By
\nLarry Pearce
\n4\/7\/01 rev. 5\/9\/13<\/p>\n
How many variations of the surname \u201cPearce\u201d can you think of? Look below. Have I missed any? Latin \u2013 petra, Most of the \u201cwhat\u2019s in a name\u201d plaques or printouts one can buy in gift shops in Britain or over the Internet (WWW.GENFORUM.GENEALOGY.COM<\/a>) agree that the English root word is \u201cPear\u201d or \u201cPier,\u201d meaning \u201cPeter,\u201d from the Greek \u201cpetros,\u201d or rock, although there are some other opinions cited below. According to Lora S. LaMance, \u201cThe first [Pearce] name-bearer was a devotee of St. Peter, who had taken, it is supposed, some special vows or obligations before the shrine of the saint. The [Pearce] family was of noble blood.\u201d The American Genealogical Research Institute states that there are more churches dedicated to St. Peter in England than to any other Apostle. Isn\u2019t it ironic that the oldest and largest church in Bourne, Lincolnshire, the town from which we supposedly originated, is named for St. Peter. When we add \u201cse,\u201d \u201cce,\u201d or \u201cs\u201d to the root \u201cPear,\u201d the meaning becomes \u201cson of,\u201d or in its entirety \u201cson of Peter\u201d or whatever the father called himself. Root words in proper names have four origins: fathers\u2019 names, occupations, places, or physical or personal characteristics. Virtually all languages have suffixes to denote the father-son relationship. For example, in Russian it\u2019s \u201csky,\u201d as in Tchaikovsky, and in Slovakian it\u2019s \u201csic,\u201d as in Petrusic (incidentally, also translated \u201cson of Peter\u201d). While exact origins are almost impossible to determine, and can be the source of much disagreement, Halbert\u2019s World Book of Pearces<\/em> says, \u201cThe surname Pearce appears to be patronymical in origin, and is believed to be associated with the Welsh, meaning \u201cdescendant of Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n Other possible origins of our name include the Percy Forest in Normandy, in the northern French province of Maen, which Manfred the Dane invaded around 922 AD. No doubt the name was inspired by the rocky soil there. Arthur\u2019s Etymological Dictionary of Christian Names<\/em> (1857) suggests that \u201cPearce\u201d may have come from \u201cpirsen,\u201d Teutinic for hunting, or even \u201cpercer,\u201d French for penetration. Nevertheless, a descendant of Manfred, William de Perci (c.1030-1096), or literally \u201cof the Percy Forest,\u201d became the military companion to William the Conqueror who captured England from a host of earlier settlers in 1066 [see a previous article about opposition to the Normans from Hereward the Wake of Bourne, the supposed place of origin for our family]. De Perci is listed in the famous Domesday Book<\/em>, a type of census record taken in 1086. Col. Frederick C. Pierce, in his book Pierce Genealogy,<\/em> claims that the Percies provided the subject matter for many minstrels. For example, Galfred, the son of Manfred, is immortalized in \u201cThe Hermit of Warkworth:\u201d Brave Galfred, who to Normandy with vent\u2019rous Rolla came; And, from his Norman castles won, assumed the Percy name.<\/em><\/p>\n In Shakespeare\u2019s Henry IV, the lead proclaims: Oh, that it could be proved that some night tripping fairy had exchanged in cradle-clothes our children, where they lay; and called mine \u2013 Percy, his \u2013 Plantagenet<\/em>. (Act 1, scene 1)<\/p>\n For his deeds, de Perci was awarded a large estate in Northumberland County. Alnwick Castle was constructed in 1309 and is still standing today. It is considered the second largest family-occupied castle in Britain. A famous de Perci descendant from Alnwick, George Percy (another spelling), came to America landing in Jamestown, Virginia with Captain John Smith in 1607. A century before that, around 1500, members of this family built Pearce Hall in Yorkshire County to the south, from which the colonial Massachusetts Pearces emigrated shortly after the time of the Pilgrims. [For the full\u00a0 line, Google “Percy genealogy from Manfred to Richard III.”] The first recording of our name, using the English spelling, was in the 12th century when a Gilbert Pearce was listed in the Pipe Rolls of London (1198 AD). These ledgers provided proof of payment to the monarchy by county on an annual basis. Henry I (1100-1135) began this practice of taxation. The Hundreth Rolls, a unit of government detailing citizens of a given area until the 19th century, also lists the name Pearce. Early church records show the marriage of George Pearce toAnna Padget at St. Michaels, Corhill in 1692. Before the English orthography (or spelling) was finally settled in the 18th century, the name was written in many ways, according to the writer\u2019s idea of what spelling most clearly represented its sound. In the oldest pronunciation the vowel sound appears to have been the same as in \u201cpair\u201d or \u201cthere.\u201d Later the pronunciation was modified to \u201cpurse,\u201d which is still heard in New England. The spellings \u201cPierce\u201d and \u201cPearce\u201d were most in use. The federal government, in the late 1930s, devised a system to categorize and index the various names from the US censuses according to way they sound. In other words, no matter how a name is spelled, it is grouped together with all other names that sound alike. This is known as the Soundex System, and \u201cPearce,\u201d number P620, is in the company of over 400 other names, alphabetically from \u201cParacca\u201d to \u201cPyrz.\u201d In researching Internet and original family databases of Pearces before they came to America in 1820, one is liable to find any number of spellings. Great Britain is small geographically compared to American or Australia, so there is a high probability that families with similar root names from similar locations were somehow related. Oftentimes, genealogists proceed on the assumption that there is a relationship, just to see where it takes them. For example, there is only about 150 years, or about 6 generations, between the 18th century Pearces of Bourne and the 17th century Percys of Alnwick, which as we said earlier dates back to Normandy 922 AD. What are the chances of some genealogical relationship there? After all, the geographical distance from Bourne, Lincolnshire, north to York is less than 100 miles and from York north to Alnwick is only another 100 miles. But, we haven\u2019t uncovered any records to fill the gap, timewise or geographically. What fun it will be when\/if we do! One thing is for sure, the Internet has sped up the process immensely, at least the process of reporting our discoveries. Maybe you\u2019ll be the one who connects the \u201crocks\u201d \u2013 the Pearces, that is.<\/p>\n Note: For additional information, see WWW.FAMILYTREEMAKER.COM<\/a> \u201cDescendants of Henry De Percy\u201d and HOMEPAGES.ROOTSWEB.COM<\/a> \u201cOrigins of the Pierce Family\u201d or WORLDCONNECT.ROOTSWEB.COM<\/a> \u201cTonya\u2019s Genealogy.\u201d<\/p>\n In Part II<\/a> we\u2019ll discuss the heraldry, or coats of arms, of the Pearce Family. By Larry Pearce 4\/7\/01 rev. 5\/9\/13 How many variations of the surname \u201cPearce\u201d can you think of? Look below. Have I missed any? Pers, Peers, Pears, Peares, Peires, Perez, Pearse, Percy, Pearcy, Pearcey, Pearch, Perse, Perrse, Pearl, Peart, Peers, Peerce, … Continue reading
\nPers, Peers, Pears, Peares, Peires, Perez, Pearse, Percy, Pearcy, Pearcey, Pearch, Perse, Perrse, Pearl, Peart, Peers, Peerce, Pierce, Pieres, Peirce, Peirse, Piers, Pierse, Pierre, Pirse, Piece, Peace, Pairs, Pearson, Pierson, Pearsall, Peters, Peterson . . .<\/em>
\nThe list goes on and on. Chances are that you have many of these families living right in your neighborhood. Their origins are probably Italian, Spanish, French, or even Scandanavian. While the original Greek word for \u201crock\u201d is \u201cpetros,\u201d as when in the Bible Christ says to Simon, \u201cYou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church\u201d (Matthew 16:18), the word appears in the Romance languages as follows:<\/p>\n
\nFrench – pierre,
\nSpanish \u2013 piedra,
\nItalian \u2013 pietra,
\nRussian \u2013 Petrarc, and
\nPortugese \u2013 pedra. (WWW.FREETRANSLATION.COM<\/a>)
\n[Incidentally, the word \u201crock\u201d appears no less than 19 times in the Bible, each time standing for the concept of a firm foundation or something very solid].<\/p>\n
\nAfter the Normans conquered England, the French language became the official language of the court and public transactions. This lasted 300 years. It wasn\u2019t until Henry IV in 1399 that a British monarch could speak English. Eventually, the French spoken in that new land evolved, along with dozens of other languages, into what is known as Middle English, which was finally stabilized in spelling and pronunciation with the advent of technology such as the printing press and the linguistic work of Bourne\u2019s Robert Manning [A.K.A. Robert de Brunne discussed in the last article]. There are some wonderful stories of our English language in Bill Bryson\u2019s book The Mother Tongue: English & How it Got That Way<\/em>. He tells a story by the first British book publisher, William Caxton, in Eneydos<\/em> (1490), of London sailors heading down the River \u201cTamyse\u201d for Holland and finding themselves stranded and hungry in the county of our Austen ancestors, Kent. Meeting a housewife, one of them \u201caxed for mete and specially he axed after eggys.\u201d The woman answered him that she \u201ccoude speke no Frenshe.\u201d Bryson says, \u201cThe sailors had traveled barely 50 miles and yet their language was scarcely recognizable to another speaker of English.\u201d By the way, at that time in Kent, the word for eggs was \u201ceyren.\u201d Also, the earliest writers of English used no punctuation. They simply ran everything together; it was up to the reader to decipher what was meant.<\/p>\n
\nHarvey Cushmand Pirece, author of Seven Pierce Families<\/em>, says:<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nLong before the invention of the typewriter in the late 19th century or the development of the computer in the late 20th century, public and private records were at the mercy of a clerk\u2019s hearing and handwriting. In fact, the word \u201cclerk\u201d comes from the word \u201ccleric,\u201d usually an older, learned man of the cloth who could read and write. Each town in the church-state had at least one who could write letters and record deeds and contracts. Imagine the confusion on the other side of the Atlantic, at the ports of New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore as the East Europeans poured into19th century America unable to speak any English at all. They probably understood that the person at the dock would ask their name, but what they didn\u2019t know was that he would write down whatever he thought he heard, and the immigrants would carry that with them on all their public documents for generations to come. An example is the City of Johnstown near to where I live. The founder, Joseph Schantz, was a Swiss immigrant whose name was recorded simply as Johns, and today his legacy is Johnstown rather than Schantztown. In some cases names were shorted or Anglesized, or made to sound like something English. You are invited to tour the new Bottleworks Ethnic Arts Museum in Johnstown, which features such stories of the European immigrants who came to the mills and mines of Western Pennsylvania over the past 200 years (see WWW.VISITJOHNSTOWNPA.COM<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nIn Part III<\/a> we\u2019ll reveal some of the most famous Pearces of the past 500 years.
\nIn Part IV<\/a> we’ll introduce some more recent namesakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"