Contents [hide]

Bunney History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Bunney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The Bunney family has descended through the lines of the ancient Normans that came to England following their Conquest of England in 1066. The Bunney name reveals that an early member was a bunn, or literally from the Old French word bonne which means good. 1 Another source presumes the name could have been from place Bougnies, a Norman village in Belgium. 2

Early Origins of the Bunney family

The surname Bunney was first found in Nottinghamshire at Bunny, a parish, in the union of Basford, N. division of the wapentake of Rushcliffe. "Bunny Park, the seat of Lord Rancliffe, to the east of the village, is an ancient mansion of brick ornamented with stone, with a massive gateway entrance. The church is a spacious and well-built edifice, partly in the decorated and partly in the later English style, with a tower surmounted by a crocketed spire." 3

The Bunnys of Ibdrope were said to have held that Hampshire estate from temp. King John. 4

Further to the north in Scotland, William Buny, was a Scottish merchant who had safe conduct into England, 1412; Patrick Buny held land in Linlithow, 1461; and Henry Buny held a tenement there in 1472. 5

Early History of the Bunney family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bunney research. Another 126 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1540, 1543, 1558, 1559, 1562, 1567, 1574, 1584, 1588, 1601, 1612, 1617 and 1619 are included under the topic Early Bunney History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bunney Spelling Variations

Before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Sound was what guided spelling in the Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Bunney family name include Bunney, Bunny, Buny, Bunnie and others.

Early Notables of the Bunney family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Edmund Bunny (1540-1619), a noted theological writer who acquired the estates of the Hartops of Dalby. He was born in 1540 at the Vache, the seat of Edward Restwold, his mother's father, near Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire. He was the eldest son of Richard Bunny (d. 1584) of Newton or Bunny Hall in Wakefield parish, who was treasurer of...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bunney Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bunney migration to the United States +

To escape the political and religious chaos of this era, thousands of English families began to migrate to the New World in search of land and freedom from religious and political persecution. The passage was expensive and the ships were dark, crowded, and unsafe; however, those who made the voyage safely were encountered opportunities that were not available to them in their homeland. Many of the families that reached the New World at this time went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. Research into various historical records has revealed some of first members of the Bunney family to immigrate North America:

Bunney Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Bunney, who settled in Charlestown Massachusetts in 1630

Bunney Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Bartholomew Bunney, who settled in New England in 1759
Mary Ann Bunney, who arrived in America in 1760-1763 6

Bunney Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mrs. Honour Bunney, (b. 1835), aged 57, Cornish settler travelling aboard the ship "Alaska" arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 10th October 1892 en route to New York, USA 7

Bunney Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Mr. George Bunney, (b. 1856), aged 48, Cornish miner travelling aboard the ship "St Louis" arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 22nd May 1904 en route to Rossland, British Columbia, USA 7

Bunney migration to Australia +

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

Bunney Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Bunney, (Pym, Joseph), English convict who was convicted in Derbyshire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Exmouth" on 3rd March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. George Bunney, English convict who was convicted in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England for 8 years, transported aboard the "Edwin Fox" on 24th August 1858, arriving in Western Australia, Australia
Mr. Alexander Bunney, (b. 1858), aged 31, Cornish settler travelling aboard the ship "Dacca" arriving in Queensland, Australia on 17th August 1889 9

Bunney migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bunney Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John Bunney, (b. 1832), aged 27, English farm labourer from Leicestershire travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Victory " arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 14th May 1859 10

Bunney 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. 11

Bunney Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century

William Bunney his brother settled in Barbados in the same year

Contemporary Notables of the name Bunney (post 1700) +

William E. Bunney, American neuroscientist
Michael Frank Wharlton Bunney MBE (1873-1927), English architect who was closely associated with the development of Hampstead Garden Suburb
Joseph Elliott "Joe" Bunney (b. 1993), English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Marine
Sydney John Bunney (1877-1928), English late Impressionist artist; he lived in Coventry and did over 500 drawings of early 20th-century Coventry
John Wharlton Bunney (1828-1882), English topographical and landscape artist
Edmund Bunney (1749-1833), birth name of Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 1st Baronet, British Baronet and politician
Elliot Bunney (b. 1966), Scottish athlete, silver medal holder at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games
Lauren Bunney (b. 1988), British actress
Andrew Bunney, Scientist and Educator

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_ellis_island_1892_on.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/exmouth
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_queensland.pdf
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies