Mearns History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland

Early Origins of the Mearns family

The surname Mearns was first found in Kincardine, where The Mearns was a traditional alternate name for the county on the east coats of northeast Scotland. Alternatively the name could have been derived from Renfrewshire where Mearns Castle has stood since the fifteenth century when Herbert, Lord Maxwell under a royal warrant issued in 1449 had the castle built. The castle was restored and is now part of the Maxwell Mearns Castle Church in Newton Mearns, today, the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire. The name Mearns was derived from Scottish Gaelic "a' Mhaoirne" meaning a stewartry. Máel Petair of Mearns (fl. 1094) is the only known Mormaer (Scottish: regional or provincial ruler) of the Mearns and once source claims he killed King Duncan II of Scotland in 1094.

Early History of the Mearns family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mearns research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1177, 1401, 1466, 1597, 1624, 1683 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Mearns History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mearns Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mearn, Mearns, Merns, Mairns, Mernes and others.

Early Notables of the Mearns family

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

Mearns migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Mearns Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Alexander Mearns, aged 26, who landed in New York, NY in 1812 1
James Mearns, aged 28, who arrived in Virginia in 1812 1

Mearns 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:

Mearns Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Madeline Mearns, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Katherine Stewart Forbes" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 9th March 1852 2
Mr. William Robert Gordon Mearns, (b. 1855), aged 20, Scottish settler born in Banffshire travelling from Scotland (possible Greenock) aboard the ship "Wellington" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1876, heading for Invercargill 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Mearns (post 1700) +

Sara Mearns, New York City Ballet principal dancer
William Hughes Mearns (1875-1965), American educator and poet
David Louis Mearns (b. 1958), American-born marine scientist and deep water search and recovery expert, responsible for discovering 21 major shipwrecks including the battlecruiser HMS Hood, awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia
Edgar Alexander Mearns (1856-1916), American ornithologist and field naturalist, co-founder of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883
William Mearns, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Buckhannon, West Virginia, 1894-98 4
Martha Mearns, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for West Virginia State House of Delegates from Upshur County, 1940 4
Hugh Mearns, American politician, Member of West Virginia State House of Delegates 1st District, 1879-80 4
Randy Mearns (b. 1969), Canadian former lacrosse player from St. Catharines, Ontario, inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, 2006
Frederick Mearns (1879-1931), English football goalkeeper
Ian Mearns (b. 1957), British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Gateshead (2010-)

Citations +

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
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html