Despine History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• France

Etymology of Despine

The French name Despine first arose during the Medieval period in the peninsula of Brittany. It is derived from when the family having lived in Bretagne.

Early Origins of the Despine family

Early History of the Despine family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Despine research. Another 33 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1655, 1712, 1720, 1737, 1792, 1795, 1797, 1806, 1807, 1812, 1814, 1818, 1841 and 1860 are included under the topic Early Despine History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Despine Spelling Variations

There were a great number of spelling variations in French surnames. One reason for this was the wide variety of cultural influences present in France during the early development of the French language. The many spelling variations of the name include Despins, Despinay, Despinoy, Despine, Despineul, Déspineul, Despiney and many more.

Early Notables of the Despine family

• Jean-Baptiste Despine, who was embassy secretary at the Utrecht Congress in 1712 and secretary of King Victor Amédée II in 1720
• Joseph Despine, born in Chatelard in 1737, became a doctor
• Felix Despiney was a doctor around 1797
• Charles-Marie-Joseph Despine, born in 1792, became director of the Mining School in Moutiers
• Jacob-Marc Despine was a politician and religious individual and became a doctor in Geneva around 1806
• Claude-Joseph-Constant Despine was a doctor in Annecy in 1807
• Prosper Despine was a doctor in 1812

Migration of the Despine family

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec, in 1663 there were only 500, 2,000 migrants arrived during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year 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. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many distinguished contributions have been made by members of this family name Despine. It has been prominent in the arts, religion, politics and culture in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Despine were 30 individuals who arrived from France to Canadian shores between 1600 and 1900. Among these, Francoise Despins married in 1750 in St-Francois-du-Lac, Quebec.