James Ross

Brief Life History of James

When James Ross was christened on 17 July 1715, in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, his father, Francis Ross, was 27 and his mother, Elizabeth Hattrig, was 26.

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Family Time Line

Francis Ross
1688–
Elizabeth Hattrig
1689–1756
William Ross
1710–1716
Agnes Ross
1720–
John Ross
1712–
Alexander Ross
1713–1757
Elizabeth Ross
1715–
James Ross
1715–
Ross
1716–1716
Andrew Ross
1718–
Miss Ross
1722–
Ross
1722–
Elizabeth Ross
1724–
Mary Ross
1727–

Sources (2)

  • "Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," James Rosse, 1715
  • Legacy NFS Source: James Ross - Individual or family possessions: birth-name: James Ross

World Events (3)

1802 · John Playfair publishes summary of James Hutton's theories of geology.

In 1802, John Playfair published the Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. His influence was by James Hutton’s knowledge of the earth’s geology.

1815

The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo marks the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena.

1823

Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School.

Name Meaning

Scottish: habitational name from one or other of a number of Scottish and English places called Ross or Roos(e), especially Roose (Lancashire) and Roos (East Yorkshire). The placenames derive from a British ancestor of Welsh rhos ‘moor, heath, plain’, which is the sense of the cognate Gaelic word ros. The Scottish surname has at least three origins. First, the Anglo-Norman family from Roos (East Yorkshire) was introduced to Scotland when Robert of Roos, lord of Wark Castle (Northumberland), married Isabella, an illegitimate daughter of King William the Lion. Second, various families took the name from the province of Ross in northern Scotland and other places of that name. Third, there were Norman families in Scotland by the 13th century who probably derived their name from Rots in Normandy (see 2 below). The descendants of Godfrey de Ros, tenant of the de Morville lords of Cunninghame, were major landholders in Ayrshire, and almost certainly took their name from Rots. The Rose family of Kilravock (Nairnshire) may take their name from either of these three (see Rose ). The lairds of Balnagown adopted the surname Ross after the earldom of Ross (to which they considered themselves rightful heirs) had passed into other hands through the female line.

English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Rots in Calvados (France), probably named with the ancient Germanic element rod ‘clearing’ (compare Rhodes ). This was the original home of a family de Ros, who were established in Kent in 1130 and had major estates in Kent until well into the 13th century.

English: habitational name from Wrose, in Shipley, near Bradford (Yorkshire), with re-spelling of Wr- as R- due to the loss of /w/ before /r/ in early modern English pronunciation. The spelling Wrose is no longer current. The placename derives from Old English wrāse ‘knot, something twisted’, referring to the steep-sided hill on which the settlement stands, with the sense ‘broken or twisting hill’.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

Possible Related Names

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