Talbots History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Etymology of Talbots

What does the name Talbots mean?

The surname Talbots is a ancient French surname that came from Normandy, having derived the ancient Germanic given name Talabert, meaning valley bright.

Early Origins of the Talbots family

The surname Talbots was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat in the seigneurie of Lesieux. The first on record was Guillaume Talbot, descended from Hugh, Bishop of Lisieux, and was surnamed Taleboth. He was the youngest son of Guillaume, Comte of Exmes and became the Comte de Eu. This Hugh Taleboth in 1035 granted a charter to the Trinité du Mont. He was one of the Barons who joined Duke William of Normandy in the invasion of England in 1066. He married the daughter of Gerard de Gournay, of the great Norman branch, thereby founding the great historical house of Talbot. Hugh Talbot was castellan of Plessis in Normandy in 1119, and the Norman branches flourished and were benefactors of the Abbeys of Holy Trinity, Rouen, St.-Lo Rouen, Beaubec, Valmont, Bival, St.-Victor-en-Caux, Le Tréport, and Longueville.

Early History of the Talbots family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Talbots research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1373, 1429, 1453, 1705 and 1789 are included under the topic Early Talbots History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Talbots Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Talbots some of which are Talbot, Talbott, Talbout, Taleboth, Tallbot and many more.

Early Notables of the Talbots family

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

Migration of the Talbots family

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Talbots has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Talbots were Jean-Jacques Talbot settled in Quebec in 1698 from Normandy; Hercules Talbott settled in Virginia in 1654.