Rossiter Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Rossiter Family History

Rossiter Family History

The family history of the ancient name Rossiter was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Rossiter is usually a variant of Rochester which is an old locational name in England from places so-called in Kent and Northumberland. Rossiter is a hereditary surname of locality origin. Locality names are derived from placenames and describe someone who lived near a physical feature such as a tree, hill, river or church, or from habitations such as a town, village, farmstead or County. A very early record of the name refers to Turoldus de Roucestra in the year 1086. From that time the name has developed a number of variants including Rochester, Rositer, Rossitor, Rositor and many others. A coat of arms or family crest is an ancient and distinctive design the origin of which dates back over a millennium. Initially these armorial bearings were first used by feudal lords and warriors on the field of battle as a means of identification but later became extant among the general population. While some coats of arms refer to individuals others refer to groups of people who bear the same name. In Ireland the name Rossiter was one of the very earliest Anglo names to be introduced into the country. It became Gaelicized as 'Rosaitear'. Families of the name became most associated with the Barony of Forth in County Wexford.The Rossiter 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 Rossiter descendants.