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Tate/Tait Surname Genealogy
Tate and Tait are Border names, the Tate spelling on the English side of the border and the Tait spelling on the Scottish side.
The Tate and Tait names are probably of Viking origin, deriving from the Old Norse word teitr meaning "glad" or "cheerful." The English Tate surname may also have originated in some places from the Old English personal name Tata.
England. A Tate family was recorded in Coventry as early as the 13th century. They founded there a chauntry known as Tate's chauntry. A descendant, Sir Robert Tate, prospered in London and was its Lord Mayor in 1488, as later was his son Sir John. Sir John acquired the Delapre abbey in Northamptonshire in 1546 for his son Bartholomew following the dissolution of the monasteries. This estate stayed with the Tates until the 1750's when Mary Tate died and her husband, Sir Charles Hardy who was to become Governor of New York, sold it.
Tate as a surname, however, was more to be found mainly in the northern counties of Northumberland and Yorkshire. A Tate family lived for a long time at Bank House in Guizance, a village just outside Alnwick in Northumberland. John Tate, born in Berwick, joined the whaling ship King George and was lost at sea when the ship went down with all hands somewhere off Greenland in 1827.
Notable 18th century Tates in Yorkshire were William Tate, the Barnsley-born portrait painter, and James Tate, the headmaster of Richmond School in north Yorkshire. There were also Tate glassmakers just outside Wakefield at this time. Sir Henry Tate, the founder of the Tate & Lyle sugar empire, was born in Chorley, Lancashire in 1819.
Scotland.. Tayt as a surname was first recorded in Scotland in the 13th century. The name probably originated on the Scottish borders. Hemming Tait was one of the first Taits of Pirn. These Taits, from Innerleithen in Peeblesshire, were an ancient family of Tweeddale and one of the smaller Border reiver families.
There was also a Tait family prominent in Ayr and Loudoun Hall in Ayr was built by James Tait. After 1603 the Taits were encouraged to relocate to Ulster. Their name became Tate in Antrim and Down and stayed Tait in Derry.
The Tait name began to appear in the Orkney and Shetland isles in the 16th century, probably because of their Viking heritage (the islands only became part of Scotland in 1470).
Ireland. There was an interesting Tate family in Ireland. It began with Faithful Teate or Tate, a Protestant clergyman who was made rector at Ballyhaise in county Cavan in the 1630's. Reports that he had informed on the rebels during the 1641 Rebellion resulted in his house being burned down. His grandson Nahum Tate, a Cromwellian supporter, moved to England in the 1650's and later on in his life was made England's Poet Laureate.
America. Tate is the usual spelling in America, irrespective of whether the immigrant came from England, Scotland or Ireland.
The first Tate to arrive was probably James Tate from a Northumbrian family. He had come to Virginia sometime in the 1630's and settled in York county. His grandson James, called the "Scotsman Emigrant," was a hatter by trade and lived near Page's warehouse in Hanover county. Later Tates of this line moved onto North Carolina.
David Tate, from Derry in northern Ireland, had came to America as a lieutenant in the British army in the 1750's. He decided to stay after his term of service was over and ended up in Botetourt county, Virginia. These Tates later settled in eastern Tennessee.
Australia. George Tate and his family left their home on the Scottish borders in 1819 as the only free passengers on the Minerva, bound for Australia. George received a land grant in Wollongong, NSW where he built an hotel and was the first recognised publican in Illawarra. He died in 1835 at the age of 41 after being gored by a bull. His son George became a cattle breeder and dealer.
Select Tate/Tait Names
Nahum Tate was an Irish poet who became England's Poet Laureate in 1692.
Sir Henry Tate was the founder of the sugar firm Tate & Lyle in 1869. He also started the Tate Gallery in London.
Archibald Tait was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 to 1882.
Maurice Tate, known as "Chub," was the leading bowler of the English cricket team in the mid/late 1920's.
John Tate was briefly world heavyweight boxing champion in 1979.
Select Tates/Taits Today
Tate and Tait are Border names, the Tate spelling on the English side of the border and the Tait spelling on the Scottish side.
The Tate and Tait names are probably of Viking origin, deriving from the Old Norse word teitr meaning "glad" or "cheerful." The English Tate surname may also have originated in some places from the Old English personal name Tata.
- Lancashire Pioneers. Sir Henry Tate family tree.
- The Tait and Tate Families of America. US Tait/Tate genealogy
- The Tait Family. Taits from Scotland to North Carolina
- The Tate Family. Tates from Scotland to Australia.
- Tate DNA Project. Tate DNA.
England. A Tate family was recorded in Coventry as early as the 13th century. They founded there a chauntry known as Tate's chauntry. A descendant, Sir Robert Tate, prospered in London and was its Lord Mayor in 1488, as later was his son Sir John. Sir John acquired the Delapre abbey in Northamptonshire in 1546 for his son Bartholomew following the dissolution of the monasteries. This estate stayed with the Tates until the 1750's when Mary Tate died and her husband, Sir Charles Hardy who was to become Governor of New York, sold it.
Tate as a surname, however, was more to be found mainly in the northern counties of Northumberland and Yorkshire. A Tate family lived for a long time at Bank House in Guizance, a village just outside Alnwick in Northumberland. John Tate, born in Berwick, joined the whaling ship King George and was lost at sea when the ship went down with all hands somewhere off Greenland in 1827.
Notable 18th century Tates in Yorkshire were William Tate, the Barnsley-born portrait painter, and James Tate, the headmaster of Richmond School in north Yorkshire. There were also Tate glassmakers just outside Wakefield at this time. Sir Henry Tate, the founder of the Tate & Lyle sugar empire, was born in Chorley, Lancashire in 1819.
Scotland.. Tayt as a surname was first recorded in Scotland in the 13th century. The name probably originated on the Scottish borders. Hemming Tait was one of the first Taits of Pirn. These Taits, from Innerleithen in Peeblesshire, were an ancient family of Tweeddale and one of the smaller Border reiver families.
There was also a Tait family prominent in Ayr and Loudoun Hall in Ayr was built by James Tait. After 1603 the Taits were encouraged to relocate to Ulster. Their name became Tate in Antrim and Down and stayed Tait in Derry.
The Tait name began to appear in the Orkney and Shetland isles in the 16th century, probably because of their Viking heritage (the islands only became part of Scotland in 1470).
Ireland. There was an interesting Tate family in Ireland. It began with Faithful Teate or Tate, a Protestant clergyman who was made rector at Ballyhaise in county Cavan in the 1630's. Reports that he had informed on the rebels during the 1641 Rebellion resulted in his house being burned down. His grandson Nahum Tate, a Cromwellian supporter, moved to England in the 1650's and later on in his life was made England's Poet Laureate.
America. Tate is the usual spelling in America, irrespective of whether the immigrant came from England, Scotland or Ireland.
The first Tate to arrive was probably James Tate from a Northumbrian family. He had come to Virginia sometime in the 1630's and settled in York county. His grandson James, called the "Scotsman Emigrant," was a hatter by trade and lived near Page's warehouse in Hanover county. Later Tates of this line moved onto North Carolina.
David Tate, from Derry in northern Ireland, had came to America as a lieutenant in the British army in the 1750's. He decided to stay after his term of service was over and ended up in Botetourt county, Virginia. These Tates later settled in eastern Tennessee.
Australia. George Tate and his family left their home on the Scottish borders in 1819 as the only free passengers on the Minerva, bound for Australia. George received a land grant in Wollongong, NSW where he built an hotel and was the first recognised publican in Illawarra. He died in 1835 at the age of 41 after being gored by a bull. His son George became a cattle breeder and dealer.
Select Tate/Tait Names
Nahum Tate was an Irish poet who became England's Poet Laureate in 1692.
Sir Henry Tate was the founder of the sugar firm Tate & Lyle in 1869. He also started the Tate Gallery in London.
Archibald Tait was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 to 1882.
Maurice Tate, known as "Chub," was the leading bowler of the English cricket team in the mid/late 1920's.
John Tate was briefly world heavyweight boxing champion in 1979.
Select Tates/Taits Today
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