Brief Life History of Thomas
When Thomas Oliphant Jr. was born on 2 August 1702, in Carlisle, Cumberland, England, his father, Thomas Oliphant Sr., was 34 and his mother, Mary Tye, was 31. He married Mary Herbert in 1722, in Carlisle, Cumberland, England. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He died on 14 July 1737, in his hometown, at the age of 34.
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Family Time Line
Sources (6)
- Thos. Olivant, "England Marriages, 1538–1973 "
- Thos Ollivant in entry for Jane Ollivant, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"
- Thomas Olivant in entry for John Olivant, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
World Events (1)
1720 · South Sea Bubble
The South Sea Bubble Bill was passed by the House of Lords in 1720. This allowed the South Sea company to monopolize trade with South America. The company underwrote the English National Debt which promised 5% interest from the government. As shares rose exponentially, many companies were created and many fortunes were made. The stocks crashed and many people lost their money which caused them to become destitute overnight and suicide was common. Robert Walpole took charge of the South Sea Bubble Financial Crisis by dividing the national debt between the Bank of England, the Treasury, and the Sinking Fund.
Name Meaning
English (London) and Scottish (Fife): from Old French olifard or olifant, of uncertain meaning. It has been suggested that this might be a derivative of Old French olif ‘olive’ + the pejorative suffix -ard ‘derisive nickname for one who preferred an olive branch to more martial weapons’; it may have denoted a man twisted like an olive-tree. The variant Olifant may have resulted from the substitution in Old Norman French of the sequence l-r by l-n, leading to a false association with Old French olifant ‘elephant’. This heraldic beast appears in the Scottish family's coats of arms. Branches of the Anglo-Norman family owned lands in both England and Scotland. The surname is now chiefly Scottish.
English: possibly a topographic name from residence at an inn known as the Olyphaunt or ‘elephant’, though whether this gave rise to a hereditary surname is unknown.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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