Quarrier History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Quarrier family

The surname Quarrier was first found in Oxfordshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Norman influence of English history dominated after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. The family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that shire.

Early History of the Quarrier family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Quarrier research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1455 and 1487 are included under the topic Early Quarrier History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Quarrier Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Quarrier, Quarier, Quarryer, Quarre, Quarry and many more.

Early Notables of the Quarrier family

the Quarrier family of Oxfordshire

Quarrier migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Quarrier name or one of its variants:

Quarrier Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

James Quarrier, aged 22, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 aboard the ship "Phillip" 1

Quarrier Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Alexander Quarrier, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Quarrier (post 1700) +

William Quarrier (1829-1903), Scottish bppt maker who founded a village for orphans
Iain Quarrier, Canadian actor played leads in a number of British features during the 1960s

Sources +

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)