Many of the McElfreshes in the United States can trace their ancestry
to David Macklefresh*, who was christened on June 27, 1658 in South Leith
Parish, Midlothian Co, Scotland. David is found buying land in the 1690's
and he settled in Maryland. He was Lord Mayor of London Town, MD at the
time of his death in 1710.
More information about visiting London Town, its history, and the archealogical work being done
on London Town can be found at The
Historic London Town Web Site.
David married Alice Jones and they had 6 children: Richard, John, Mary,
Jane, David, Thomas. Descendents of sons David and Thomas are the focus
of many McElfresh family researchers.
*N.B. There are many variant spellings of the McElfresh name
including: Maclefish, Macklefish, McElfish. If you bear this name, you are
aware of the odd pronunciations made by telemarketers when they call. I
imagine that scribes from the early days had much the same difficulty figuring
how to spell the name.
The name McElfresh comes from the old Gaelic "MacGhille Bhris"
which translates to "son of the servant of St. Bricius"(a Gaulish
Saint) or from "MacGhille bhreis" which has the meaning of "son
of the servant of the prince". The scholars have yet to figure out
which of these is the true derivation but the latter seems to be most likely.
The McElfresh have been adopted, so to speak, by the Clan Donald and thus
may claim the MacDonald
of Sleat tartan and crest.
The name is of Hebridean origin but early records find McElfreshes in lowland
counties around Edinburgh.
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