Usher Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Usher Family History

Usher Family History

The family history of the ancient name Usher was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Usher and Ussher are names of occupational origin, from the office of 'doorkeeper'. These names are of Scottish descent and are found in many ancient manuscripts in Scotland. Examples of such are Thomas le Ussher, of Angus, who rendered homage to the King in 1296. A Willelmus Usher witnessed a charter at Lamberton in 1332. Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for the overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired lands by either force or as gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. In Ireland these names are derived from the Uiseir sept that was ultimately of Norman origin, and have existed in the country since the fourteenth century. The Usher 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 Usher descendants.