Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
Burnbank Coat of Arms / Burnbank Family CrestDuring the Middle Ages surnames were first used in order to distinguish between numbers of people bearing the same christian name. As taxation, under William The Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066, became the law, documentation became essential, and names were chosen from a man's trade, his father's name, some personal physical characteristic, or from his place of residence. In the case of the name BURNBANK it was a locational name meaning 'the dweller at the cottage at the mound or embankment', from residence nearby, and the name of many small places in Scotland. The earliest of the name on record appears to be John BURNBANK who resided in Ballibeg of Rednocke, documented in the year 1618. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. The name is also spelt BURBANK. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe. A notable member of this surname was Luther BURBANK (l849-l926), the American horticulturalist born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He developed the Burbank potato and in l875 moved to Santa Rosa, California where by indefatigable experiment he bred new fruit and flowers. The City of Burbank, California is named after him. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God. However much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. |
Orders over $90 qualify for Free Shipping within the U.S. |
