Brin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Brin family

The surname Brin was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Thurnam, held by the King's steward, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. The village is now two villages, Upper and Lower Thurnham.

Early History of the Brin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brin research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1510 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Brin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Brin Spelling Variations

Anglo-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 Bryn, Brynn, Brin, Brinn, Bryne, Brine and others.

Early Notables of the Brin family

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

Brin Ranking

In France, the name Brin is the 3,639^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,500 - 2,000 people with that name. 2

Brin migration to the United States +

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 Brin or a variant listed above were:

Brin Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

J P Brin, aged 27, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1853 3

Brin migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Brin Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Mary Brin, aged 30, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1833 aboard the brig "Thomas Hanford" from Cork, Ireland

Brin migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Brin Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Brin, Scottish convict who was convicted in Perth, Scotland for 15 years, transported aboard the "Belgravia" on 4th April 1866, arriving in Western Australia 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Brin (post 1700) +

Quince Edward Brin, American politician, Member of South Carolina State Senate from York County, 1941-44 5

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/belgravia
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html