{{ad}} |
|
|
The age-old Scottish surname Murehead was first used by the Strathclyde-Briton people. The Murehead family lived in Lanark, where the family was found since the early Middle Ages. The name denotes "one who came from Muirhead (end of the moor)the name of several places in Scotland; dweller at the end of the marsh." 1 2 3
The surname Murehead was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow. Today, Muirhead is a small suburb of Glasgow, about 7 miles North-East of the city center.
The name originates "from one or other of the many localities of the name in the southern counties, perhaps from Muirhead in the barony of Rothwell. The lands and town of Mureheid in the diocese of Ross are mentioned in 1576, but the surname is not likely to have originated there. The first of the name in record is said to have been Sir William Muirhead of Lachope, end of fourteenth century. Probably the same person as William de Murehede who witnessed a charter of lands of Cranshaws in 1401." 4
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Murehead research. Another 221 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1401, 1432, 1471, 1484, 1491, 1493, 1498, 1503, 1504, 1507, 1513, 1522, 1527, 1577, 1620, 1624, 1637, 1668, 1670, 1691, 1692, 1742, 1805, 1807, 1808, 1825, 1828, 1831, 1854, 1857, 1862, 1863, 1882, 1889 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Murehead History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In Medieval times, spelling and translation were not nearly so highly developed as today. They were generally carried out according to the sound and intuition of the bearer. For that reason spelling variations are extremely common among early Scottish names. Murehead has been spelled Muirhead, Morehead, Moorhead, Moorehead, Murehead and others.
Notable amongst the family at this time was James Muirhead (1742-1808), Scottish song-writer, son of Muirhead of Logan (representing an ancient family), was born in 1742 in the parish of Buittle, Kirkcudbrightshire. James Muirhead (1831-1889), jurist, son of Claud Muirhead of Gogan Park, Midlothian, proprietor of the 'Edinburgh Advertiser,' born in 1831, was admitted on 31 Oct. 1854 a member of the Inner Temple, where he was called to the bar on 6 June 1857, being admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates the same year. In 1862 he was elected to the chair of civil law in the university...
Another 172 words (12 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Murehead Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Unrest, poverty, and persecution caused thousands to look for opportunity and freedom in the North American colonies. The crossing was long, overcrowded, and unsanitary, though, and came only at great expense. Many Strathclyde families settled on the east coast of North America in communities that would form the backbone of what would become the great nations of the United States and Canada. The American War of Independence caused those who remained loyal to England to move north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the 20th century, Strathclyde and other Scottish families across North America began to recover their collective heritage through highland games and Clan societies. Among them: