Possible variations and Synonymes of Falconer: Falchenor Fealy Falconder Falconder Falkender Falkiner Falkner Faulkener Faulkner Faulkney Foulkard

Meaning ‘the falconer’, an occupational name. Variants Falcon, Falken, Falkiner Falkner, Faulkner: The keeper of his Lord’s and Lady’s falcon. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of lreland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Richard Ie Fauconer, Huntshire, and a Walter le Fauconer, who were recorded in the ‘Hundred Rolls’, England, in the year 1273 and a Geoffrey Fauconer, was recorded in the ‘Poll Tax’, of the West riding of Yorkshire, in the year 1379. In Scotland a Matheus the Falconer is one of the witnesses by a charter to Earl David, in the year 12O2, and a William the Falconer was granted lands to the Kirk of Maringtun, in the year 1200. In Ireland the name is found predominately in Ulster being introduced there centuries ago with the well known Prime Minister Faulkner ruling in this century.

Other Scottish kings, particularly Malcolms III and IV, Alexanders II and III, and King Robert the Bruce, favoured Forfar and the hunting areas around the town. This is reflected in place names such as ‘Hawkerstown’, now spelt ‘Halkerton’, and the hunting area, Kingsmuir, which seems to have stretched from Halkerton to Dunnichen in the east. Several monarchs loved to enjoy the sport to be had on the 7O royal estates, which stretched from the Carse of Gowrie in the south to the Mearns in the north.

Sources : http://lkeithclan.com/kintore.htm

Faulkner

Falconer Falkiner

Faulkner, from the name le Fauconer, meaning the falconer, originated in France, from where the name must have come to England with the Normans.  Records from the end of the 17th century, during the Williamite confiscations following the battle of the Boyne, show a Daniel Falkiner being granted a forfeited Irish estate, while, in 1702, a John Falkiner was the purchaser of another forfeited estate.  Caleb Falkiner, a Cork merchant, was the third son of Daniel Falkiner of Dublin who was a younger brother of Daniel Falkiner, a Lord Mayor of Dublin. tn 1812, his great grandson became Sir Frederick John Falkiner. 

Annemount, overlooking Cork Harbour, was built in the 18th century by Sir Riggs Falkiner, who named it after his second wife. Mount Falcon, in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, was built in 1720 by Richard Falkiner.  The Faulkner name is now fairly common in Ireland, especially in Waterford and Meath.  It is very numerous in Northern Ireland.  The only notable representative of the name was Brian Faulkner (1921-1977), who was born in County Down to a family of shirt manufacturers.  The youngest Member of Parliament to be elected to the Northern Ireland parliament in 1949, he was a dedicate Unionist and was instrumental in defeating the moderate Prime Minister, Terrence O’Neill.  In 1971, when Brian Faulkner had himself become Prime Minister, he introduced interment. Following a defeat in 1976, he left politics and, the following year, was killed in a hunting accident.

From Irish Surnames

Falcon, Faucon, Facon: Reginald Falcun 1187 P (NF); Martin Faukun 1318; Walter Fakoun, Faucoun 1346 FA (S0. ME faucon, faukun, OFr faucon, falcun ‘falcon’. A nickname from the bird or metonymic for Falconer.

Falconer, Falconar, Falkner, Faulconer, Faulkener, Faulkner, Fawckner: Henry Falkenar 1194; Richard facuner; Henry le fauconer’ Ofr fau(l)connier one who hunts with falcons of follows hawking as a sport; also keeper and trainer of hawks (1424 MED.) The name may also be from a rent. Colard le ffauaconer in 1264 paid one falcon’s hood and 1d. yearly for 26 acres of land at Walthamstow (lpm.) The surname may also mean ‘worker of a crane.’ Faukonarii worked at Caernarvon Castle in 1282 at 6d. Per day in summer and 5d. in winter. In 1257 a carpenter was paid for making a faucon, a kind of crane or windlass, which Falconarii worked (Building 70, 324.)

Surnames and Families of Scotland

The surname derives from the office of falconer, one who breeds and or trains falcons and hawks for sport.  Falconers appear in Kincardineshire during the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214). Mattheiu the Falconer witnessed a charter about 1212, and around the same time, William the Falconer granted land to the Abbey of Arbroath. In the vernacular he may have been called the “hawker.” While his descendents took the surname Falconer, the family home was Halkerton. In 1211, Ranulph the Falconer, son of Walter of Loutrop, had a grant of lands in the Meams (Kincardineshire), including Balemacoy (?Balmakeltie) and Lacherachgeigh Kennie (which may have become Halkerton.) Gervase the Falconer was taken prisoner at Dunbar in 1296, and was still in an English prison in 1307. A contemporary, Robert le Fauconer de Kyncardyn, signed the Ragman Roll in 1296. His seal shows a falcon striking a small bird. The arms of the Falconers and their cadets have undergone many changes, but the falcon has always been the dominant charge. 

Subsequent Falconers were styled of Lethens, then of Halkerton. David of Halkerton was one of a jury in an inquisition in 1448, and his grandson, Sir Alexander,was ancestor of the Falconers of Innerlaochtie, Kincorth, Dinfuff and Phesdo. In 1646,Sir Alexander Falconer (1594-1671) was created Lord Falconer of Halkerton. His brother, Sir David of Glenfarquhar, had a son Alexander, created Baronet and his son, Sir Alexander, 2nd Baronet succeeded as 4th Lord Falconer in 1724. He died without issue in1727, when the baronetcy became extinct, but his cousin David, a Lord of Session, became the 5th Lord Falconer. Another brother of the first Lord was Sir John of Balmakellle, Master of the Minthouse. By his first wife, Sybil Ogilvy, he had a son David, an Edinburgh merchant and Quaker, whose. son Gilbert, emigrated to Maryland. By a second wife he had further issue, including Sir John (1636-1686), Warden of the Mint. Dir David of Halkerton married in 1703,Catherine, daughter of William Keith, 2nd Earl of Kintore. Their grandson Anthony Adrian Falconer, 8th Lord Falconer, inherited the Kintore peerage in 1778. 

The two peerages continued in the family until the death in1966, without issue, ofArthur George, 10th Earl of Kintore and 13th Lord Falconer of Halkerton. The Scottish title of Lord Falconer then became dormant and the earldom passed to this sister, Ethel Sydney. She married Lawrence Baird, created Viscount Stonehaven, in 1925. He was a son of Sir Alexander Baird, created 1st Baronet of Urie in 1897. Their son, James Ian, succeeded as 12th Earl in 1974. He married in 1935, Delia Loyd, and died in 1989. She is the present Countess of Kintore, and her son, Sir Michael, is the 13th Earl and 4th Baronet. He assumed the surname Keith in lieu of Baird and succeeded to the Visoountcy of Stonehaven and through his grandfather-the baronetcy of Urie. There are Falconers in many parts of the world who are of Scottish decent, and a few may have a claim to the title, Falconer of Halkerton. The matter would not be easily resolved, and octogenarian English architect, Peter Serrel Falconer, has lone styled himself ‘heir presumptive,’ claiming decent from Patrick of Newton, a younger son of Alexander Falconer of Halkerton, who died in 1595.

The Falconer/Falconar/Faulkner Sept Of Clan Keith

“All information in this article is taken from Falconer of Halkerton by Paul Gifford, published in 1997 by Heritage Books. ln this book he attempted to trace all the male lines from the lairds ofHalkerton. The earliest ancestor from whom descendants can be proved is Alexander Falconer of Halkerton and of Lethen who died in 1499, although the family is said to descend from Ranulf le Falconer, who obtained a charter from William the Lion, King of Scotland, in 1211. The Falconers lived in Morayshire and Nairnshire in northern Scotland and in Kincardineshire in easternScotland. Although the Falconers were associated with Halkerton (in Kincardineshire, nearLaurencekirk) by the 1400s, Sir Alexander (c. 1595-1671) was the first to hold the title of Lord of Halkerton. His brother John was Master of the Scottish Mint and a cousin, John of Phesdo, also in Kincardineshire, was the Warden of the Mint. The Falconers were a religiously diverse family, some being Covenanters, others Roman Catholics who supported the Stuart cause and still others were Quakers. The Falconers are somewhat unusual in that no male lines of descent traceable to the senior line survived in Scotland as of 1997. ln fact, by 1900 only three Falconer lines existed in Great Britain: the Keith-Falconers, the Falconer-Stewarts of Feddal in Perthshire, and the Falconers of Gloucestershire.

The Falconers and the Keiths have intermarried for centuries. The hyphenated Keith-Falconer name appears to date from Anthony Adrian Keith-Falconer, baptized 1742, died 1804 at Keith Hall, Kintore, Aberdeenshire. He was the seventh Lord Falconer of Halkerton and the fifth Earl of Kintore, and the first person to hold both titles. ln 1966 Arthur George Keith-Falconer, 1Oth Earl of Kintore and 12th last Lord Falconer of Halkerton, died without any identifiable heirs-male. His sister inherited the Kintore title which passed to her son but the Halkerton title, which since 1778 had been lesser and almost forgotten title, became dormant.

According to Gifford, in America three family groups formed. Gilbert Falconer (1686-1736), son of merchant David Falconer of Edinburgh, came to Maryland. His descendants are described as merchants and slave-owning planters who raised tobacco and cotton and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Patrick Falconer (c. 1658-1692), son of John of Phesdo who was Warden of the Scottish Mint, came to New Jersey in 1684. His descendants are described as ‘some merchants but mostly… yeoman, Yankee farmers in New York.’ I am a ninth generation descendant of Patrick Falconer. Alexander (c. 1693-1758), brother of Gilbert and cousin to Patrick, also came to Maryland before 1719, His descendants who stayed east became Methodist carpenters and blacksmiths. lf they went west, they tended to become Baptist or Methodist farmers and invariably supported the Union cause, many with their lives. Descendants of all these immigrants concentrated themselves in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio,Michigan, lndiana, lllinois, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, lowa, California, Oregon and Washington.

According to Gifford, ‘Falconer was the usual spelling until the middle of the 17th century when Falconar became general. The three American branches adopted ‘Faulkner,’ two during the 18th century and one in the 19th

When Falconer of Halkerton was published, Paul Gifford’s address was listed for questions orcorrections as 710 Avon St. Flint, Ml, 48503. the book was published by Heritage Books in Bowie,Maryland, and is currently out of print. lf enough people express an interest, it is possible that anoiher edition might be printed. Heritage books can be reached at 800-398-7709.” – SherylBuckley, M.D.

“The Falconer/Falconar/Faulkner Sept of Clan Keith” by Sheryl Buckley, M.D. Keith & Kin, Second Quarter 2002.

In 1622 a Coat of Arms ranted to the Faulkner family of Sloane Street, Chelsea, is a paly of six black an silver, overall a bend vert, thereon three trefoils in gold. A dragon’s head and neck, wings addorsed, couped at the shoulders proper is on the Crest.