The area from which the Rispin family orginate.
There are about 900 people worldwide with the surname Rispin In the earliest days the spelling of the name was not standardised. Spellings include: Raspyn, Raspin, Rispin(e), Ruspin, Risping(e), but by c.1600 the spelling had settled down to Rispin and Raspin. These are the only spellings which survive today. Some individuals had their surname spelled differently when baptised and married. In early times the family would have been illiterate and the vicar would have to guess the correct spelling.
The tiny village of Huggate is a good example where the records for the 1500s show great changes in the spelling of the name as the century progresses.The earliest records are for the late 1300s in the Cottingham area, and for several hundred years the family only appears in the area between Hull and York.
Records show the family moving east generation by generation, and c.1880 to 1910, the young male members of the family who did not have their own farms, tended to emmigrate to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. A large family presence grew up in the Republic of Ireland.
Today there are c. 90 telephone accounts in the whole of the UK in the name Rispin. Maybe half this number in Eire. About 15 in US, 5 in Australia, 1 in New Zealand, possibly 1 in Hong Kong, 1 in South Africa, and c.35 in Canada.
In the UK the majority of Rispins (and Raspins) still live in Yorkshire, or within c. 15 miles of Hull.
Today there are Eskimo, Korean, Irish, American, Canadian, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand, Australian, and Jewish connections.
David Rispin of Accrington kindly gave me a copy of a professional search for the name Rispin. This was produced from telephone directories, electoral rolls, and city directories. Like any database it is far from perfect and has several flaws, it is nevertheless a very useful tool.
Brief Details of David Rispin's Worldwide Search: Country Number of Rispins (each may be an individual or a household) US 22 Canada 22 Australia 13 New Zealand 1 Gt Britain 160 N.Ireland 0 Republic of Ireland 85 Rest of Europe 0 South Africa 1
I have not yet come across a Rispin who did not know that their forebears came from the UK, or Ireland.
I believe that I may have the most detailed genealogical records on the family. Please contact me with details of your oldest Rispin relatives. I will endevour to include them on the family tree.
The name Rispin was probably restricted to a tiny part of Yorkshire for hundreds of years. At Sancton there is a road named "Rispin Hill", I believe there is also a Rispin Hill in Ontario, and a "Rispin Drive" in Oakland, California.
There are members of the Rispin clan living in places as far apart as The Arctic Circle and Australia.
The most intriguing questions are:
How did the Rispins get to Eire ?
What is the Frisian connection - If any?
Is the name 'Rispin' an abbreviation of 'Crispin'?
If you are a member of the Rispin family or have an interest it the family, then feel free to contact me. Contributions on topics such as famous family members, or members of the family living through interesting times, or branches of the family in far flung places are particularly sought after.
Freddie,Charles and George Rispin. October 2001
The Rispins at Rispin Hill, Sancton, East Yorkshire 1996
Bill and Charles Rispin
Tall Trees after snow winter 1996/7
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