Grenfell
One-Name Study

Topics

• About the Grenfell One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Frequency of the name
• Distribution of the name
• Data
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Grenfell One-Name Study

The study really began in the 1980’s when Alison Stephen in Australia and Arthur Coomb in England were independently researching the family. Alison registered the Grenfell name – No. 1238 - with the Guild in 1997 and after meeting in Truro in 1998 they decided to collaborate and pool their resources. Alison's contact details are below and Arthur can be contacted at arthur.coomb@one-name.org.

In September 2002 a website was launched (see below)

Variants

In early records the name was often spelt Grenfield, Grenfeld, Greenfield, Grinfield, Grinfill. One branch of the family changed their name to Granville which also appeared as a second forename eg John Granville Grenfell in other branches. Since the latter half of the 19th century there has been little variance from Grenfell in Cornwall although in other parts of the UK Granfell appears.

Origin of the surname

It is most likely that the Grenfell family were descended from a branch of the Grenville family of landowners who owned the Manors at Stowe and Penheale in North Cornwall.

The earliest reference to the family in Cornwall appear in the 1588 Easter Book of St Just in Penwith, a parish in the far west of the county, when amongst the residents of the tenement of Truthwell there is a Marga (widow), John Grainfield and Martin Glandfield.

Of the surviving St Just records, the earliest baptism entered is that in 1632 of Ann daughter of Hercules Grenfield, who married Jane Busvargus in 1631, although there are earlier burial and marriage entries. Other 17th century records appear in the Cornish parishes of Madron, Paul, St Ives and Zennor.

Historical occurrences

The first member of the family to achieve national recognition was Pascoe Grenfell (1761-1838) who was MP for Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire 1800 to 1820 and Penryn, Cornwall 1820 to 1826, where he was a staunch supporter of William Wilberforce in the debates on slavery and an expert on financial matters. In business he was involved in the dealing and smelting of copper, with interests in Cornwall and Wales.

His grandson, Field Marshall Francis Wallace Grenfell was created 1st Baron Grenfell of Kilvey, Wales in 1902 and great-grandsons included William Henry Grenfell (Lord Desborough), Edward Charles Grenfell (Lord St Just in Penwith) and Capt. Francis Octavious Grenfell an early recipient of the Victoria Cross in World War 1.

Rear Admiral Elton Watters Grenfell US Navy commanded a Submarine Squadron in the Pacific during World War 2.

Other notable members of the family were Dr Sir Wilfred Grenfell, the medical missionary in Labrador and Revd. George Grenfell, explorer and missionary in the Congo.

Frequency of the name

In the 1881 census there were 578 Grenfells recorded which represented 0.00223% of the population or 1 in 44,931.

An Office for National Statistics database for the year 2002 recorded 750 Grenfells equal to 0.00138% of the population, a frequency of 1 in 72,533. This shows a considerable reduction as a percentage of the population as a whole. The name was ranked =8835.

Distribution of the name

In both the 1841 and 1861 census over 85% of the Grenfell name and variants were living in Cornwall. However, as the tin and copper mining industries collapsed in the 19th century many Grenfell families emigrated, mainly to Australia and America, but also moved to other mining areas of England, Scotland and particularly Wales, and to the business and banking centres in London. In 1881 53% remained in Cornwall and the next highest areas were Wales and London with 7%.

Data

The website currently contains details of 8 family lines totalling over 2600 people – 1200 of whom carry the Grenfell (and variants) name. The site also contains transcriptions of mainly Cornish parish BMD records also ‘Digger’ and ‘Pioneer’ records from Victoria, Australia, Monumental Inscriptions, Biographies of notable members of the family and Wills. In addition there are photographs of parish churches associated with the family and miscellaneous press and book references.

Other extensive records are held by the researchers.

Links

Grenfell Family Website: http://grenfell.history.users.btopenworld.com

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mrs Alison J Stephen
Newhaven,
16 Jill Court,
Ringwood,
Victoria
3134
Australia
E-mail:

This page last updated 26 July 2009.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.