~ by Win Terrell
| The surname Terrell seems to have evolved
from the Danish <Tur> meaning hill or tower. first encountered them in 1530 Robert spelled his name <Turrold>. His eldest son Avery liked <Tyrell> better, but the second son, William dropped an "r" and made it <Turold>. Richard returned to his father's spelling, but David, the youngest, must have had an artistic bent because he elaborated it to <Turrolde>. We follow his blood line, but we don't follow his spelling, obviously. Currently, there are about twenty variations of the spelling! |
|
| There is a family legend that all Terrells, regardless
of the spelling,
descended from one Walter Tyrel who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror. He later accidentally killed William's son, King Rufus, while hunting--- and found it wisely expedient to leave the country, perhaps to Ireland where Hugh Tyrel is a Westmeath hero and there is a Terrell Castel and town, Terrellspass. Terrells of many spellings abound in Ireland and England, and now America, but at this point the story is just a legend. |
 |
There
is also a lineage for the family that extends back to 1120 in England,
but I have not
yet resolved it with my data. That lineage also applies <Sir>
until 1700. What that
implies I don't know.
 |
David's son,
Willyam Turrold, steps out of the shadows of
time a little in 1560: he was a "yeoman" meaning at that time a manager--of a farm or manor or what? and he was known as Lord of Bruyn Manor---probably he had the responsibility for the manor while the owner was away. He is also known as "the yoeman of Hagbourne"; Hagbourne is currently a small town or hamlet about 20 miles south of London. Who out there knows about this English stuff? Please write me if you do. |
|
Willyam, born in 1560 in Reading, Berkshire, married Margaret Richmond at St. Giles Anglican Church there in 1587, and had three sons: David Tyrell, Robert Terrell Torrell, and Francis Tyrell.
Robert was born in 1592, married Jane Baldwin in 1617 at StGiles
Richmond, one of Robert and Jane's sons, was born in 1624, in
|
A family story has it that an uncle of the surname
Richmond owned
merchant ships and obtained commissions for Nephew Richmond and
two of his brothers, one of them possibly Timothy, to go to America to
hunt
and trade for furs for the king. They were so successful that the
king awarded
them considerable property in Virginia. The two brothers decided
to settle in
New Kent County on the York River, not far from Jamestown, the first English
colony in America
William, a son of Richmond and Elizabeth, and
the head of our line of Terrells,
was born in New Kent Co. Virginia in 1659 ~~~
And here begins the Colonial Episode of the Terrells ~
 |
If you have any information
about these people, please contact me, Win Terrell at winterrell@juno.com |
To go to "The Colonial Terrells" click Here
To return to my home page "About My ancestors" click Here
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