Grimason

Grimason One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Grimason

Variants: Grimeson, Grimison, Grimmeisen, Grimmeison

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Guild hosted website: grimason.one-name.net

DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/public/Grimason

Contact: Mr David Grimshaw

About the study

Hi I am David GRIMSHAW or is it GRIMASON?

How this Study came about is that I found that once I had been to Ireland in 1985 I had suddenly become the authority on our surname of GRIMASON and that my great Grandfather had adopted the GRIMSHAW surname.

It was not until 1995 that I started looking more at the various branches of the family that I had built up through research that it became evident that what I had fitted now into what is known as a One Name Study.

Currently the goal is to establish the various Pedigrees of the family around the world and where possible put kin back in touch with kin, this is no easy feat due to the family adopting other surnames such as GRIMSHAW, HARRIS and LEWIS for example.

There is ample proof of the adoption of the GRIMSHAW surname, an example is;

The will of John GRIMASON otherwise GRIMSHAW of County Armagh, Ireland in 1903.

Further evidence in the UK is given on my website along with the evidence concerning my Great Grandfather who likewise did adopt (take up) the GRIMSHAW surname.

So if you are a GRIMSHAW you will find that your Family origins are either England or Ireland.

If England then the Origin will be either Lancashire or Yorkshire, if on the other hand your roots go back to Ireland then you will find that there are two distinct families/ pedigrees as such.

The GRIMSHAW's of Whitehouse, Carmondy, County Antrim which can be traced back to Lancashire, England and the GRIMSHAW's of County Armagh which further research will prove to be a GRIMASON family/ pedigree.

So if your surname is GRIMSHAW and you live in Australia, Scotland, USA and New Zealand then it is possible that you could be a GRIMASON family, so contact me and lets explore your Family tree, you may even be interested in seeing if there is a DNA connection as well and there is a project for this as well.

If your surname is GRIMASON, GRIMISON, GRIMESON or even GRIMMIESON then I would like to hear from you as you may have some information that could help me, I on the other hand I may have information that could get your family tree back at lest one or two generations.

It is said that the GRIMESEY / GRIMACEY / GRIMMESSEY surname is a corruption of the GRIMASON surname proof of this so far has eluded me, however this surname is very rare and origins are county Tyrone, Ireland and can only be found in USA now days.

The origin of this surname is based on evidence provided in the Baptism of one Charles Wilbur GRIMMESEY who was baptised in Woodstock, New Brunswick,Canada and a Tithe Application for County Tyrone as well.

Variant names

GRIMASON = GRIMMASON, GRIMASSON, GRIMESON, GRIMMESON, GRIMINSON,GRIMISON,GRIMMISON.
GRIMMIESON = GRIMMEISEN which is yet another variant presently.
GRIMESEY is supposedly a corruption of the GRIMASON surname and the variants found so far are; GRIMMESEY, GRIMACY,GRIMMESSEY and I would not be surprised if GRIMESIE is not one as well although not found yet.

Based on recent research it looks as if the family has also used the Grimson surname as well, there was a Grimson, Grimston, Grimstone One Name Study being done, this looks to have gone into hibernation.

Name origin

The origin or meaning of The GRIMASON surname has as yet to be confirmed however there are some contenders.
GRIMASON = son of GRIMA possible ex Malta;

GRIMASON = Son of Grima which is likely to be Swedish or Norwegian (Vikings).
GRIMASON = GRIMASTON the T being dropped in this case GRIMASTON is now days GRIMSTON of Norfolk and this suggests Scandinavian origins such as Norway.
GRIMMEISEN or GRIMMEISON anglicized to GRIMASON / GRIMISON ex GERMANY/ Scandinavia.

Most of our surname indicators point to the origin of Scandinavia.

Historical occurrences of the name

The famous persons within the Family that have been found so far are;
Elizabeth GRIMASON formally DEACON who is said to have been closely associated with Sir John MacDonald the first Prime minister of Canada, there is even a play called "{Sir John Eh!" that is based on this supposed relationship.
Elizabeth lived in Kingston, Ontario and she is buried behind Sir John MacDonald as well.

FRANCIS LEWIS OTHERWISE GRIMISON

The Complete Newgate Calendar Volume IV FRANCIS LEWIS OTHERWISE GRIMISON

Cobweb as a Clue to a Bogus Burglary committed by a Butler, who was executed at Tyburn, 24th of June, 1778 AT the sessions held at the Old Bailey in April, 1778, Francis Lewis otherwise Grimison was indicted for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Thomas Edmondes, Esq., on the night of the 14th of March pre- ceding, and stealing a gold ring set with diamonds, valued at forty pounds, and a variety of plate and other valuable articles, to a very large amount.

Name frequency

Our surname or Family as such since this covers more than one version of our surname is rather uncommon and could be described as being rare so finding kin within the family is great.

Of note is the distribution of the Grimason surname within the UK, since the early censuses of Ireland have been destroyed the earliest available are 1901 and 1911.

The distribution is as follows;

1901 England and Wales Ireland Scotland

Grimason 2 24 3

Grimeson 0 1 0

Grimison 0 1 0

Grimmeisen 1 0 0

1911 England and Wales Ireland Scotland

Grimason 7 26 17

Grimeson 1 0 0

Grimison 1 0 0

Grimmeisen 0 0 0

Distribution of the name

The distribution of our surname now days appears to be;
Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales and USA.
However our surname GRIMASON / GRIMISON has been found in Gibraltar, India, Malta, Panama Canal Zone and South Africa as well.

Data

I hold data of various pedigrees as such form around the world, some of that data starts as early as 1800 however I do have individuals from as early as 1076 this particular one being in Norway.
I do have copies of some supposed Coats of Arms as well however only the one for the GRIMMEISEN, Bavaria, Germany surname appears in an Armorial as such, thus the others can be viewed as being very suspect.

DNA

The Grimason DNA Project welcomes all participants. We encourage you to join today!.
http://www.familytreedna.com/project-join-request.aspx?group=Grimason

Links

The following website has some basic information on the Family in the UK however this is only a small portion of the Data held. http://grimason.one-name.net/

Contact Details

Mr David Grimshaw

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Grimason in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages 11
Inscriptions Index 1

Is your surname here?