| ![Show Contents]() Barrecroft History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Barrecroft is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in the village of Barcroft, in Lancashire. Early Origins of the Barrecroft familyThe surname Barrecroft was first found in Lancashire, at Barcroft, a property in Cliviger. "A family of that name lived there until 1668, being found there so early as Henry III." 1 "Amongst the old Lancashire families now rarely represented in the county is that of Barcroft. There were Barcrofts of Barcroft in the parish of Whalley from the 15th to the 17th century. A branch of this family held an estate in Blackburn in the reign of James I. " 2 The Wills at Chester list Thomas Barcroft, of Burnley (Lancashire), 1571 and Henry Barcroft, of Lancashire, 1576. 1 Another source claims the family is from "Bracroft in Bingley, or Barcroft in Haworth, in the West Riding of Yorkshire," where William be Bercroft was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. 3 Whichever the origin, the family originated in northern England, the home of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Early History of the Barrecroft familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Barrecroft research. Another 98 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1535, 1574, 1577, 1578, 1579, 1610, 1632, 1885 and 1961 are included under the topic Early Barrecroft History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Barrecroft Spelling VariationsSound 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 Barrecroft family name include Barecroft, Barcroft, Barcraft and others. Early Notables of the Barrecroft familyNotables of the family at this time include George Barcroft (d. 1610), English musician, matriculated as a sizar of Trinity College, Cambridge, on 12 Dec. 1574, and took the degree of B.A. in 1577-1578. He was appointed a minor canon of Ely and organist of that cathedral in 1579, and it...
Another 51 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Barrecroft Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.  Migration of the Barrecroft family to Ireland
Some of the Barrecroft family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Barrecroft familyFor 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 Barrecroft surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Jane and John Barcrofte, who came to New England in 1632; Charles Barcroft, who settled in Virginia in 1636; Jane and John in Virginia in 1637; Charles Barcraft, who came to Virginia in 1650.
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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England
Ireland
