Dunster History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The ancient roots of the Dunster family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Dunster comes from when the family lived in the parish of Dunster in the county of Somerset. The place-name is derived from the Old English word Dunntorr, which refers to a rocky peak.
Early Origins of the Dunster family
The surname Dunster was first found in Somerset at Dunster, home of Dunster Castle, a former motte and bailey castle, now a country house owned by the National Trust, which operates it as a tourist attraction. The location has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period and the by the 11th century, William de Mohun had constructed a timber castle on the site.
After the siege of Dunster Castle at the end of the English Civil War, much of the castle was destroyed but was later remodeled to fit Victorian tastes. One of the first records of the name was William de Mohun of Dunster (c.1090-c.1155) who was a favourite of Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I, and a loyal supporter of her in the war against King Stephen.
He earned the epithet the "Scourge of the West"and after the war, Empress Matilda granted him the title Earl of Somerset, in 1141. His father, William was Sheriff of Somerset in 1084.
Early History of the Dunster family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunster research. Another 57 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1609, 1618, 1640, 1659, 1660, 1675, 1678, 1679, 1684, 1687 and 1754 are included under the topic Early Dunster History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Dunster Spelling Variations
One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Dunster has appeared include Dunster, Dunstar, Dunstarr, Dunsterr and others.
Early Notables of the Dunster family
Notables of the family at this time include
- Henry Dunster (1609-1659), born in Lancashire, England, he emigrated to America in 1640 and became the first president of Harvard University. He was the son of Henry Dunster of Balehoult, Bury, Lancas...
- Another Henry Dunster (1618-1684), was an English merchant and politician from Seavington St. Michael, Somerset, Member of Parliament for Ilchester (1660-1679.)
- Samuel Dunster (1675-1754), was a translator of Horace, from a Somersetshire family and was born in September 1675. He entered the Merchant Taylors' School 12 March 1687-1678, and was educated at Trin...
Dunster migration to the United States +
At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Dunster arrived in North America very early:
Dunster Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Henry Dunster, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1640 1
- Henry Dunster, who settled in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1648
- Tobias Dunster, who arrived in Virginia in 1663 1
Dunster Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Eliza Dunster, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1744 1
- William Dunster settled with his wife Elizabeth in Baltimore in 1775
Dunster Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- John and Mrs Dunster, who settled in New York in 1820 with a child
Dunster 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.
2Dunster Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- Mr. Robert Dunster, (b. 1601), aged 34, British settler travelling aboard the ship "Expedition" arriving in Barbados in 1636 3
Contemporary Notables of the name Dunster (post 1700) +
- Matthew Dunster, English Olivier Award nominated theater director, playwright and actor, an Associate Artist at the Young Vic theatre in London
- Mrs. Christine Dunster B.E.M., British recipient of the British Empire Medal on 8th June 2018, for services to the community in Solihull, West Midlands 4
- Charles Dunster (1750-1816), British writer, and translator
- Tommy Dunster, Argentine soap opera actor
- Bernard Francis Dunster (1921-1995), Canadian gold medalist ice hockey player at the 1948 Winter Olympics
- William Robert Dunster OBE (b. 1960), British architect
- Robin Dunster (b. 1944), Australian chief of staff of the Salvation Army International, the first woman to hold the office
Citations +
- 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)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 29th September 2021. Retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
- "Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62310, 31 October 2019 | London Gazette, The Gazette, June 2018, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62310/supplement/B1