This page is dedicated to Musselwhite genealogy and related interests. Many people ask about the name, and many people with it are interested in its origins and in their own history. More information will be added as it comes in to me and I hope to have a searchable database online soon. Family members who wish to send me a GEDCOM file please click on the link below.
 

 The origin of the name Musselwhite has not been positively determined. Some claim the name originated with a family of "Whites" (LeBlanc) who lived on the Moselle River in France and when they came to England were called "Moselle-le Blanc" which was anglicized to "Mosellewhite" to distinguish them from other families named White. It is also possible that the family of a Scotsman bearing the name "White" who was knighted near Musselburgh in 1547, added the prefix "Mussel" in their names to identify their relationship with him . Another suggestion which has been put forward is that a family named "White" who lived at Mousehole in Cornwall took the name to prevent confusion with other Whites. There are many spellings of the name, but it is believed that they all belong to the same "Musselwhite" family.

Many of the American Musselwhites trace their ancestry to John Musselwhite, a labourer listed as coming from "Langford", who left Plymouth in England for Plymouth in America on April 5, 1635 on The James" headed for a new life on a far continent.  Since my own family's history begins more than one hundred years after this we cannot tie our family to John’s at this time, but the story of the shield is interesting. The following is a description of the Musselwhite coat-of-arms (seen in the background) from the Book of the Musselwhites, assembled in the USA in the 1960s. It's taken from "The Musselwhite and Allied Families" by Kate Britt Biggs, 1961 in a private collection.
 

 "Tradition says that a Mr. Mussel and a Miss LeBlanc desired to retain their surnames at their marriage and became Mr. and Mrs. Musselwhite. The coat-of-arms of the Musselwhite family indicates that two families of equal rank were united. The Musselwhite shield is quartered: the first and fourth quarters representing the male, are composed of two black horizontal bands separated by a gold one and on the black bands are pearl-like circles. Black signifies constancy, gold great generosity and blue is the emblem of sincerity. The second and third quarters of this shield, representing the female’s paternal arms, are composed of two azure blue banks separated by a yellow band and on the blue bands are sheaves of golden wheat.. The knight in armor above the shield is an indication that our ancestor received the high honor of knighthood, and did not assume the coat-of-arms. A wolf rampant is clearly defined on the crest of the Musselwhite coat-of-arms, which evidences that both families used the same crest. The decorations around the shield is the mantling. The knights frequently went on long crusades and used mantling as a protection from the sun. The fanciful twists represent the cuts received in battles and these incisions in the mantling are marks of glory and helped to distinguish his bravery on the battlefields."

My branch of the family left Gosport, Hants in the South of England in 1799 for London, where they settled in Lambeth. My grandfather, a musician, organist and conductor came to Canada in 1903 as a Barr Colonist, soon becoming a fixture in the music scene in Saskatchewan.