Nelson Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Nelson Family History

Nelson Family History

The Nelson ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Nelson is a baptismal name meaning 'the son of Eleanor', a name of great antiquity. The most famous of the name was the great Admiral Horatio Hornblower Nelson whose fame was laid down at Trafalgar. This name is of English descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts in the above country. Examples of such are a Thomas Nellson who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. A Mother Nelson was buried in Kensington parish church, Kensington, in the year 1554.

Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by the method of creating and updating these old reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

Neilson is another form of the name in Ireland where MacNeighill is the Gaelic form of the name.The Nelson family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Nelson descendants.