Origin of the Simpson Name
Contributed by Eric Simpson
This is the text I obtained from the Library of Hall of Names in London some years ago:
The distinguished surname Simpson is one of the most notable Anglo/Saxon surnames, and its historical trail has emerged from the mists of
time to become an influential surname of the middle ages and of the present day. In an in-depth research of such ancient manuscripts as the
Domesday Book compiled in 1086 AD by Duke William of Normandy, the Ragman Rolls (1291-1296) collected by King Edward 1st of England, the
Curia Regis Rolls, the Pipe Rolls, the Hearth Rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records and other ancient documents, researchers
found the first record of the name Simpson in Buckinghamshire where they had been seated since ancient times.
Confusing to most, we found many different spellings in the archives researched. Although your name, Simpson, occurred in many manuscripts,
from time to time the surname was also spelt Simson, Simsoun, Symsoun, Simpsone and these changes in spelling frequently occurred, even
between father and son. There is one record, a father and eight sons. In the graveyard where they are buried, all nine have different
spellings of their surnames. Many reasons were revealed for these spelling variations but mainly church officials and scribes spelt the
name as it was told to them.
The family name Simpson is one of the most notable of the ancient Anglo/Saxon race. This founding race of England, a fair skinned people
led by the Saxon General/Commanders Hengist and Horsa, settled in Kent from about the year 400 AD. The Angles, on the other hand, occupied
the eastern coast. The Anglo/Saxon five century domination of English society was an uncertain time, and the nation divided into five
separate kingdoms, a high king being elected as supreme ruler.
By 1066, King Harold came to the throne of England which was enjoying reasonable peace and prosperity. However, the Norman invasion from
France and their victory at the Battle of Hastings, found many of the vanquished Saxon land owners forfeiting their land to Duke William
and his invading nobles. They became oppressed under Norman rule, and some moved northward to the midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire, even
into Scotland.
The family name Simpson emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Buckinghamshire, where they were descended from Archil,
a Saxon lord, living at the time of King Edward the Confessor, about 1050 AD. Even after the Conquest this family held many lands, including
the manor of Clint in Yorkshire. In the 12th century this branch called themselves de Clint. Simon, son of William de Clint, adopted the
name Simpson to distinguish himself from the de Clints. From the 14th century his family became known as Simpson. They flourished and moved
north into Scotland into Fifeshire at Brunton where they became affiliated with the Fraser clan.
In 1405 William Simpson of Edinburgh traded freely with his interests in Yorkshire, as did his successors Robert, David, and Thomas, until
the year 1500. They acquired large business interests in Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow, but were not unknown as professionals. Sir James
Simpson invented chloroform in the 19th century. Meanwhile the branches flourished in Scotland and England, at Castle Lodge in Yorkshire,
Bradley in Durham, Mellor Lodge in Derby, at Strathavon, Udoch, and Thorntown in Scotland. Notable amongst the family at this time was Dr.
Sutherland Simpson of Cornell.
For the next two or three centuries bearers of the surname Simpson flourished and played a significant role in the political development of
England. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries England was ravaged by religious and political conflict. Puritanism, Catholicism, Royalist
and parliamentary forces shed much blood. Many families were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies".
Some were rewarded with grants of land, others were banished. In Ireland, settlers became known as the Adventurers seeking land in Ireland.
Called "undertakers" they undertook to maintain the Protestant faith. In Ireland this distinguished family settled in county Antrim.
Meanwhile the New World beckoned and migration continued, some voluntarily from Ireland, but mostly directly from England or Scotland, their
home territories. Some clans and families even moved to the European continent. Kinsmen of the family name Simpson were amongst the many who
sailed aboard the armada of small sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships
were pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the passenger list never reaching their destination, their numbers reduced by sickness or the
elements.
Principal amongst the settlers which could be considered a kinsman of the surname Simpson, or a variable spelling of that family name was
Henry Simpson who settled in Maine in 1635; John and Joe Simpson settled in Boston in 1635; Robert Simpson settled in Maryland in 1633;
another Robert Simpson settled in Salem in 1630; Patrick Simpson settled in Virginia in 1639; Dan Simpson settled in Virginia in 1654, along
with Edward, John and Kath; Richard Simpson settled in Newfoundland in 1704; Andrew Simpson settled in Bell Island, Newfoundland in 1771.
The trek from the port of entry was also arduous and many joined the wagon trains to the prairies or to the west coast. During the American
War of Independence, many loyalists made their way north to Canada about 1790, and became known as the United Empire Loyalists. 20th century
notables of this surname, Simpson, include many distinguished persons, Alan Simpson, Author; Alan Simpson, President of Vassar; Justice
Alfred Simpson; General Sir Frank Simpson; Sir James Simpson; Sir Cyril Simpson; Rev. Rennie Simpson; Oliver Simpson, Scientist.
During the course of the research we also determined the many Coat of Arms matriculated by the family name.
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms found was: Gold and black diagonally
with a lion rampant.
The Crest was: A demi lion.
The ancient family Motto for this distinguished name was: "Nil Desperandum", which means "Never Despairing".
The Hall of Names Ltd.
205 St. John's Hill
Battersea, London
SW1 1TH
ENGLAND
The Simpson Family Name
A Johannes Symson is listed as living in Yorkshire in the year 1379. Northern England, particularly Yorkshire, was the traditional home
of the Simpson family, while today the family is primarily concentrated in Durham, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Derby. Simpson
is also a common name throughout southern Scotland; this fact leads us to believe that many American Simpsons are descended from Scottish
branches of the family.
When President George Washington authorized the first official national census in 1790, the population of the United States numbered about
three million whites and their one million slaves. The Simpson family was not one of the more numerically prominent families at that time,
but it was a rapidly growing family nevertheless.
The average Simpson family had 5.4 members. Of the 371 Simpson families in the new United States most were concentrated in North Carolina
(65), Pennsylvania (55), Virginia (48), South Carolina (42), Maryland (40), and Maine (38). The remaining eighty-three families were
distributed in five other new states. There were also an additional 1,638 adult and single Simpsons not counted among the above-mentioned
households. The majority of these were young men making their future on the frontier.
A more modern census taken in 1964 from the files of the Social Security Administration reveals that Simpson is the 128th most numerous name
in the country. There are approximately 147,500 adult Simpsons in the United States today.
The Border Reivers
Written by David Simpson
Lawless Clans
From the 14th to the late 17th centuries, the area bordering England and Scotland was a violent place. Inter-family feuds carved fear
into the life of all the local people as they fought for their lives and their property in an area lacking in any form of discipline and
with no rule of law. For over 350 years, the Border Reivers carried out their fearsome raiding in which the victims lost their homes, their
cattle and sometimes their lives.
Border history may well have been dominated by the political struggle between England and Scotland, but it would be wrong to assume that the
story of the Borders was always a saga of Englishman against Scot and vice versa. In Elizabethan times the Anglo-Scottish Border counties,
including Northumberland, were the home to the notorious Border Reivers, the lawless clans of the border valleys, where a lifestyle of raiding
and marauding was the only way to survive. The life of the Border Reiver was not necessarily ruled by his allegiance to the English or Scottish
Crowns, but more likely by his allegiance to a family surname.
Feuds were often fought and raids were made, not in the name of England or Scotland, but in the names of Armstrong, Robson, Charlton, Elliott
or Dodd, or in the names of other Border surnames, that are still common in the region today. Indeed it was a common occurrence for English
families to side with Scottish families in border feuds, especially as some of the reiver surnames, like Armstrong, Hall and Graham were to
be found on both sides of the border.
Stories of these raids appear in the Border Ballads, the dialect folk poems which have been handed down from generation to generation over
three lawless centuries, and which feature surnames which have given the region its unique character.
There are 77 known 'reiving' families. Their names are listed at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle. They include such well known names as
Maxwell, Nixon, Elliot, Simpson and Armstrong. 'Reiving' was mainly a seasonal event as there was a preference for marauding from Lammas-tide
(1 August) until the reconvening of the official judicial courts three months later, which gave the Reivers a good chance of escaping
detection and retribution during that period.
The Reivers also wanted well-fed cattle which had benefited from a summer's grazing and firm dry ground underfoot to ensure fast journeys
over the Border.
In the addition to the warlike activities of the Reivers, it would seem that they played a basic version of the modern game of soccer. It
had been recorded that Mary Queen of Scots watched a two hour match taking place in the meadow below the walls of Carlisle Castle where she
was imprisoned. And, like today, there were incidents of violence as a result of the game. Some of these would end in bloodshed, even
deaths, as in 1599 when six of the Armstrong clan went to play at Bewcastle (on the English side of the Border) against six of the local men.
After the games, the two sides were involved in some hard drinking in Bewcastle, when one William Ridley saw it as an opportunity to capture
the Armstrongs while they were on English ground. Ridley and his follower staged an ambush of the Armstrongs, but it seemed the intended
victims had been tipped off, and the ambush party found the tables had been turned.
Ridley's men were set upon by a band of more than 200
riders, and in the resulting melee, Ridley and two of his friends were killed
and 30 were taken prisoner. Many were badly injured, including one John
Whyfield, whose injuries were such that his "bowells came out, but are
sewed up againe".
Of all the reiving families, possibly the most feared
and most dangerous were the Armstrongs, and one of the most infamous was
William Armstrong of Kinmont, popularly known as Kinmont Willie. He was a
man who would not strike at single farms or villages, but at whole areas,
spreading terror, death and destruction and unlike other Reivers, he liked to
ride by day rather than under the cover of darkness. His first recorded
raid was in August 1583 when he was in his forties.
When the raiding party left, it was with 800 stolen
cattle, $300 worth of goods and 30 prisoners, while six men were killed and 11
wounded. His reiving led his name to be a by-word for violence, and in
1593 saw his biggest raid. He rode with an army of 1,000 men who stole
2,000 beasts and $500 worth of goods. Three years later he was captured
and imprisoned in Carlisle Castle, only to be set free by his sons in a daring
rescue. The scale of his exploits declined somewhat after that, and he
then became a victim of raiding parties.
The Reivers left a lasting testament to the English
language as many a grieving widow was left "bereaved" and families
were "blackmailed". Rent payable to the landowner was referred
to as "greenmail" and so protection money paid to the stronger
reiving families became known as "blackmail".
Murderous Robsons
There is a well known tradition that the Robsons of
North Tynedale once made a foray into the Scottish valley of Liddesdale and
stole a large flock of sheep belonging to the Graham family, which they brought
back into Northumberland. Later it was discovered that the Graham sheep
were infected with scab, which spread like wild fire through the Robson's
flock. The Robsons were so angry that they returned to Liddesdale in
another raid, where they caught seven members of the Graham family and hung
them until they were dead. They left a note to the effect that:
"The neist time gentlemen cam to tak their schepe They are
no te' be scabbit!"
Such tales as this were typical of the border country
many centuries ago, though it is not always easy to separate the fact from the
fiction, since these stories were often constructed by people who may not have
even visited the borderlands.
Border Reivers and their way of life were certainly feared by outsiders in days gone by and the Border Country
had a certain element of mystique and danger about it. Even in the nearby walled town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
there were rules forbidding the apprenticeship of North Tynedale and Redesdale men to certain Newcastle trades,
for fear that there might be trouble.
Fears may well have been justified for one Newcastle man
writing of the Tynedale and Redesdale folk in 1649 records that:
"They come down from their dales into the low
countries and carry away horses and cattle so cunningly that it will be hard
for any to get them or their cattle except that they be aquainted with some
master thief, who for safety money may help them to their stolen goods, or decieve them."
Celtic, Viking or Anglo-Saxon Clans
It is often said that the Border Reivers are the
descendants of war hungry Vikings or Celtic tribesmen. It is also
sometimes thought that the Border Reivers are just another group of Scottish
clans who have spilled over into England. What is the truth?
The surnames of the Border Reivers seem to have been
Anglo-Saxon, rather than Scots-Celtic in origin as unlike most of the famous
clans of the Scottish Highlands, they all lack that Celtic element Mac, (the
Gaelic word meaning son of), which occurs in names like McDonald and McDougal.
It therefore seems probable that the Border Reivers on
both sides of the border were largely Anglo-Saxon by origin. This has a
simple explanation; the boundaries of the old Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria,
stretched far to the north of the modern Scottish border, towards Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Some people have suggested that the Border folk were
largely descended from Norse-Viking warriors, but there is very little evidence
of Viking settlement in Northumberland, where both local place names and local
dialect are of a highly Anglo-Saxon (Old Germanic) nature. Cumbria on the
western side of the Pennines is however a different case. Here the local
dialect is noticeably different and many local place names are of Norse origin
(as in Yorkshire - the old Viking kingdom of Jorvik).
Many place names with typically Norse-Viking endings
like 'Thwaite' (meadow) and 'By' (village) are extremely common in Cumbria and
yet virtually absent from Northumberland. Some features in Cumbria also
have completely different names to those of Northumberland. Thus in Cumbria,
shepherd's huts were called 'Scales', streams are called 'Becks' and waterfalls
are called 'Forces', all words of Viking origin. In Northumberland the
equivalent names are Anglo-Saxon (old Northumbrian), thus we have Shiels, Burns, and Linns.
The best example of a Northumbrian 'Linn' is the Hareshaw
Linn - its Anglo-Saxon name means Grey-Wood waterfall. This is situated
in the Dene (wooded valley) of the Hareshaw Burn, to the north of Bellingham.
With sudden dash and bound and splash
With rout and shout and roar and din
The brook amazed, alarmed and crazed
Is sprawling into Hareshaw Linn
A List of Border Reiver Surnames
| Archbold |
Armstrong |
Beattie |
| Bell |
Burns |
Carleton |
| Carlisle |
Carnaby |
Carrs |
| Carruthers |
Chamberlain |
Charlton |
| Collingwood |
Crisp |
Crozier |
| Cuthbert |
Dacre |
Davison |
| Dixon |
Dodd/s |
Douglas |
| Dunne |
Elliott |
Fenwick |
| Forster |
Graham |
Gray |
| Hall |
Hedley |
Henderson |
| Heron |
Hetherington |
Hume/Hulme |
| Irvine/g |
Johnston/e |
Kerr |
| Laidlaw |
Little |
Lowther |
| Maxwell |
Milburn |
Musgrove |
| Nixon |
Noble |
Ogle |
| Oliver |
Potts |
Pringle |
| Radcliffe |
Reade |
Ridley |
| Robson |
Routledge |
Rutherford |
| Salkeld |
Scott |
Selby |
| Shaftoe |
Storey |
Simpson |
| Tait |
Taylor |
Trotter |
| Turnbull |
Wake |
Watson |
| Wilson |
Woodrington |
Young |
SIMPSON - A Border Reiver Name
According to surname scholars, Simpson
is a surname which has been infected by 'parasitic glide consonants'. This
basically means that the 'p' was not originally there and has come about
naturally from the pronunciation of Simson. Simpson is a fairly common
name in Scotland, where it is a minor clan name and was also a family name of
the Anglo-Scottish Border on the English side. The earliest recorded
owner of the name was a Richard Symmeson of Staffordshire in 1353 and the first
mention in the north was Adam Symson of Whitby in 1395. Simpson with the
'p' first occurs in 1397 when a John Simpson is recorded in Yorkshire. In
the following century a John Symson living in the City of London was
alternatively known as John Sympson showing that two spellings of the same name
could exist side by side. Simpson and Simson in all their forms mean son
of Sim, a shortened form of Simon. Other similar names include Simpkin or
Simkins, meaning a relative of Sim, but these names are more commonly found in
the south of England. A totally unrelated name is the surname Simple
which means honest, open and straightforward. Fortunately there is no
evidence that Simpson means son of a foolish, gullible, simpleton.
The End of the Border Reivers
In 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England. James immediately set about unifying the two
countries. The Marches and the posts of wardens were abolished. The
term 'the Borders' was forbidden. The old Border ceased to exist. Strong measures were pursued to enforce the
law and there was, after centuries of disorder, a will to see that the law was enforced. Wanted men were hunted
down and executed. All Borderers were forbidden to carry weapons and they
could only own horses of a value up to 50 schillings.
Deprived of their basic reiving requirements, all reiving activities ceased. Reiving families were
dispossessed of their lands. Their homes were destroyed and the people
scattered or deported. Some clans that had been active reivers hastily
abandoned their reiver connections and sought and found favour with the king
and joined in the subjugation of the old reiving families, often with great
enthusiasm. Many were rewarded with gifts of land, and they prospered,
acquiring the lands of their former friends and allies.
Thus many proud and fearless families were broken up and scattered beyond their homeland. They were the Grahams, the
Armstrongs, Elliots, Routledges, Nixons and many others. Only a few remained, adopting a peaceful way of life. Others
moved into England, Ireland, America, and elsewhere, where their descendants live and prosper to this day.
