MY PATERNAL

Bishop

ANCESTORS

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Family History

Origins of the Surname

Variations of

The Surname

Direct Ancestors

Family Location Information

Source Documents

Website Resources

Family Images Gallery

Contact Information

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Bishop

Family History

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The Robert Bishop (b.abt 1691) family first appeared in Burlington County, New Jersey records around 1727 when Robert Bishop married Mary Hall. Robert Bishop lived in the Lumberton/ Evesham area of Burlington County with property on Plum Point, NJ, near the Delaware River at Rancocus Creek. Robert Bishop was probably closely related to Thomas Bishop of Northampton, possibly the eldest of six sons (only 5 are listed in Thomas' will and 5 in the 1709 Northampton census) of Thomas Bishop (b.1665, Bridport, Dorset, England.

Thomas was the son of Robert Bishop of Bridport, Dorset, England. Early tradition says that six brothers of Quaker descent from either Connecticut or England, settled in West Jersey from Bridgeboro to Lumberton to Vincentown. It is likely that these 6 brothers were the sons of progenitor Thomas Bishop who has been identified in older Burlington histories as the progenitor of the Burlington Bishops.

Much of the Bishop family remained in the New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. Robert and Mary Hall Bishop’s daughter Mary Bishop married Andrew Bozorth in the spring of 1756 somewhere in Burlington County, NJ quite possibly in the Evesham district.

Bishop

Origins of the Surname*

English: from Middle English biscop, Old English bisc(e)op ‘bishop’, which comes via Latin from Greek episkopos ‘overseer’. The Greek word was adopted early in the Christian era as a title for an overseer of a local community of Christians, and has yielded cognates in every European language: French évêque, Italian vescovo, Spanish obispo, Russian yepiskop, German Bischof, etc. The English surname has probably absorbed at least some of these continental European cognates. The word came to be applied as a surname for a variety of reasons, among them service in the household of a bishop, supposed resemblance in bearing or appearance to a bishop, and selection as the ‘boy bishop’ on St. Nicholas’s Day.

First found in Worcestershire, where they held a family seat from ancient times, long before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Daniel Bishop who settled in Virginia in 1663; Henry Bishop settled in Maryland in 1633; Joseph Bishop in Virginia in 1644; Thomas Bishop settled in the Barbados with his wife and servants in 1680.Motto: Pro Deo et ecclesia.Motto Translated: For God and the Church.Crest: An eagle's head divided per fess gold and red with a red beak.Coat of Arms: Silver on a red bend three

*Although the Domesday Book compiled by William the Conqueror required surnames, the use of them in the British Isles did not become fixed until the time period between 1250 and 1450. The broad range of ethnic and linguistic roots for British surnames reflects the history of Britain as an oft-invaded land. These roots include, but are not limited to, Old English, Middle English, Old French, Old Norse, Irish, Gaelic, Celtic, Pictish, Welsh, Gaulish, Germanic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Throughout the British Isles, there are basically five types of native surnames. Some surnames were derived from a man's occupation (Carpenter, Taylor, Brewer, Mason), a practice that was commonplace by the end of the 14th century. Place names reflected a location of residence and were also commonly used (Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale) as a basis for the surname, for reasons that can be easily understood. Nicknames that stuck also became surnames. About one-third of all US surnames in the United States are Patronymic in origin, and identified the first bearer of the name by his father (or grandfather in the case of some Irish names). Acquired ornamental names were simply made up, and had no specific reflection on the first who bore the name. They simply sounded nice, or were made up as a means of identification, generally much later than most surnames were adopted.

Bishop

Variations of

the Surname

The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may have been misspelled. This is especially true when searching census documents. Spelling variations include: Bishop, Bisshop, Bisshope, Bishope, Bishoppe and many more.

Source: Surname Resources at ROOTSWEB

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Searching for more Information about this and other surnames?

Then take a look at our:

SURNAME LOCATOR RESOURCES WEBPAGE

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Bishop

Direct Ancestors

Additional information about my DIRECT ANCESTORS and their

families may be reviewed by clicking on the name LINK(s) below.

NAME

BIRTH / DEATH / LOCATIONS

Robert Bishop?

b. Abt. 1691 Poss. from Long Island or Connecticut

m. Mary Hall 19 Aug 1727 Evesham, Burlington Co., NJ.

d. 1 Dec 1753 Plum Pt., Evesham Twp., Burlington Co., NJ.

Mary Bishop

b. 17 Jan 1736/37 Burlington Co., NJ.

m. Andrew Bozorth 21 May 1756 Burlington Co., NJ.

d. 26 Mar 1794 poss. Burlington Co., NJ.

The following LINK will take you to a complete listing

of individuals in my database with this surname.

BPQR Surname Locator

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Bishop

Family Location Information

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Researching the locations where my ancestors lived has provided me with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in my family trees. It has also led me to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group. The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the persons in the “Direct Ancestors” list (see above) were born, married, and/or died.

COUNTRY

STATE

COUNTY / SUBDIVISION

UNITED STATES

New Jersey

Burlington County

Connecticut

Use this LINK to find out more about the locations listed above.

ANCESTRAL LOCATIONS

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Bishop

Source Documents

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The documents and headstones contained within the “Source Documents Archives” have been located during my research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.

Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence. Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record. Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error. Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents. Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value. This is especially true of secondary evidence. Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE: Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2^nd edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive.

Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with

us via the contact information found at the end of this page.

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