Orr Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Orr Family History

Orr Family History

The Orr ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Orr is a locational name from the parish of Orr in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. This name is of Scottish descent spreading to Ireland, England and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are an Edidius de Or, County Kent, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273. A Matilda Orre was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. Orr is the name of an old Renfrewshire family, and is numerous in the West End of the Shire of Renfrew in the Parish of Lochwinnoch. A Hew Orr rendered homage there in the year 1296. In Ireland the name was introduced from Scotland in the year 1655, and this relates to a shopkeeper called Thomas Orr, who lived in Church street, Dublin, and a family of Orr who settled in Tyrone in the same century. The Orr 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 Orr descendants.