Brief Life History of William
When William Forrest was born on 21 July 1639, in Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, his father, James Forrest, was 22 and his mother, Beatrix Dougall, was 26. He married Jean Plaine in 1664, in Tranent, Haddingtonshire, Scotland. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He died in 1669, in Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, at the age of 30, and was buried in Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom.
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Family Time Line
Sources (10)
- William Forrest, "Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950"
- William Forrest in entry for William Forrest, "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950"
- Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
Spouse and Children
1639–1669 Male
1639–1669 Female
Children (2)
1665– Female
1669–1709 Male
Parents and Siblings
1618– Male
1613– Female
Siblings (4)
1634– Male
1636– Male
1639–1669 Male
1640–1679 Male
Name Meaning
English: topographic name for someone who lived in or near a royal forest, or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper or worker in one. Middle English forest was not, as today, a near-synonym of wood, but referred specifically to a large area of woodland reserved by law for the purposes of hunting by the king and his nobles. The same applied to the European cognates, both ancient Germanic and Romance. The English word is from Middle English forest ‘forest’, Old French forest, Late Latin forestis (silva). This is generally taken to be a derivative of foris ‘outside’; the reference was probably to woods lying outside a settlement. On the other hand, Middle High German for(e)st has been held to be a derivative of Old High German foraha ‘fir’ (see Forster ), with the addition of a collective suffix.
Irish: this name is also frequently attested in Ireland, where it may be a variant of Forrestal .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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