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This site is dedicated to Everett Hale Randall who passed on to his son his "Patriot Spirit" of love of God, family and country.


THE RANDALL FAMILY

Randall Coat of Arms

"Nil Extra Numerum" translated from Elvan's Handbook of Mottos as "Nothing Out of Time"

The Origin of the Surname Randall

Ralf de Tankville was William the Conqueror's Chamberlain. There were several other followers with that given name who received lands and earldoms. The name was also used in England before the Norman Conquest, in the form Raedwuff or "shield wolf", which began Ranulf and the Ralf from which the surnames Raff, Ralph, Rand, Randall, Randolph, Rankin, Ransom, Ranson, Rawlings, and Rawson developed. Rand is also one who came from Rand, a marshy edge, the name of places in Lincoln shire and Yorkshire. "American Surnames"

The name Randall is distinctly traceable to a period of the Norman Conquest of England, A.D. 1066. It first appears in the "Doomsday Book" of William the Conqueror in the Assignment of Lands bearing this name, as "Tenants in Capite" immediately from the Crown, and restricted to those who accompanied the Conqueror from his kingdom of Normandy, of which they may have been native citizens or descendants of those who came over from Denmark or Norway with Rollo the Dane in 901. The name Randall, spelled in different forms, is a frequent occurrence in the yearbooks or records of legal proceedings of Edward II to the end of Henry VII, a period of about two hundred years, from 1327 to 1547, and many of the names have borne Coats of Arms granted for distinguished service. The name is a modification of that of Randolfe or Randolph. One authority suggests Randall is an English local name of Nordic origin and interpreted "fair valley" from " ran", which means "fair" and dale which means "dale" or "valley". He adds that Randall may be a derivative of the surname Randolph which was originally Randwulf or Randulf which came from " Ravenwulf". "William Randall and Allied Families", by Frank Alfred Randall, 1943.

A more recent account of the family name origins came from the Canadian Randall branch, that the stories past to him indicated the early family were a group of poor peasants on the Scottish border who rustled sheep from the English gentry, making their escape back to their hovels, "they ran through the dales like those possessed" and but one step ahead of the law no doubt, hence the name "ran dales" or now Randalls.

Text and narrative by Brian Randall, Deceased

Surname Index
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Bibliography
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Sites of Interest
Westerly, Rhode Island
Randall's Ordinary
Battle of Fort Griswold
Connecticut BDM Identifier
Massachusetts BDM Identifier
Rhode Island BDM Identifier

This page is a work in progress. Every possible effort has been made to assure the accuracy and completeness of the information. Your suggestions, corrections and comments will be appreciated.

W. Roberts Randall

[email protected]
Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born
only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
Will they not instruct you and tell you?
Will they not bring you forth words from their understanding?
Job 8:8-10

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Visitors Since November 15, 2000