Turnor History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsTurnor is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. It is a name for a lathe worker. The surname Turnor was originally derived from the Old French verb tourneour, meaning to turn on a lathe. Such a craftsman would have fashioned basically cylindrical objects out of wood, metal, and bone. 1 Early Origins of the Turnor familyThe surname Turnor was first found in Oxfordshire in midland England but was found throughout England. "It is well represented in the midlands, especially in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire, and is also numerous in Lancashire." 2 Mark Antony Lower in his source Patronymica Britannica suggests that the name is all "out of all proportion, to the number of persons engaged in the trade" of the lathe. He argues that the family may have first appeared before the Conquest in a grant to the monastery of Croyland, in 1051, being signed, among others, by a Turnerus Capellanus. 3 Moreover, the family was also quite numerous in Scotland from early times. The Hundredorum Rolls list: Aylbricht le Turnur in London in 1271; Geoffrey le Turner in Cambridgeshire; and William le Tumor in Oxfordshire. The latter two listings were probably made in 1273. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Johannes Tumour, turnour. Ironically there are very few listings in the early rolls of the trade. Calendarium Rotulorum Originalium listed William le Tournour and Kirby's Quest listed Henry le Tornour in Somerset during the first year of Edward III reign. 4 1 In Scotland, "a family of this name had possession of the estate of Ardwall in the parish of New Abbey for many generations." 5 Black continues Thomas dictus Tumour held land in Aberdeen in 1382; John Turnoure held land in Irvine in 1426; William Tumour, merchant of Scotland, had a safe conduct in England, 1473; William Turnoure is recorded in Edinburgh, 1482. Early History of the Turnor familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Turnor research. Another 187 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1180, 1191, 1300, 1500, 1575, 1585, 1591, 1600, 1607, 1615, 1617, 1623, 1626, 1638, 1645, 1662, 1663, 1668, 1669, 1672, 1675, 1676, 1677, 1688, 1691, 1693, 1700, 1707, 1714, 1735 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Turnor History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Turnor Spelling VariationsAnglo-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 Turner, Turnerus, Turnor, Turnour, Turnoure and many more. Early Notables of the Turnor familyOutstanding amongst the family at this time was
Migration of the Turnor family to IrelandSome of the Turnor family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
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 Turnor or a variant listed above were: Turnor Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
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