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This is a small page to my family name, and some of the history of it.
Surname follow several viens.
One) A trade held by the family. Coopers are the people who put the hoops on the barrels. A Smith is a hand worker like black smiths. I will make no attempt to explain the surname Sexsmith based on this :)
Two) A referance to parentage as in Johnson, Jackson. A friend of mine named David called his son Harley, short for Charley. Think about it and guest his favourate motorbike.
Three) Family origin be a village or region. Jesus of Nazarath
My surname follows the third origin. The name itself is of saxon origin, as in anglo-saxon. Translation of it is two part. Grim or Grimm is dark or black a meaning we still use today. A shaw is a wood or forest. This follows that if you translate my surname to english it is dark wood or black forest.
The shield is that of a mythical standing griffan facing left. This is what a soldier would have carried into battle to identify himself.
The lettering found above in the scroll is some work I have done to trace my roots. They are saxon letters added for effect. The letters are letter for letter as in english. My unqualified understanding is the english language was developed so the anglos could have a common language with there norman (french) overlords many moons ago.
I am open for more input and would love to hear from other Grimshaws. From others I have talked to all Grimshaws are related be yeh from England, Irie, Australia or New Zealand. My Grandfather came to Canada as a boy with his father Jack and uncle Bob. They lived in a village outside of Liverpool called Wigan. My great great grandfather was a holder of the Victoria Cross.
When I first started surfing, I came across a James Grimshaw in Ireland, here is a letter I got back from him.
Thank you for your note about the Grimshaw family. It is almost certain that we are related although rather distantly. The main branch of the family lived near Blackburn in Lancashire and the original village of Grimshaw still exists there. I am connected with the section which moved further east ( about 10 miles!) to the district of Pendle. This group had its origins in a branch who lived in Preston and another offshoot of the same branch moved to Wigan. So there is the rather distant conection. Yet another offshoot from the Preston branch moved to Belfast in the 1780's and one from this section , William Grimshaw, moved to Canada, Ontario Province. William was a noted historian in the 1840's and published one history of the USA.