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THE LEDGER FAMILY NAME

 

 

 

The family name LEDGER, like many others, would most likely have been taken from the first name of the original bearer's father.  This was one of the ways that family names were formed, and used by the individual families to distinguish themselves within their communities.  The word legere in Latin means "to read", and may or may not have any bearing on the origin of the Ledger name.  Since the name Ledger could indicate a scholarly or financial family background, it is entirely plausible, that the Ledger's originally received their titles and lands because of some financial service to the King.  This however, is conjecture on our part.

 

The LEDGER family not only held lands and estates in both France and England, but were actively allied with other influential families. 

 

There is some evidence to indicate that  references to the family name Ledger can be found as far back as the year 1192.  However, other reports document the Ledger name in ancient medieval  records in Bourgogne in 1287.   The Bourgogne records indicate that the name is originally French.   With the Norman invasion of England, the Ledgers branched out. 

The first reference of the name Ledger in England is in  medieval documents in Kent, around 1404.   Once the family was established in England, Robert St. Leger was granted estates at Ulcombe and became Lord of the Manor of Ulcombe. 

 

Eventually they moved into the new world. (date unknown)  Some of the first

settlers of this name or some of its variants were: John St. Ledger, who settled in

Canada in 1841 and William St. Leger, who settled in New Orleans in 1823.

The Ledger family shield is a blue background with silver trellis work and a gold

stripe at the top.  The BLUE  represents "Strength, Truth & Loyalty"; the frettwork

or latticework represents "power of persuasion".  The GOLD represents "Generosity & Elevation of Mind".   The family motto is the French phrase "Haut et  bon.", which means "high and good".

The family crest is a gold griffin.

 

Spelling variations include: St. Leger, St. Ledger, Leger, Legere, Sallinger, Sellinger, and several others. 

All sources researched by this site indicate that Heath descends from Irish & Scottish origins.

 

 

 

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Information on this page has been

researched from a variety of places,

including the following sites:

House of Names

    TraceIt.com    

 Fleur-de-Lis Designs

 HeathBABY