Blosse History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Blosse reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Blosse family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Blosse family lived in Leicestershire, Suffolk, and Worcestershire. The family name, however, is not a reference to any of those locations, but to the family's residence prior to the Norman Conquest, in Blois, in the Loir-et-Cher region of France.

Early Origins of the Blosse family

The surname Blosse was first found in Suffolk, where they held a family seat since the reign of Richard I or King John. 1 However, some of the family were established at Bishop's Waltham in Southampton at early times. "Here are the remains of the once magnificent palace annexed to the see of Winchester, built in 1135 by Bishop Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and greatly embellished by Wykeham. Henry II. held a great council in this palace in 1182." 2

Early History of the Blosse family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blosse research. Another 157 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1135, 1154, 1205, 1219, 1327, 1497, 1600, 1634, 1686 and 1997 are included under the topic Early Blosse History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blosse Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Bloss, Blos, Blois, Bloy, Bleys, Blosse, Bloyce and many more.

Early Notables of the Blosse family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Thomas Blosse, the Sheriff of Norwich in the early 1600s

Blosse migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Blosse name or one of its variants:

Blosse Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Mary Blosse, aged 40, who landed in New England in 1634 3
Richard Blosse, aged 11, who landed in New England in 1634 aboard the ship "Francis" 3
John Blosse, who landed in Virginia in 1658 3

Blosse Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Anna Blosse, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Northern Light" in 1867 4
Fredr Blosse, aged 34, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Northern Light" in 1867 4
Anna Blosse, aged 32, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Northern Light" in 1867 4
Carl Blosse, aged 6, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Northern Light" in 1867 4
Henry A. Blosse, aged 23, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Algeria" in 1879 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Blosse Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Ferdinand Blosse, aged 29, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in 1901 4
Anna Blosse, aged 9 months, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in 1901 4
Theresia Blosse, aged 24, who arrived in Ellis Island, New York aboard the ship "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in 1901 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Blosse (post 1700) +

Henry Lynch Blosse, English Anglican priest, Archdeacon of Llandaff (1859–1877), Dean of Llandaff (1877–1879)
Louis Blosse, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 5
Henry Blosse Lynch (1807-1873), Irish explorer, who led the first foreign expedition to successfully to navigate the Tigris River from the Persian Gulf

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 9th February 2023. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 11) Louis Blosse. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html