Family Ties
The Randall Family
The Randall family has been trace to the American colonies to the father of John Randall. We do not yet know his name, but know from census records that John's father was born in colonial Massachusetts. John was also born in Massachusetts in about 1808 [derived from census records] which would most likely place the year of his father's birth approximately 20 years or more earlier. We do not yet know if John's father was the immigrant Randall but it is more likely that he is descended from one of the many Randall lines who came to the colonies in the 17th century.1
Origins of the Randall Surname:
The Randall name with various spellings is also found in records and legal proceeding of King Edward II through Henry VII [1327 to 1547]. Coats of Arms were even granted by the Crown for distinguished service. The name is believed to be a modification of Randolfe or Randolph. One authority suggests that Randall is an English local name interpreted “fair valley” from “ran”, which means “fair” and “dale” which means “valley”. Randall may be a derivative of the surname Randolph which was originally Randwulf or Randulf which came from " Ravenwulf".
A more recent account of the family name origins came from the Canadian Randall branch. These researchers find that the oral history indicated the early family were a group of poor peasants on the Scottish border who rustled sheep from the English gentry, making their escape back to their hovels, "they ran through the dales like those possessed" and but one step ahead of the law no doubt, hence the name "ran dales" or now Randalls. [1]
Randall’s in America
William Randall, the founder of the earliest Randall line in America, came from the Port of London in the ship Expectacon the 24th of April 1635 to Providence, Rhode Island. His name appears along with that of Myles Standish, William Bradford and John Alden as part of the Plymouth Colony. He settled in old Scituate [Massachusetts] about 1640 where he married Elizabeth Barstow and had nine children, Joseph, William, John, Job, Isaac, Benjamin, Hannah, Elizabeth and Sarah.
At least two other Randalls arrived in colonial America in 1666 when John Randall arrived in Newport, Rhode Island. Matthew Randall, the son of Matthew Randall the mayor of Bath, Somerset, England, and this John Randall soon moved from Rhode Island to Connecticut. There were Randall immigrants from both England and Ireland in the 17th century.