Clan Prints in the Sands

The Turnbull Clan

Encompasses many surnames, Trimble, Trumble, Turn-e boul, Trumbull, their various spellings, plus Rule, Roul and their varied spellings. The origin of the names in general are lost in antiquity. We all know the legend of the turning of the bull by William Rule, and the counter claim that Turnbull was actually Trumbald, meaning strongly bold, but is that truly where the name came from? In our November newsletter we talked about the French Turnbulls. Did the name originate in France and come to Scotland, or did the French Turnbulls come from the crusaders and  then the mercenaries from going to France to help  in their war. I don't think we will ever really know, only inklings of the truth are found. In the present, we know that the names go around the world.

Migrations of Scots to Australia and the American colonies in late 1600 and early 1700's could have been associated with the evolving Jacobite wars or the start of the Highland clearance by the English. The move by these families were important in the evolution of the name and the deeds done.  Lets start to take a look at  some of these families and what was accomplished over the years.

Judge Robert Trimble

Somewhere between 1707 and 1740, five Trimble brothers came to the America's from Armagh, Ireland, was there name originally Turnbull in Scotland, before they went to Ireland?  It is very possible. Now according to one of the stories; James, Moses, John , David and Alexander all settled in Virginia,  married, had families, some were poor, but all lived fairly comfortable lives. John Farley Trimble has this family entering the America's in 1730 in Pennsylvania then on to Virginia.

This story concerns a grandson of one of this original family of Trimbles

Robert Trimble was born in 1777 in Virginia, moved with his family, at the age of three years, to Kentucky.  He was self schooled, studied law and received his licence to practice in 1803, being elected to the legislature in the same year.  In 1808 he was appointed to the Court of Appeals as a second judge, then  in 1810 as Chief Justice to the State of Kentucky. In 1813 became a

United States district attorney and in 1816 a district judge for the state of Kentucky. He served the state as district judge until 1826, when he was appointed by President John Quincy Adams as a Justice to the Supreme court, in Washington. He was  highly respected by his colleagues, and lamented by friends and colleagues when he died at age 52 in 1828. Trimble county was name for him eight years later. " It was established by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly in December 1836."

This family made a mark in our early history.

John Rodney Turnbull 1880 - Memoirs Part-2
Peterboro

John Rodney Turnbull Peterborough House.

Our father, John C. Turnbull, was passionately fond of trees, flowers, and gardens.  To satisfy this propensity he bought a farm three miles West of Peterboro, (Peterborough), Ontario, Canada. It had everything.  He was supposed to get one third of the products, but always the poor tenant kept most of the crop.  In 1880, when I was born in the big house at 603 Stewart Street, corner of Dublin, on a hilltop, we always had barrels of apples in the cellar in winter.  In the summer it was a joyful outing, to climb the cherry trees with a juicy purpose and then munch green peas in the garden, popping them out of their pods, with the resultant unpleasant