Firth family
tree
Origins of the
name
The name Firth derives from old English as
'Firhpe'. It means wood or woodland. In middle English it means estuary
and wide river mouth. The name has its own coat of arms. This includes a blue
ermine engraved chevron between two gold battle axes at the top, and a gold
sheaf at the bottom. It has upon it the inscription Dens Incrementum Detit. It
belongs to Frederick Hand Firth and is an English coat of arms, which
can be found amongst ancient Herald Archives.
The name came from the borderlands of
Scotland and England. The people there were known as the Angles and Picts at
about 400 AD. The Picts later became Scottish by Nationality about 1000 AD. The
Angles became part of England. There were many border disputes over the
centuries, eventually in the mid 1300s a branch of the Firth family acquired
lands in Old Brook, Yorkshire and Norton Hall also in Yorkshire. Here the name
remains to the present day.
The name came from the borderlands of
Scotland and England. The people there were known as the Angles and Picts at
about 400 AD. The Picts later became Scottish by Nationality about 1000 AD. The
Angles became part of England. There were many border disputes over the
centuries, eventually in the mid 1300s a branch of the Firth family acquired
lands in Old Brook, Yorkshire and Norton Hall also in Yorkshire. Here the name
remains to the present day.
Place names
Early traces of the name Firhpe are found
in Roxburghshire. The name then becomes more widespread as it later becomes
linked with Firth. It is seen in Scotland, Firth of Forth, Moray Firth Coast,
Firth of Clyde, Lorn Tay and Portand Firth. In England with the original
meaning there is Firth Park in Sheffield and Firth Manor in Haughton. It also
can be found in Shetland and Orkney.
The name spread during the 1700s to
America and up into Canada. There is Firth Nebraska, USA. It then arrived in
Australia and New Zealand in the 1800s.
The name today
The name is linked to the Wellham family through Ada Firth, who married George William Wellham of Bradford,
Yorkshire. They had a son George Brian
Wellham, he married Thelma Anne Playdon of
Worcester. They had four children, Sarah, Simon, Nicholas and Nigel. Simon married Diane Bullock of Malvern,
they had two sons Jamie and Luke Wellham. |
