The MANUEL surname and its
various spellings has been associated with Scotland long
before history first recorded the name in 1156.
It is probable that the
name has very early origins in Scotland, but The Priory
of MANUEL appears to be the first proven use of the name in
an historical record. The Cistercian Order built
The Priory of MANUEL on the Banks of the Avon River a short
distance to the West of Linlithgow. The
Priory was consecrated for "ladies of rank" by
Malcolm IV in 1156. It was a tradition
that Priories were given the name of the local Lord
of the Manor or the nearest village.
The local village of Manuel is now called Whitecross and records
are unclear when the first use of the name MANUEL appeared,
with some writers claiming an ancient Barony of MANUEL
existed before Roman times.
George F. Black's Surnames of
Scotland records a "Sir Michael de Mauwel, Monk of
Aberbrothok 1361(may be meant for MANWEL (MANUEL))".
"John MANUEL of Stirlingshire rendered homage in 1269
and Alexander MANUEL was a Monk of Holyrood in 1299."
" David de MANUEL is mentioned in a lease of land in
Angus in 13 29". "William de MANUEL
was abbot of Neubotle from 1413-1419."
"John MANVELL was sergeant of the barony of Inverleith
in 1610." There are other MANUEL records in
Scotland, but too numerous to mention here.
The first genealogical record
for the name MANUEL appears in Airth (Alexander 1644) and
another at Prestonpans where the first recorded
Marriage of a MANUEL was in 1546. This
suggests that there are perhaps two MANUEL family groups in
Scotland, and as yet without a proven common ancestor
to link the names to one family. However there
is little doubt, that if we could research back far
enough in time, a common ancestor would be identified
to link these two MANUEL family groups into one family.
Today members of the Airth and
Prestonpans MANUEL families are spread throughout the World.
The writer is a member of the Prestonpans MANUEL family and
now lives in Queensland, Australia. At least two
members of the Airth MANUEL family still reside in Scotland
- James lives in Argyll and his brother, not because of
inheritance, but he just happens to live at MANUEL House and
only a few yards from the ruins of The Priory of MANUEL.
The name MANUEL also exists
since early 1600s in Northumberland and Cornwall.
