Fullere History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The origins of the Fullere surname lie with the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name Fullere began when someone in that family worked as a person who worked as a fuller. 1 During medieval times the work of the fuller was to wash yardage, by scouring and thickening the cloth for the purpose of pre-shrinking. The fuller would do this by beating and trampling the raw cloth while it was soaking in the water.

Early Origins of the Fullere family

The surname Fullere was first found in the Assize Rolls of Yorkshire, where Roger Fuler was listed there in 1219. As an occupational name, widespread listings in various counties and shires are to be expected. From this first listing, we found Reginald fullere in Suffolk in 1221, William le Fulur in the Assize Rolls of Warwickshire in 1221 and Simon le Voller in Oxfordshire in 1316. The author notes that the name was chiefly found in "southern and eastern England and that the French form 'fuller' occurs in the whole of England." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Gilbert le Fuller in Hertfordshire and Ambrose le Fullur in Shropshire. 3

Years later and much further to the north in Scotland, Andrew Fullo was a tenant in Mikilbrekauch, and John Fullo was a tenant in Balgirdane, 1376. Thomas Fullo was burgees of Edinburgh in 1386. 4

The famed Alfred Carl Fuller (1885-1973), the original "Fuller Brush Man," was born in Welsford, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1903 at the age of 18. Three years later he started the Fuller Brush Company in Hartford, Connecticut.

Early History of the Fullere family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fullere research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1376, 1386, 1557, 1580, 1583, 1606, 1608, 1626, 1633, 1635, 1637, 1640, 1654, 1659, 1660, 1661, 1663, 1667, 1670, 1672, 1675, 1680, 1687, 1691, 1700, 1701, 1704, 1706 and 1734 are included under the topic Early Fullere History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fullere Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Fullere has appeared include Fuller, Fullere, Fullar, Fullo and others.

Early Notables of the Fullere family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Samuel Fuller (baptized 1580-1633), an English doctor and church deacon from Norfolk who sailed about the Mayflower to colonize North America; William Fuller (c. 1580-1659), dean of Ely and later dean of Durham, during the early 1640s he got into serious trouble with parishioners and Parliament; Isaac Fuller...
Another 55 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fullere Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Fullere family to Ireland

Some of the Fullere family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Fullere family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Fullere arrived in North America very early: Edward Fuller who landed in Massachusetts in 1620; Alex Fuller settled in Virginia in 1643; with Alice; followed by Anne in 1670; Bartholomew Fuller settled in Maryland in 1733.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)