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Bellis History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Bellis History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Italy

Early Origins of the Bellis family

The surname Bellis was first found in Messina (Sicilian: Missina; Latin: Messana), capital of the Italian province of Messina. Its history begins in 397 B.C. After a checkered history the Saracens took it in 831, and the Normans in 1061. It was host to the crusaders in 1190. Garibaldi landed in 1860 and it was the last city to be made a part of united Italy. In those ancient times only persons of rank, the podesta, clergy, city officials, army officers, artists, landowners were entered into the records. To be recorded at this time, at the beginning of recorded history, was of itself a great distinction and indicative of noble ancestry.

Early History of the Bellis family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bellis research. Another 84 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1546 is included under the topic Early Bellis History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bellis Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Bellis, De Bellis, Bello, Bella, De Bella DeBellis and many more.

Early Notables of the Bellis family

Prominent among bearers of this surname in early times was

Bellis of Messina

Bellis Ranking

In the United States, the name Bellis is the 14,691^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Bellis migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bellis Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Bellis, who settled in America in 1730
John Bellis, who settled in America in 1774

Bellis Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Manuel Bellis, who settled in Philadelphia in 1820
Samuel Bellis, who arrived in Indiana in 1851
J. B. Bellis, who arrived in San Francisco in 1852
J. B. Bellis, who settled in San Francisco, California in 1852

Bellis Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Lazaros Bellis, who arrived in Boston in 1906

Bellis migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Bellis Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Edward Bellis, English convict who was convicted in Chester, Cheshire, England for life, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st September 1832, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 2
James Bellis, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "The Stratheden" in 1850 3
Mr. Thomas Bellis, English convict who was convicted in Chester, Cheshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Equestrian" on 27th August 1852, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 4
Edward Bellis, aged 25, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Dirigo" 5

Bellis 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. 6

Bellis Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Edward Bellis, who settled in St. Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635
Edward Bellis, aged 21, who landed in St Christopher in 1635 7
Mr. Edward Bellis, (b. 1614), aged 21, British settler traveling aboard the ship "William and John" arriving in St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Bellis (post 1700) +

Benjamin Neil Bellis (b. 1924), retired American Air Force Lieutenant General, Vice Commander in Chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe
Richard Bellis (b. 1946), American Primetime Emmy Award winning composer from Pasadena, California
Joy Bellis, American Jazz Singer
Roger Bellis, American politician, Mayor of Hyattsville, Maryland, 1911-12
Joe Bellis, American Libertarian politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Kansas 3rd District, 2004
Scott Bellis, Canadian actor from Vancouver
Jonathan Bellis (b. 1988), Manx racing cyclist from Douglas
George Alfred Bellis (1904-1969), Indian-born, English professional footballer
Alfred "Alf" Bellis (b. 1920), former English footballer
Bertram Thomas Bellis, Headmaster, The Leys School, Cambridge
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Bellis family +

HMS Dorsetshire

Arthur Bellis (d. 1945), British Leading Stoker aboard the HMS Dorsetshire when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 9

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The STRATHEDEN 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Stratheden.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/equestrian
South Australian Register Thursday 23rd November 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Dirigo 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/dirigo1854.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
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)
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's (Retrieved October 4th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Force Z Survivors HMS Dorsetshire Crew List, (Retrieved 2018, February 13th), https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listdorsetshirecrew.html