Brisbin Genealogy

Brisbin Genealogy Brisbin Genealogy

"There are two lasting bequests we can give our children:
One is roots. The other is wings."

Yvonne James-Henderson, Coordinator

In Loving Memory of Hazel Florence Brisbin 1909 - 1993

Introduction to the Brisbin Family

The Brisbin name stems from the Scottish name, Brisbane. There are many variations of the same name all originating from the same family. Some of the names are Birsbane, Bisbine, Brisbain, Bresben, Brisbon and Brisben.

The family Brisbane can be traced back to the XII century in England, where early members of the family accompanied Walter Fitzalan, the first of the Stewarts from Shropshire, England to Scotland sometime during the reign of David I (1124-1153). Little is known of the family during those earlier years because of the absence of records. Some of the earliest transactions involving Brisbins are:

King Robert I (1274-1329) granted the lands of Little Rothy, Aberdeen, to Thomas Brisbane. King Robert III (1340-1406) granted lands of Balincard, Perth to Duncan Brisbane.

William Brisbane, was Lord Chancellor of Scotland in 1332. His home in the parish of Larg, Ayrshire, nothing more than a pile of ruins. However, there is an old oaken chair purportedly the one the chancellor used bearing the 1357 date and the arms and initials of the Brisbane family carved on the back It is today in the possession of H. Monroe.

How the Brisbanes came to be in Northern Ireland is a matter of conjecture. In the 1600's James I of England sent English and Scottish colonists to settle on the land seized from ousted Irish-Catholic Chieftons in Ulster. Back then the entire area known as Northern Ireland, made up of the counties of Antrim, Tyrone, Londonberry, Armagh, Down and Fermanagh were commonly called Ulster. These are the lands located nearest to Scotland. After the Scottish Protestants took over the Irish lands there was constant dissension between the Catholics and the Protestants, but the Catholics were never again to gain control in Northern Ireland. Because of the bad blood between the Scotch and Irish there was little mixing of the blood lines. So the immigrants that moved on to America were for the most part pure Scotch.

The Brisbin family of North America and Canada immigrated to Ulter Co., New York, which was later divied up into Saratoga County, NY. I doubt that it is a coincidnce that these immigrants moved from Ulster Co., Irlenad to Ulster Co., NY, but more likely that these people from Ireland called their new home Ulster.