THE HUGUENOT MYTH
We frequently hear that Nathaniel1 Merrill's (and our) ancestors were descended from French Huguenots. Many believe that our family fled France and migrated to England after the St. Bartholomew Day's massacre in Paris on August 24, 1572. Wrong! This belief is incorrect, but some early investigators believed it. The misconception was contained in early genealogical works, was picked up by later researchers, and now, unfortunately, appears in the literature often.A review of our family history, compared to the history of the Reformation, proves that Nathaniel Merrill's antecedents were living in England before any Huguenot migration. In fact, his ancestors were living in England long before there were any Huguenots!
Documentation proves that Nathaniel's ancestor, Thomas Meryell, died in Wherstead, county of Suffolk, in the year 1464. We also know that John Meryell died there in 1528/9 and his son, also named John, died there in 1551/2. These three ancestors had all passed away, in England, long before the 1572 St. Bartholomew Day's massacre. In fact, after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses against the indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church to the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517, the first Huguenots (French Protestants), who were followers of Calvin, founded the first Presbyterian Church in France in 1559 30 years after John Meryell's death in Wherstead, England. Thus, our strain of the Merrill family is not descended from Huguenot stock.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME
The following quotation concerning the Merrill name is from the copyrighted feature The Romance Of Your Name by Ruby Haskins, which appeared in a 1931 edition of The New York Evening Post:
"This name originated in the Province of Aisne, in France. It was first spelled Merle and it has been perpetuated by the village of Merle. The name signifies 'Blackbird', but just how the family came to be known by it is lost in the mists of antiquity".
The information contained in The Name And Family Of MERRILL compiled by The Media Research Bureau of Washington, D.C. in 1938 is very well done:
"The origin of the name MERRILL is uncertain. Some authorities are of the opinion that it is of German or Anglo-Saxon origin, and still others that it is of ancient Norman derivation and appeared in England at the time of the Norman Conquest (1066 A.D.). Since the name is on record in England long before the time of the Huguenot persecutions in France and, moreover, appears to be of French derivation, it is most probable that the last theory is the correct one. If it is of French origin, its meaning is probably taken either from the word merle, meaning "a swaggering fellow" (originally "a blackbird or peacock"), or from the word mere, meaning "the sea" and aill, meaning "a wall or cliff". Of these theories the first is borne out by the family coat of arms and the second suggests a place-name or name taken from the place of residence of its first bearer."PROBABLE EARLIEST KNOWN ANCESTORS
The Duchess of Cleveland* refers to "John and Richard Miriel, Norfolk; Adam de Miriel, Suffolk; and Matilda de Miriel, with her daughter Margaret of Kent, in the time of Edward I, (1272-1307). Nicholas de Meriel was of Yorkshire at the same date"
Since that reference to Adam de Meriel of Suffolk says that he was alive between 1272 and 1307, we may suppose that he died no earlier than sometime in the first half of the 14th century (1300-1350).
We know that our earliest recorded ancestor, Thomas Meryell, (whom we mentioned earlier), died in Suffolk County in 1464. We can assume that he had been born late in the 14 th century or early in the 15 th century (1375-1425). This reasoning brings these two men within about 100 years of each other, and with both of them living in Suffolk County, might they have been related? Adam de Miriel could have been one of Thomas' (and our) ancestors.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Speculating, (based as much on possibilities as on probabilities,) I theorize that, before living in England, our family did live in France, and that one of our ancestors from France, possibly a de Merle, was a participant in the Norman Invasion of England, serving William The Conqueror in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. Afterward, when William dissolved the English Earldoms, our ancestor was one of the recipients of land that William granted to deserving Normans; that grant being for land in Suffolk , in the Wherstead area. Thus, I suggest that our family came to England from France during the 11th century, and settled in Suffolk. I am also of the opinion that our name is derived from the word merle, meaning "peacock", as represented on the coat-of-arms.
*From The Battle Abbey Roll, Vol. II, p. 245. The Battle Abbey Roll records the names of those Normans who received grants in England in return for their services under William The Conqueror in the 11th century.