Grendell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England
• Scotland

Etymology of Grendell

The history of the Grendell family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in either Greendale, Devon or Grindale in the East Riding of Yorkshire. 1 Of the last entry, we do know that this parish dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was first listed as Grendele. 2 Literally the place name means "green valley," 3 or "residence in a green valley." 4

"The village is neatly built; the township comprises 2268 acres, including 1047 common or waste land inclosed in 1843. " 5

Turning the clock back a bit further, we found this interesting entry for the family and their origin: "Edmond Grindale, Archbishop of Canterbury, was son of William Grindale, who settled, on the dissolution of the Monasteries, near St. Bees. There were others of the name in London, Hunts, and especially in York, where Grindale or Grendale, afterwards Handale, was situated. This place belonged to a branch of the Percys. Richard de Percy was younger son of William I. de Percy, and brother of Alan de Percy. He obtained from his father Dunsley, Lofthouse (in which Grendale was situated) and other estates. he had, 1. Ralph de Grendale, 2. William de Percy, 3. Walter Fitz-Richard. The second gave lands at Dunsley to Whitby Abbey. Ralph de Grendal was father of Ralph, both living at the foundation of Bridlington Priory. Walter, their younger brother, succeeded, and, 1165, with his uncle William de Percy, held a knight’s fee from William, son of Alan de Percy 6. From Walter de Grendale descended the Grindales of the North, of whom Walter de Grendale was returned in 1300 as possessing an estate above 40 l. per annum. in York, &c., and was summoned by writ for military service in Scotland, and in 1312 was summoned by writ to the Parliament of York as a Baron of the realm. " 7

"Grindel and Grendel were Anglo-Saxon personal names [cp. Old English (poet.) grindel, a bar, bolt] Grendel was the name of the ogre killed by Beówulf: Wæs se grimma gæst The grim guest was Grendel háten." 8

Early Origins of the Grendell family

Early History of the Grendell family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Grendell research. Another 113 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1179, 1510, 1519, 1536, 1538, 1541, 1544, 1548, 1549, 1559, 1583 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Grendell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Grendell 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 Grendall, Grendale, Grendle and others.

Early Notables of the Grendell family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Edmund Grindall (1519?-1583), Archbishop of Canterbury, "the son of William Grindal, a well-to-do farmer who lived at Hensingham, in the parish of St. Bees, Cumberland, a district which Grindal himself described as 'the ignorantest part in religion, and most oppressed of covetous landlords of anyone part of this realm'. He went at an early age to Cambridge, where he entered first at Magdalene College, and then removed to Christ's College where he was scholar in 1536-7, and afterwards to Pembroke Hall, where he took his B.A. degree in 1538, and in the same...
Another 181 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Grendell Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Grendell family

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 Grendell or a variant listed above were: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..