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Show ContentsCraster History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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  • England England
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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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The ancestry of the name Craster dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived in the village of Craster, a fishing village located on the coast of the North Sea, northeast of Alnwick.

Early Origins of the Craster family

The surname Craster was first found in Northumberland where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor at ancient Craucestre a barony outside Alnwick in that shire. The Domesday Book did not include the county of Northumberland. King William the Conqueror believed he had laid Northumberland waste in 1069. We are therefore unable to distinguish the Norman Baron who held Craucestre, with certainty but we do know that Alnwick was held by Baron John of Alnwick and may be the ancestor of the Craster surname. John had married Beatrice, daughter of Ivo de Visci and acquired Alnwick. "The manor of Craster, olim Crawcestre, near Alnwick, was held by the family temp. Henry I., and still belongs to Craster of Craster Tower." [1] The family have held the tower since 1278, but over the years many changes have taken place. Today, it is regarded as a 18th-century Georgian mansion incorporating a 14th-century pele tower.

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Albert de Craucestre and Ivo de Crawecestre were both recorded here in the 1200's. [2]

Early History of the Craster family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Craster research. Another 107 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1299, 1681, 1682, 1779, 1803, 1879 and 1944 are included under the topic Early Craster History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Craster Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Craster have been found, including Craster, Crawcester, Craucestre, Craucester, Crawster and many more.

Early Notables of the Craster family (pre 1700)

Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Craster Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

United States Craster migration to the United States +

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Craster, or a variant listed above:

Craster Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Craster, who arrived in Virginia in 1716 [3]

Contemporary Notables of the name Craster (post 1700) +
  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  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)
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