Contents [hide]

Shield History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Shield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Early Origins of the Shield family

The surname Shield was first found in Berwickshire where the name was local in origin. The Middle English version of the name was "schele" or "skali" which was "used first of a shepherd's summer-hut or small house." This distinguished Clan took their name from the reivers small houses or huts which abounded on the eastern English/Scottish border. 1

Robbie Burns included the line "the swallow jinkin around my shiel." North Shields and South Shields located on the north bank of the River Tyne and the mouth of the same river date back to 1225-1245, 2 but there is no record of any relationship to the surname.

"Thomas of le Scheie was juror on an inquisition made at Traqueyr, 1274. William Schelle of the county of Edeneburk rendered homage [to King Edward I of England in] 1296. Symon de Scheie was dean of guild in Edinburgh, 1403, and William de Schellis, presbyter and notary public in the diocese of Glasgow, 1448. Gilbert Schell witnessed sasine of lands of Walle, 1469, and John Scheill was citizen of Glasgow, 1527. Andro Cheill or Cheild was tenant of land of West Scheill, 1515, and Andro Scheill, tenant in barony of Glasgow in same year. Alexander Sheilds or Shields (1660-1700), the Covenanter, wrote his name 'Shells.' " 3

Just over the border in northern England, we found Robert Scild in the Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire in 1206 and later, William Sheld in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1267. Here the name is thought to have probably denotes "a maker of shields. " 4

Early rolls also included Roger ate Schelds in the Subsidy Rolls for Surrey in 1332, Geoffrey le Seldmakere in Essex in 1285 and Adam Scheldman in the Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk in 1327. 4

Early History of the Shield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shield research. Another 143 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1274, 1296, 1403, 1515, 1660, 1700, 1702, 1707, 1753, 1783 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Shield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shield Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Shiel, Shiell, Shiels, Shiells, Sheil, Sheill, Sheils, Sheills, Shield, Shields, O'Shiel, O'Shields and many more.

Early Notables of the Shield family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was

William Schelle of Edinburgh; and Alexander Shields or Sheilds (1660-1700), a Scottish nonconformist minister, activist, and author from Earlston, Berwickshire
Robert Shiels, Shiells or Shields (d. 1753), was a Scottish compiler, of humble origin, born in Roxburghshire about the end of the seventeenth century, and ventured to London as a journeyman printer...

Shield Ranking

In the United States, the name Shield is the 17,994^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Migration of the Shield family to Ireland

Some of the Shield family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 118 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shield migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shield Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Shield, who settled in Virginia in 1638
Walter Shield, who settled in America in 1650
George Shield, who landed in Maryland in 1660 6
William Shield, who arrived in Maryland in 1676 6
Daniel Shield, who arrived in Maryland in 1677 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Shield Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jahan Nickell Shield, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1739 6
Samuel Shield, who arrived in Virginia in 1775 6

Shield Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Terence Shield, aged 34, who landed in New York in 1812 6
Francis Shield, aged 28, who arrived in New York in 1812 6
William J Shield, who landed in Texas in 1835 6
Henrich Shield, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1854 6
Henry Shield, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1854 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Shield migration to Australia +

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

Shield Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Elizabeth Shield, aged 22, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Warren Hastings"

Shield 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:

Shield Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Shield, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Evening Star" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 13th April 1863 7
Mr. Shield, American settler travelling from Honolulu aboard the ship "Nevada" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 22nd October 1872 7
Charles Shield, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Crusader" in 1882

Contemporary Notables of the name Shield (post 1700) +

Leroy Bernard Shield (1893-1962), American film score and radio composer, best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy series
Joe Shield (b. 1962), American NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers
William B. Shield, American politician, Postmaster at Middletown, Delaware, 1796-99 8
Richard Shield, American politician, Candidate for Mayor of Austin, Texas, 1981, 1988 8
Richard Shield, American politician, Industrial Candidate for Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania, 1916 8
James M. Shield, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Tennessee, 1860 8
Ian Noel Ridley Shield MBE (1914-2005), English first-class cricketer and British Army officer
Hugh Shield (1831-1903), English academic, barrister and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1885
William Shield (1748-1829), English musical composer, born at Swalwell in the parish of Whickham, co. Durham
Mark Shield (b. 1973), former Australian Football referee and national Director of Referees
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Shield Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Vincit qui patitur
Motto Translation: He conquers who endures.

Citations +

Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html