Anns History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins and Etymology of Anns

The surname Anns was first found in Yorkshire where "the pedigree begins with Sir William de Anne, Constable of the Castle of Tickhill in the time of Edward II." 1 Hunter states about this family: "it is a single instance of the male line being maintained in its ancient port and rank out of all gentry of the Deanery of Doncaster, summoned to appear before the Heralds in 1584."

The Hanney (Hanny) variant likely arose from East or West Hanney, the latter a parish in the union of Wantage, partly in the hundred of Ock, but chiefly in that of Wantage, Berkshire. Both are ancient Saxon villages dating back to 956 when they were collectively known as Hannige. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, they were known as Hannei, meaning "island, or land between streams, frequented by cocks (of wild birds)" from the Old English word "hana" + "eg." 2

"The church [of West Hanney] is principally of Norman architecture, and contains a monument to Mrs. Elizabeth Bowles, who died at the advanced age of 124 years; likewise several memorials of Knights Templars." 3

Thomas Hanney or De Hanneye (fl. 1313), is the author of a treatise, 'De quatuor partibus Grammaticæ,' known as the 'Memoriale Iuniorum,' which is extant in two manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. "There appears to be no evidence that the writer was an Englishman, but if he was he may be assumed to have taken his name from Hanney in Berkshire, not far from Wantage, which place is spelled Hanneye in a roll of 8 Edward II." 4

Early History of the Anns family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Anns research. Another 152 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1307, 1394, 1415, 1420, 1455, 1487, 1490, 1510 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Anns History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Anns Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Anns family name include Anne, Any, Ann, Anny, Annie, Hanne, Hanny, Hanney and others.

Early Notables of the Anns family

More information is included under the topic Early Anns Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Anns migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Anns surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Anns Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Peter Anns, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1749 5

Anns migration to Australia +

Anns Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Anns, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for life, transported aboard the "Dromedary" on 11th September 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6

Sources +

Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/dromedary