Gilbert History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The notable Gilbert family arose among the Cornish People, a race with a rich Celtic heritage and an indomitable fighting spirit who inhabited the southwest of England. While surnames were well-known during the English medieval period, Cornish People originally used only a single name. The way in which hereditary surnames came into common use is interesting. As the population of medieval Europe multiplied, people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Under the Feudal System of government, surnames evolved and they often reflected life on the manor and in the field. Patronymic surnames were derived from given names and were the predominant type of surname among the Celtic peoples of Britain. However, the people of Cornwall provide a surprising exception to this rule, and patronymic surnames are less common among them than other people of Celtic stock, such as their Welsh neighbors. This is due to the greater influence of English bureaucracy and naming practices in Cornwall at the time that surnames first arose. This type of surname blended perfectly with the prevailing Feudal System. One feature that is occasionally found in Cornish surnames of this type is the suffix -oe or -ow; this is derived from the Cornish plural suffix -ow. is a patronymic surname that came from the ancient Germanic personal name Gisilbert, meaning bright hostage or bright pledge. 1 2 3

Early Origins of the Gilbert family

The surname Gilbert was first found in Devon where they were well established shortly after the Conquest with Gilbert of Sempringham (c. 1083-1190,) son of a wealthy Norman knight, a theologian, who became the first Englishman to found a convent; he was canonized in 1202. He was founder of the order that bears his name. 4

The Domesday Book of 1086 includes an entry for the family in Wiltshire: Gislebertus, the early Latin form of the name. 5

“Near Dartmouth is Greenway, the seat of the famous Gilberts. The family was settled here in the reign of Edward II. ; and here were born their father being Otho Gilbert and their mother Katherine Champernowne Humphry and Adrian Gilbert, the famous half-brothers of the still more famous Sir Walter Ralegh.” 6

Gilbertus presbiter was listed in Lincolnshire c. 1150. Later, Willelmus Gilberti was found in the Curia Regis Rolls for Wiltshire in 1202 and later again, Robert Gylwbert was found in Norfolk in 1235. Robert Gilberd was listed in Cambridgeshire in 1240 as was William Gilbert in 1290. The Feet of Fines for Suffolk listed John Gilbard in Suffolk in 1204. 7 “The frequency of Gilberd suggests that this, with Gil(f)bard, may at times belong to Goldbard, though Gilbeard certainly occurs for Gilbert.” 7

Gilbert the Universal (d. 1134?), was Bishop of London, “is described as ‘natione Britannus’ by Richard of Poitiers, who probably means a Breton rather than a Welshman.” 8

Gilbert of Louth (d. 1153?), Abbot of Basingwerk, was sent by Gervase, founder and first abbot of Louth in Lincolnshire, about 1140 to an Irish king ” in order to obtain a grant to build a monastery in Ireland. The grant was made, and on Gilbert complaining that he did not understand the language, the king gave him as an interpreter the knight Owen, who, according to the legend, had descended into purgatory.” 8

“The Gilbertines were an English order with numerous convents at the time of the suppression.” 9

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed the following: Isolda filius Gilberti; Robert Gilbertus; and Eustace filius Gilebert, while the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed: Nicholas Gilberdson; and Johannes Gilberd. 9

“This name has its principal home in the midland counties of Leicester and Rutland, Northampton, Warwick, and Worcester. It is for the most part a name of the midlands, being absent in the north beyond Staffordshire and Lincolnshire. It has, however, a secondary and independent home in Cornwall and Devon.” 10