Raisbeck History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Raisbeck family

The surname Raisbeck was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire where the earliest record of the name was found as Rastric (Rastrick) in the Domesday Book. There we found two entries for the place: the first in Morley Wapentake and the second in the West Riding. (both entries are referring to the same place) 1 Rastrick is now a "chapelry, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley." 2

Today Rastrick is a village in the West Riding near Brighouse and Huddersfield where remains of an ancient fort have been found at Castle Hill. The name was derived from the Old Scandinavian word "rost" + the Old English word "ric" and probably meant "raised strip or ridge with a resting place" 3 The earliest record of the family was found in this parish where Roger de Rastric was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of 1212. 4 5 John de Rastrik was listed at Wakefield in 1274 and the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 include an entry for Katerina Rastrik (Rastrike). 4 6

Early History of the Raisbeck family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Raisbeck research. Another 58 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1212, 1274, 1379, 1650, 1660, 1674, 1687 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Raisbeck History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Raisbeck Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, Norman French and other languages became incorporated into English throughout the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Raisbeck include Rastick, Rastich, Raistrick, Raistrich, Rasticke and many more.

Early Notables of the Raisbeck family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Rastrisk (1650-1727), English nonconformist minister, son of John and Afling Raistrige, born at Heckington, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. 1660, M.A. 1674. Having taken orders, he became in 1674 vicar of Kirton, Lincolnshire. His parish was not populous, but wide and scattered, and he applied himself to pastoral work with great assiduity. Acting on puritan principles, he withheld baptism from illegitimate children till there was evidence of the parents' penitence, and restricted the communion to those whom he deemed duly prepared. He allowed the scrupulous to...
Another 100 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Raisbeck Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Raisbeck migration to the United States +

In England at this time, the uncertainty of the political and religious environment of the time caused many families to board ships for distant British colonies in the hopes of finding land and opportunity, and escaping persecution. The voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, though, and many arrived in North America sick, starved, and destitute. Those who did make it, however, were greeted with greater opportunities and freedoms that they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Early immigration records have shown some of the first Raisbecks to arrive on North American shores:

Raisbeck Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Raisbeck, aged 30, who arrived in New York in 1812 7

Raisbeck migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Raisbeck Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Minnie Raisbeck, (b. 1869), aged 5 months, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Monarch" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 6th September 1870 8
Mr. Henry Raisbeck, (b. 1838), aged 32, British engineer travelling from London aboard the ship "Monarch" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 6th September 1870 8
Mrs. Harriet Raisbeck, (b. 1840), aged 30, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Monarch" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 6th September 1870 8
Mr. Henry Raisbeck, (b. 1867), aged 3, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Monarch" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 6th September 1870 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Raisbeck (post 1700) +

Neva Frist Raisbeck, American Democratic Party politician, Member of West Virginia Democratic State Executive Committee, 1945, 1949 9

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html