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The name ‘Fullerton’ originates from Scotland and Northern Ireland. it is a habitation name for a place so called from ‘fuglere’ meaning bird-catcher and ‘tun’ meaning enclosure, settlement. There is a place with this spelling in Hants, but the surname derives chiefly if not exclusively from ‘Fullerton’ near Ayr or ‘ Foulertoun’ near Forfar, both in Scotland. Compiled information from Historical and Private archive’s has confirmed that the surname ‘Fullerton’ and or it’s variant’s, is the name of a Scottish family who trace their descent from ‘Allan de Fowlertoun’, recorded in 1240. In England the name dates as far back as the 13th century were a ‘Gilbert le Fuller’, from the County of Hertfordshire, 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 ‘Humphrey Fullerton’, of County Antrim, Ireland, who fought at the Battle of Boyne in 1690. He emigrated to America from Ireland in 1721 and settled in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where he married in 1735. Today, ‘Fullerton’ is the ’206th’ most common surname in North America. http://english.araldica.info/2010/10/24/fullerton-lastname-origin-g...
Motto: Quœ fecimus ipsi, Things which we ourselves have done. Arms: Az. diapr or, seme of fleurs-de-lis of the second, on a fesse ar. a boar's head erased of the first. Crest: On a mount vert a stag lodged reguard. proper.
This name is often spelt 'Fullerton' and the principal family of this name held the barony of Fullarton in Ayrshire. The name itself may be a derivative of ‘Fowler’, and relate to the keeping of birds, or may come from ‘Fuller’, meaning a ‘bleacher of cloth’. The family are said to be of Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin, and the first recorded instance of the name occurs towards the end of the thirteenth century, when Alunus de Fowlerton founded and endowed a convent of Carmelite or White Friars at Irvine towards the end of the thirteenth century. Adam de Fowlerton received a charter to the lands of Fowlerton, granted between 1293 and 1309, from James, High Steward of Scotland. Fergus de Foulertoun received the estate of Kilmichael on Arran, confirmed by a royal charter of Robert III on November 23, 1391. Reginald de Fowlertoun of that Ilk was taken prisoner at the Battle of Durham in 1346. He remained a prisoner of the English King for many years. The family remained in royal favour and extended their land holdings considerably over the next century. James Fullerton of Fullarton married the daughter of a kinsman, Fullerton of Dreghorn, at the beginning of the seventeenth century and the principal family thereafter was styled ‘of Fullarton and Dreghorn’. The family followed a fairly martial career thereafter, John Fullarton rising to the rank of colonel in the army of Louis XIII of France. Sir Archibald Fullarton of Kilmichael served throughout the Peninsular War (1808-14), during which he was severely wounded at the Battle of Salamanc. John Fullarton, second son of the Laird of Carstairs, was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench in 1829, taking the title of ‘Lord Fullerton’.
Name Variations: Fullarton, Fullerton, Foulerton, Fulton.
References: One or more of the following publications has been referenced for this article. The General Armory; Sir Bernard Burke - 1842. A Handbook of Mottoes; C.N. Elvin - 1860. Scottish Clans and Tartans; Neil Grant - 2000. Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia; George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire - 1994. Scottish Clans and Tartans; Ian Grimble - 1973. World Tartans; Iain Zaczek - 2001. Clans and Families of Scotland; Alexander Fulton - 1991.
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