William Penn???????

Question

I need to know William Penn the quakers mothers background origin & ethnicity for last name Jasper.

Answer 1

This is what I found in connection with the surname

Surname: Jasper

This interesting and unusual name derives from a Persian word meaning "keeper" or "bringer of treaure". Gaspar or Kaspar is believed to have been the name of one of the three Magi who visited the Chrish child. His remains were brought to Cologne from Canstantinople in the 12th century, and the name gained considerable popularity in Europe after this. One, Jasper Cranwell is recorded in the Register of St. Dionis Backchurch, London, dated 1545. In 1549 Anne Jesper married a John Lamb in St. Peter's church, Cornhill, London and on June 28th 1592 William Jasper, an infant, was christened in St. Martin in the Field, Westminster. Jasper, Jaspar, and Jesper are generally belived to be German forms of the name. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Frances Jasper married John Symms. which was dated 1572 at St. Bartholomew the Less, London. during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I Good Queen Bess 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

http://www.surnamedb.com/

I found Williams grave for you as well.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi...

and finally an on line biography about William and the life he lived.

http://www.2020site.org/penn/

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Go to ancestry.com or the local LDS Family History Center.  I'm sure there is probably an online website about William Penn's family as well.

Answer 3

Margaret Jasper, daughter of a rich merchant of Rotterdam

This is from ancestry.com

Jasper

English: the usual English form of the name assigned in Christian folklore to one of the three Magi or “wise men”, who brought gifts to the infant Christ at his birth (Matthew 2: 1). The name does not appear in the Bible, and is first found in medieval tradition. It seems to be ultimately of Persian origin, from a word meaning “treasurer”. There is probably no connection with the English vocabulary word jasper denoting a gemstone, which is of Semitic origin. The names assigned by the same folklore tradition to the other Magi, Balthazar and Melchior (see Melchiorre), have also been used as given names in Europe, but only very rarely in the English-speaking world. Cognates: Danish: Jesper. Dutch: Caspar. German: Kaspar. Polish: Kasper. Hungarian: Gáspár. French: Gaspard. Italian: Gaspare.