Mr. John Bonn, (b. 1617), aged 18, British settler traveling aboard the ship "William and John" arriving in St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 7
Citations +
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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)
- 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)
- State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CONDOR 1851. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1851Condor.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's (Retrieved October 4th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm