Conquest History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The Conquest surname derives from the Old French word "conquest" meaning "conquest;" as a name it most likely evolved from a nickname.
Early Origins of the Conquest family
The surname Conquest was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Houghton Conquest, Hugh de Beauchamp from Countess Edith, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.
Early History of the Conquest family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Conquest research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1097, 1306, 1355, 1390, 1510, 1531, 1600, 1603 and 1607 are included under the topic Early Conquest History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Conquest Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Conquest, Concwest, Conkwest, Conqueror and others.
Early Notables of the Conquest family
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was
- the Conquest family of Bedfordshire
Conquest migration to the United States +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Conquest Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Lewis Conquest, who settled in Virginia in 1649
- Richard Conquest, who landed in Virginia in 1649 2
- Edm Conquest, who settled in Virginia in 1673
Conquest Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- John Conquest, a bonded passenger, who settled in America in 1755
Conquest Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- George Conquest, who was on record in New York, NY in 1835
Contemporary Notables of the name Conquest (post 1700) +
- George Robert Acworth Conquest CMG, OBE, FBA, FAAAS, FRSL, FBIS (1917-2015), English-born, American historian and poet, best known for his work The Great Terror: Stalin's Purges of the 1930s (1968), recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Brigadier-General Edwin Parker Conquest (1894-1966), American Commanding Officer 366th Infantry Regiment (1943) 3
- Stuart Conquest (b. 1967), English chess Grandmaster
- John Tricker Conquest (1789-1806), Scottish man-midwife, he died at Shooter's Hill on 24 Oct. 1866 4
Citations +
- Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
- 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)
- Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, November 23) Edwin Conquest. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Conquest/Edwin_Parker/USA.html
- Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020