Cochrane Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Cochrane Family History

Cochrane Family History

The ancient origin of the name Cochrane was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Cochrane hails from the lands of Cochrane near Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Variants include Cochran, Cochren and Colqueran. The first recorded of the name was Waldeve de Cochrane who witnessed a charter in favour of the fifth Earl of Monteith in 1262. The family was raised to Peerage in 1647 and in 1669, Sir William Cochrane, Baron Cochrane, was created first Earl of Dundonald. The ninth Earl, Archibald, was a great scientist and inventor, and the tenth Earl, Thomas, was a great Naval Commander of his age. Dundonald, Kyle, a castle built by the Stewarts in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was purchased by the Cochranes in the seventeenth century.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

It is also sometimes a variant of the names Cuggeran and Corcoran.The Cochrane 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 Cochrane descendants.