Fisher History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

When the ancestors of the Fisher family arrived in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, they brought their name with them. It is a name for a person who worked as a fisherman. Looking back even further, we found the name was originally derived from the Old English word fischer. 1

“This seems to be a sufficiently obvious derivation from the calling of a fisherman, especially since ‘ fisher ‘ occurs in our version of the New Testament in this sense; and Leland in his Itinerary usually describes the smaller sea-coast places as “fischar tounes.” In Domesday [Book] and other early records, we meet with the forms Piscator, Le Pecheur, etc.” 2

“In the time of King Stephen the family of Fitz-Urse (a name which in after days degenerated into Fitzour, Fyshour, and Fisher) became possessed of the great manor of Williton; they had their descent from that Urso, or Ursus, who in the time of William the Conqueror held lands in Grittleton, and other parts of Wiltshire, of the Abbey of Glastonbury. The first of the name who enjoyed this manor was Richard Fitz Urse, who died about 14 Hen. II., leaving issue three sons ; Sir Reginald, Sir Robert, and Walter. Sir Reginald, the eldest, had his residence at Williton, in a house which he afterwards gave to his brother Robert, with a moiety of this manor. This Sir Reginald was among the courtiers standing in the presence chamber at Bur, near Bayeux, a few days before Christmas 1170, when the King gave audience to the three prelates that had been excommunicated by Thomas a Beckett, and came to lay their complaint before him.” 3