Clere History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France-Alt
France
Ireland

The French name Clere comes from "le clerc", or "the clerk", and as such was an occupational name originally used for a scribe or secretary.

Early Origins of the Clere family

The surname Clere was first found in Limousin, where this renowned family held a family seat from ancient times.

Many members of this important family were recorded as participants in the French Revolution and in its resultant political forums. Théodore François Joseph Leclaire was a member of the military who was promoted to the rank of Chief of Battalion of the 98th regiment in 1791, followed in 1793 by a promotion to Commander of Arms. He was also honoured by being admitted to the Legion of Honour.

Early History of the Clere family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Clere research. Another 31 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1587, 1622, 1633, 1637, 1657, 1691, 1697, 1711, 1714, 1736, 1774 and 1823 are included under the topic Early Clere History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Clere Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of French surnames; in part, as spelling, and the spelling names was not yet standardized during the early development of the written French language. Later, there was much branching and movement of families, and spellings would change according to region. Variations of the name Clere include Leclair, Leclaire, Leclaires, Leclère, Leclere, Leclères, Lecleres, Leclert, Lecler, le Clair, le Claire, le Claires, le Clère, le Clere, le Clères, le Clert, le Cler, Clair, Claire, Claires, Clère, Clere, Clères, Clert and many more.

Early Notables of the Clere family

Notable amongst the family was Jean Leclerc (c.1587-1633), French painter and etcher, born into the service of Duke Charles III of Lorraine; Michel Le Clerc (1622-1691), a French lawyer and dramatist; Sébastien Leclerc (1637-1714), a French printmaker, draughtsman...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Clere Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Clere Ranking

In France, the name Clere is the 6,301^st most popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 1

Clere migration to the United States +

Approximately 110 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. France gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. Migration to New France (Quebec) continued from France until it fell in 1759. In the year 1675 the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Clere has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Clere were

Clere Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Josephine Clere, aged 19, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1833 aboard the ship "Othello"
Maria Clere, aged 31, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1833 aboard the ship "Othello"
Catharine Clere, aged 14, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1833 aboard the ship "Othello"
Jean Pierre Clere, aged 3, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1833 aboard the ship "Othello"
Francoise Clere, aged 4, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1833 aboard the ship "Othello"
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Clere 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. 2

Clere Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. John Clere, (b. 1608), aged 26, British settler travelling from Gravesend, UK aboard the ship "Hopewell" arriving in Barbados on 17th February 1634 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Clere (post 1700) +

Edward D. 'Ed' Clere (b. 1974), American politician, Member of the Indiana House of Representatives (2008-)
Hugo Clere (b. 1994), French motorcycle racer
Colonel Francis Clere Hitchcock MC (1896-1962), Irish author who wrote Stand To—A Diary of the Trenches (1915–1918)
John Clere Parsons (1760-1826), Anglo-Irish lawyer, politician and judge, Member of Parliament for King's County (1818–1821)

Citations +

http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)