Clan Buchanan

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The name is said to derive from Macauselan (meaning son of Anselan). The following two names are given as the root of the territorial name Buchanan, Mac a Chanonaich (The Son of the Canon and Buth Chanain (meaning house or seat of the canon). This name is of uncertain origin; but the family who used it in consequence of having, at a very early period, obtained a grant of the lands so called, sprang from Anselan, a native of Ireland, who is supposed to have located himself here in the 11th century.

Traditionally, the clan's origin myth traced the chiefly line back to Anselan O Kyan, who was of the Irish clan Ó Catháin, a provincial king of north Ulster (and had his seat in Limavady, County Londonderry). He is said to have landed in Argyll in 1016. According to this tradition, for his services against the Danes he received from king Malcolm II the lands of Buchanan, which lie to the east of Loch Lomond around the village of Killearn.

During the reign of Malduin, Mormaer (Earl) of Lennox, 1217–1250, Anselan (third of that name) was granted, in 1225, the island of Clairinch (Clár Inis). He is referred to as 'clericus meus', meaning 'my clergyman'. He is subsequently recorded as Absalom de Buchanan and it is understood that to have this title, there must have been other grants of land in the parish of Buchanan. During the reign of King Alexander II (1214–1249), Gilbert de Buchanan, seneschal to the Earl of Lennox, received, in 1231, a charter confirming Clareinch (or Clairinch) and other lands in Buchanan. It is from the lands of Buchanan that the Clan name is derived.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Clan Buchanan supported King Robert the Bruce by aiding his escape in 1306. The chief, Maurice 10th of Buchanan, refused to sign the Ragman Roll swearing an oath of allegiance to English King Edward the 1st, and the chief and lairds of the clan (and presumably their clansmen) served under Malcolm the Earl of Lennox. It is likely given the aforementioned service (but ill-documented), that the clan fought at the Battle of Bannockburn.

English oppression forced many Scots to leave their homelands. Most of these chose North America as their destination. Although the journey left many sick and poor, these immigrants were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of these settlers stood up for their newfound freedom in the American War of Independence. More recently, Scots abroad have recovered much of their collective heritage through highland games and other patriotic functions and groups. 

The surname Roodhouse was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. In the centuries following, many abbeys and priories were built in Yorkshire. Norman landowners increased their revenues and established new towns such as Barnsley, Doncaster, Hull, Leeds, Scarborough and Sheffield, among others. Of towns founded before the conquest, only Bridlington, Pocklington, and York continued at a prominent level.

In the early 12th century, people of Yorkshire had to contend with the Battle of the Standard at Northallerton with the Scots. Representing the Kingdom of England led by Archbishop Thurstan of York, soldiers from Yorkshire defeated the more numerous Scots.

The population of Yorkshire boomed until it was hit by the Great Famine of 1315. It did not help that after the English defeat in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scottish army rampaged throughout northern England, and Yorkshire was no exception. During The Great Raid of 1322, they raided and pillaged from the suburbs of York, even as far as East Riding and the Humber. Some like Richmond had to bribe the Scots to spare the town. The Black Death then reached Yorkshire by 1349, killing around a third of the population. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the year 1379 when Henry Rodehouse held estates in that shire.

In the 1800’s, during the Great Migration from Europe, members of the Roodhouse family left England for the Americas. Roodhouse, Illinois was founded in the 1850s by John Roodhouse. The community was originally known as "The Crossroads" for its position on two major highways, though it was later renamed for its founder. In 1860, John Rawlins convinced the Chicago and Alton Railway to open a station in the community by promising to secure local funds for the depot and warehouse. The railway built its Louisiana branch from Roodhouse in 1871, and the city became a major junction point, boosting its population and economy.

The surname McBride was first found in Donegal, northwest Ireland in the province of Ulster, sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel, where they are descended from the son of a follower of St. Brigit, the virgin Abbess of Kildare who died 525 A.D., and later moved to Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. 

The surname was first listed as eranaghs of Raymunterdoney in Donegal, a parish which includes Tory Island. The parish comprises 12,017 statute acres, but more than two-thirds is mountainous. Records show the name was principally found at Gweedore in the seventeenth century. 

The most distinguished of the sept was John MacGilbride, a Bishop of Raphoe in 1440. A branch of these settled in County Down in 1659. Although most of the Irish McBrides are from Southern Ireland many of the most prominent of the name are from Ulster. 

Ireland became inhospitable for many native Irish families in the 19th centuries. Poverty, lack of opportunities, high rents, and discrimination forced thousands to leave the island for North America. The largest exodus of Irish settlers occurred with the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. For these immigrants the journey to British North America and the United States was long and dangerous and many did not live to see the shores of those new lands. Those who did make it were essential to the development of what would become two of the wealthiest and most powerful nations of the world. These Irish immigrants were not only important for peopling the new settlements and cities, they also provided the manpower needed for the many industrial and agricultural projects so essential to these growing nations. 

Before the 1300s the most powerful family Scotland had ever known were the Comyns, dominating the Grampians, Buchan and Moray. It was prudent for many families to associate themselves with the Comyns for protection and prosperity. With their policies of pure self-interest they were the enemy of Robert the Bruce and in 1306 John, the ‘Red Comyn’, was slain by Bruce ‘at the altar rails’ in Dumfries. Bruce destroyed the family completely by 1308. This left many families without protective association.

Donald Dubh of Invernahaven, having married the daughter of the sixth chief of the MacKintoshes, took his family, the Clan Dhai, as the Davidsons were then known, into association with the MacKintoshes when William was their seventh chief. Dhai was the Gaelic name the family had inherited from their first leader David Dubh.

The MacKintoshes were part of the Clan Chattan confederation and so too became the Davidsons. There were jealousies within the confederation because of favouritism shown to the MacKintoshes by the Captain of Clan Chattan and the Davidsons invariably found themselves called into fights by numerous peers. In the end the association the family entered, far from benefiting them, almost brought about their extinction.

When several branches of Clan Chattan grouped to fight the Camerons in 1370, the MacPhersons, because of an on-going dispute with the Davidsons, withdrew from the fight while in sight of the enemy, and the Camerons defeated those who stayed. The Davidsons suffered badly in the battle. In 1396 the Davidsons and MacPhersons fought side by side at the clan battle on the North Inch of Perth. When the combat was over there were only eleven enemy alive and only one Davidson.

The strongest lines of the family became the Davidsons of Tulloch, in Ross-shire, and the Davidsons of Cantray, in Inverness. Tulloch Castle was built in 1466 and a branch of this family can be found in France, where the Livre d’Or shows six generations of nobility before 1629.

France. We come from France.

The surname Wingett, with its variations Wingate, Windgate, Wyngate, and Wingit, has deep roots in England and Scotland, primarily traced back to Durham and Northumberland. The earliest records date to around 1070-1080 when the township of Wingate was first mentioned as "Windegatum," translating from Old English to "wind-swept gap(s) or pass(es)." This name likely reflects the geographical features of the areas where the family lived.

One of the earliest documented family members is Aldret de Windegate, recorded in Northumberland around 1145-1165. In Kent, Henry de Wingate was noted in the Pipe Rolls of 1204, while David de Windyates appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Cumberland in 1332. These early records indicate the spread and establishment of the family across different parts of England.

In Scotland, the name is believed to be of territorial origin, likely stemming from the Wingate in Northumberland. There are also historical references to a place named Windygates in Fife. Notable figures from early Scottish history include Ninian Winzet (1518-1592), a controversialist from Renfrew, and Edmund Wingate (1596-1656), an English mathematical and legal writer, known for his early publications on the principles of the slide rule.

The Wingett family's heraldic arms and mottoes evolved over time. Their motto, "Suum cuique," translates to "To every man his own," reflecting a sense of individual right and justice.

Migration played a significant role in the spread of the Wingett name, with early settlers moving to the United States. Among them were John Wingate, who settled in Virginia in 1654, and Moses Wingate, who arrived in Boston in 1765. These movements contributed to the family's presence and influence in the New World.

In contemporary times, notable individuals with the Wingett surname include Larry Winget, an American motivational speaker and author, and Jennifer Winget, an Indian actress and television personality. The surname ranks as the 11,762nd most popular in the United States, with an estimated 2,487 people bearing the name.

The surname Hubbard, and its variations such as Hubbert, Hubart, and Huberd, has ancient Norman origins. The name arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066 and is derived from the Norman personal name Hildebert, which is composed of the Germanic elements "hild," meaning "battle" or "strife," and "berht," meaning "bright" or "famous." 

The earliest records of the name appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, where Eudo filius Huberti is noted in Hampshire. The family may have descended from Roger and Ralph Hubert, who were listed in the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae in 1180. Throughout the following centuries, the surname appears in various records, such as the Pipe Rolls of Dorset in 1230 and the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327. The name evolved over time with the early forms Hubert and Huberd eventually becoming Hubbard.

The Hubbards were known to have settled in Norfolk, and the name is prominently associated with the region. In the 14th century, Robert Hubert or Hoberd was the rector of Seaming, and the transition to the modern form Hubbard was a gradual process. The English nursery rhyme "Old Mother Hubbard" is attributed to Sarah Catherine Martin and was first published in the late 18th century in Yealmpton, Devon.

The Hubbard family migrated to various parts of the world, including the United States. Early settlers include Nathaniel Hubbard, who settled in Massachusetts in 1736, and Ephraim Hubbard, who arrived in Maryland in 1740. In the 19th century, members of the Hubbard family continued to immigrate to America, contributing to the growth and development of the new nation.

In contemporary times, notable individuals with the surname Hubbard include L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, and Elizabeth Hubbard, an American actress known for her role in daytime television. The name Hubbard continues to be recognized in various fields, showcasing the enduring legacy of this Norman-origin surname.