The surname ‘Jarvis’ originates from England. It is derived from the Norman personal name ‘Gervase’, composed of the Germanic element ‘geri, ‘gari’, meaning spear and a second element of uncertain meaning and original form. The name had some currency throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, partly because it was bourne by a saint who was martyred under the Roman Emperor Domitian, this saint became one of the patrons of Milan. It is also a habitation name from ‘Jervaulx’ in North Yorkshire, site of a famous Cistercian monastery, so called from an Anglo Norman French form of the river name ‘Ure’ (of Briton origin) the Anglo Norman French word ‘vaulx’ meaning valley. Compiled information from Historical and Private archive’s has confirmed that the surname ‘Jarvis’ and or it’s variant’s, dates as far back as the thirteenth century were a ‘Stephen Gerveis’, from the county of Cambridgeshire, England, is recorded on the Hundred Rolls in 1273. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definitely determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive’s confirm that one of the first settlers was a certain ‘George Jarvis’, aged 21, a groom by trade,…
Coat of arms: Azure, a chevron between two martlets in chief, and in…