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Archiver > CORNISH > 1998-05 > 0895174601


From: philip ellery <>
Subject: Re: Looking for Gribbles of Camborne/Redruth
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 20:36:41 +0100


In message <>, Connie Saunders
<> writes
>
>
>Is Gribble a particularly Cornish name?
> Dorothy,
> Victoria, BC, Canada
>
>Dorothy,
>From Cornish Surnames by G. Pawley White.
>
>Gribble: from cryb-a-bell: the distant ridge, early spelling being Gribbell.

GRIBBLE researchers go here for more info:-

http://www.users.bigpond.com/jgribble/origin.htm

sample:--

The GRIBBLE name, and its near variants, originated in Devon, England
There are virtually no GRIBBLE baptisms outside Devon prior to 1700.
In the mid 1700's and particularly after 1750 the number of GRIBBLE's in
Cornwall suddenly begins to increase.
The GRIBBLE's in Cornwall are mostly constrained to the area around
Redruth, Camborne and Illogan, and to a lesser extent Gwennap. These are
all within a 5 mile radius of each other and made up the main copper
mining area of Cornwall - which between 1750 and 1850 produced most of
the world's copper.
The only other significant concentration of the name GRIBBLE, in the
United Kingdom, is the London area.
These historical conclusions still remain true essentially today in the
United Kingdom, based on current white page telephone book listings,
although the number of listed GRIBBLE's in Gloucestershire now matches
the numbers in Devon and Cornwall, and the focus on south western
England is less pronounced.

Many of the GRIBBLE emigrants, to Australia, New Zealand, United States,
South Africa, and other places seem to have been by miners, usually from
Cornwall, and mainly in the 1800's. This is consistent with the collapse
of the mining industry in Cornwall at that time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

Published References
There are a number of reference works that provide information on the
origins of family names. These include:

>From A Dictionary of English Surnames by P H Reaney, 3rd Ed with
corrections and additions by R M Wilson, Oxford University Press, 1995:

Gribble, Gribbell: Walter atte Gribbele 1330 Subsidy Rolls (Devon). From
residence near a crabtree or blackthorn (ME gribbele). v also GRIMBLE.

Grimble, Grumble, Grumell, Gribbeil, Gribble: Grimbald 1066, 1086
Doomsday Book; Grimbaldus, Grumbaldus Pancefot 1272 Forssner; Grymbald
Fraunceys 1310 AssSt; Robert, William Grimbald 1153-63 Templars (O),
1207 Cur (Nth); Radulfus Grumbaldus 1185 Templars (O); Warin Grimboll
1275 RH (Sf); Martin Grumbold 1327 SRC; Richard Grymbyll 1524 SRSf. OG
Grimbald 'helmet bold'. Grimbald became Gribald through assimilation of
mb to bb: cf. Gribant, Guido Gribaud 1275 RH (Nf). v also

Various illustrations of these and similar names are based on records
from Northants, Oxon, Cambs, Norfolk and Suffolk. In particular, no
records are taken from Devon and Cornwall.

The claim that the GRIBBLE name as a derivative of the name GRIMBALD,
originating with the Norman invasion is, in our view, is clearly
disproven by examining the demographics of GRIMBALD in comparison to
those of GRIBBLE. The GRIMBALD name is even less common than the GRIBBLE
name, and is concentrated in the North West of England.

>From The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames by Basil Cottle, 2nd edition,
Penguin Books, 1978:

Gribble L 'blackthorn, crab-apple tree' 16th-century Dorset-Devon-
Cornwall dialect, probably related to crab; Devon places include G- Lane
in Rockbeare, G- Inn in Little Torrington, G- Bridge in Hatherleigh,
Gribbelparke on Dartmoor (1386), and a man Walter atte Gribbele in
Crediton (1330).

>From Handbook of Cornish Surnames by G White Pawley, 1972:

GRIBBLE - from cryb-a-bell: the distant ridge, early spelling being
Gribbell. Found in mid- and west of the County.

>From The Homes and Family names in Great Britain by Guppy, London 1890:

"GREBBELL or GRIBBLE is the name of an old and influential Rye (Sussex)
family, now rare, members of which frequently filled the office of mayor
in the 17th and 18th centuries." p 384.

Phil Ellery

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