Belknap or Belnap is a surname of Norman origin from England that may come from the Anglo-Norman words "belle," meaning beautiful, and "knap," meaning the crest or summit of a small hill. Although today the "k" in Belknap is generally silent as in the words "knight" or "knee," it is evident from documents dating from the Middle English period that it was originally pronounced as a hard "k."[ citation needed ] The surname is relatively infrequent, and most Belknaps or Belnaps in America are thought to descend from one man, Abraham Belknap (formerly known as Beltoft), who migrated from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England to Lynn, Massachusetts, about 1635. The surname continued in England. Today, a wide variety of locations and institutions are named Belknap or Belnap, all of which are believed to be connected in some manner to this early Puritan emigrant to America. Places named Belknap or Belnap include over 130 streets, approximately 20 towns, and 1 U.S. county. Natural features named Belknap range from a nunatak near the South Pole in Antarctica, to a Canadian cape near the North Pole, to a seamount beneath the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, to a tiny rocky island in Indonesia in Southeast Asia. [1]
The earliest documentary reference to someone of this name is to John de Belknap, who first appears in Wiltshire in 1327. He later appears to have moved to London around the time the Black Death arrived in England. John was the father of Sir Robert Belknap, who served as Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of England from 1377 to 1388. The early Belknaps married into a number of notable English families.
The surname Belknap, as carried through descendants of Sir Robert, appears to have died out with Sir Robert's great-grandson, Sir Edward Belknap (c. 1471 – 1521). However, several other males surnamed Belknap, whose connections to Sir Robert are at present unknown, were contemporaries of Sir Robert's family during the 15th and 16th Centuries. The Belknap surname may have continued through one of these other contemporaneous Belknaps through the Beltoft family of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, who would reside near several of the early manors of the early Belknaps and suddenly assumed or resumed using the surname Belknap in the late 1500s-early 1600s, not long before Abraham Belknap emigrated to Massachusetts in the 1630s.
Variations of the surname Belknap include Belnap, Bellnap, Belknappe, etc. Many persons who today spell the surname "Belnap" are known to descend from Jesse Belnap (1760–1854), American Revolutionary War soldier. He was the grandfather of Gilbert Belnap.
Sawbridgeworth is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is 12 miles (19 km) east of Hertford and 9 miles (14 km) north of Epping. It is the northernmost part of the Greater London Built-up Area.
Cochrane is a surname with multiple independent origins, two Scottish and one Irish. One of the Scottish names derives from a place in Scotland; the Irish surname and the other Scottish surname are both anglicisations of surnames from the Irish language and Scottish Gaelic respectively.
Belknap may refer to:
Goff is a surname of Celtic origin. It is the 946th most common family name in the United States. When the surname originates from England it is derived from an occupational name from Welsh, Cornish or Breton. The Welsh gof and the Breton goff means "smith". The English-originating surname is common in East Anglia, where it is of Breton origin. The Welsh name is a variant of the surname Gough, and is derived from a nickname for someone with red hair. The native Irish name is derived from a patronymic form of the Gaelic personal name Eochaidh/Eachaidh, which means "horseman".
Plunkett is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic Ó Pluingceid. It is associated with Ireland, and possibly of Norse or Norman origin; it may be spelled O'Plunket, Plunket, Plunkit, Plunkitt, Plonkit, Plonkitt, Plonket, Plonkett, or Ó Plunceid, and may refer to:
Pishiobury, sometimes spelled Pishobury, was a manor and estate in medieval Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. Its denomination as "Pishiobury" only emerged in the mid to late 19th century.
Hibbert is a surname. Its origin can be traced back to the Old Germanic given name Hildeberht, which is composed of German elements hilde and berht. Today it might be translated to "bright battle". It was adopted by the Normans, where it became "Hildebert" or "Hilbert".
Withers – earlier Wither, Wyther – is an English surname of Old English origin. It is today a family name found throughout the Anglosphere.
The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire was an ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the foundation of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the title of Sheriff of Hertfordshire was retitled High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. The High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown in England and Wales, their purpose being to represent the monarch at a local level, historically in the shires.
The Justice of Chester was the chief judicial authority for the county palatine of Chester, from the establishment of the county until the abolition of the Great Sessions in Wales and the palatine judicature in 1830.
Ely is a surname which may refer to:
Sir Robert Belknap was a senior English judge.
The Belnap Family Organization is a non-profit ancestral family organization that conducts primary genealogical research and preserves genealogical and other historical information on the Belnap/Belknap family surname, including the descendants of Mormon Pioneer Gilbert Belnap (1821–1899) and his plural wives Adaline Knight (1831–1919) and Henrietta McBride (1821–1899). According to its mission statement, the organization exists "to preserve, perpetuate, and promote family solidarity." It is one of the oldest and largest ancestral family organizations in existence, having been established in Utah in 1904.
Gilbert Belnap was a Mormon pioneer, 19th-century local level leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an early colonizer of Ogden, Utah, Fort Lemhi, Idaho and Hooper, Utah.
Rear Admiral Reginald Rowan Belknap was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Spanish–American War, Boxer Rebellion, Philippine–American War, and World War I. He gained distinction in 1909 for his relief work in Italy after the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami and for his work in command of the first offensive mining campaign in U.S. Navy history, the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage in 1918. He was also a published author, an inventor, a member of many professional and social organizations, and an active member of the Episcopal Church, and he played a role in the selection of Amelia Earhart as the first female pilot to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
Henry Barley or Barlee, of Albury, Hertfordshire, was a Member of Parliament during the Tudor period.
Ellsworth is a surname, originating in England prior to or around the 11th century A.D. in the Cambridgeshire area. The name comes from Elsworth, from the place-name which in turn was derived from the Old English name "Eli" and "worth", an Old English word for farm or homestead. The original spelling was Aylesworth. Many spelling variants are known to exist, including Ellesworth, Elsworth, Ellsworth, Elisworth, Ellisworth, Ellsworthy, Aylesworth, Aylsworth, etc. Ellsworth is by far the most common Americanized/"standard" spelling.
The Manor of Groves Hotel in High Wych, near Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire is a building of historical significance and is listed as Grade II on the English Heritage Register. It was remodelled over an existing older building in 1823 by a prominent London lawyer. The house was a private residence for many distinguished people over the next 150 years and in 1988 was converted to a hotel. It still serves this function and provides accommodation, dining facilities and caters for events such as conferences and weddings. There is also a golf course.
Abraham Belknap (1589/90-1643), of Salem, Massachusetts, not to be confused with his grandson also named Abraham, was born in England. He was one of the first settlers of New England, and all living people with the surname Belknap, Belnap, or Beltoft, are thought to be descendants of him and his wife Mary Stallion.
Sir Ralph Josselyn KB was a 15th-century English politician who held several political offices, including two terms as Lord Mayor of London.