Origin of the Name Richardson
The ancient history of the name
Richardson was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'son of Ricard', variants of the name Richardson include Richard, Ricardson, Ricard, Ricards, Riccard and Ricart. This name has been popular since the twelfth century when 'Richard the Lion Heart' was in power. The name is thus of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland , Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a Hamo filius Ricardi, Norfolk, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England , in the year 1273. A Walter Rycard and Johannes Ricard were recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. An Alan Richert, a follower of the Earl of Cassilis, Scotland , was respited for murder in 1526.
In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century. It was the 'Plantations of Ireland ' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that marked the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland . While the influx of settlers in the wake of the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.
The Richardson coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Richardson descendants.