Show ContentsKnille History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Knille Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Early Origins and Etymology of Knille

The surname Knille was first found in Herefordshire at Knill, a parish, in the union of Presteign, hundred of Wigmore. Originally listed as Chenille in the Domesday Book of 1086, 1 the place name literally means "place at the hillock. 2

The surname is descended from the tenant of the lands and village of Knill, held by Osbern FitzRichard, and Norman noble, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. Sir John de Knill was Lord of Knill in the 12th century.

Some of the first records of the family include a reference found in the "Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I" of Henry de Knell, Bedfordshire. 3 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Gille de Knille, Cambridgeshire and Robert de Knille, Cambridgeshire. 4

In Somerset, the earliest record of the family was John atte Knyle. 5 We also found this interesting entry: "Sir John, a younger son of the unfortunate William de Braose, temp. King John, having received from his father the manor of Knylle or Knill, in the marches of Wales (co. Hereford), adopted De Knill as his surname. Knill of Knill became extinct in the XVII. cent." 6

In the parish of St. Ives, Cornwall, near the manor of Lelant and Trevethow, "a pyramid, [can be found] which is a conspicuous object both by sea and land, and is equally singular through the cause of its erection. It was built by order of John Knill, Esq. a bencher of Gray's Inn, who was some time collector of the port of St. Ives, and was afterwards secretary to Lord Hobart, when he was lord lieutenant of Ireland. In this mausoleum it was his intention that his mortal remains should be interred. On one side of this pyramid, in which the niche for his coffin was made, stands inscribed his name, 'Johannes Knill;' on another is the word 'Resurgam :' and on a third, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.' To perpetuate his name, he directed, that at the end of every five years after his decease, an elderly woman, and ten girls, each under fourteen years of age, dressed in white, should walk in procession from the market-house in St. Ives to the pyramid, accompanied with music, and that they should dance round this mausoleum singing the hundredth psalm." 7

Early History of the Knille family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Knille research. Another 112 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1140, 1159, 1442, 1510, 1545 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Knille History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Knille Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Knill, Knyll, Knyl, Knil, Nill, Nyll, Nil, Nyl, Knoll, Knell and many more.

Early Notables of the Knille family

More information is included under the topic Early Knille Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Knille migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Knille or a variant listed above were:

Knille Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Bernd Heinr Knille, who arrived in America in 1813-1820 8
  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  3. Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
  6. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  7. Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
  8. 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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