Taliaferro, also spelled Talliaferro, Tagliaferro, Talifero, Taliafero or Taliferro and sometimes anglicised to Tellifero, Tolliver (/ˈtɒlɪvər/ TOL-iv-ər) or Toliver,[1] is a prominent family in eastern Virginia and Maryland. The Taliaferros (originally Tagliaferro [ˌtaʎʎaˈfɛrro], which means "ironcutter" in Italian) are one of the early families who settled in Virginia in the 17th century. They migrated from London, where an ancestor had served as a musician in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The surname in that line is believed to trace back to Bartholomew Taliaferro, a native of Venice and subject of the Doge of Venice, who settled in London and was made a denizen in 1562.[2]
The origins of the Taliaferro name were of interest to George Wythe, a Virginia colonial lawyer and classical scholar, who had married Elizabeth Taliaferro, the daughter of Richard Taliaferro. Wythe urged his former student and friend Thomas Jefferson to investigate the name when Jefferson traveled to Italy. Jefferson later reported to Wythe that he had found two families of the name in Tuscany, and that the family was of Italian origin.[3] Jefferson enclosed his sketch of the coat of arms of the Tagliaferro family as reported to him by a friend in Florence, Italy.[4]
- ^ Toms, Gary R.; Pylant, James (April 9, 2006). "Talliaferro is Tolliver: Surnames Sound a Challenge for Researchers". Vol. 13, no. 1 & 2. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007.
- ^ Wagner, Anthony; Andrus, F. S. Andrus (January 1969). "The Origin of the Family of Taliaferro". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 77 (1): 22. Part One.
- ^ Harris, Malcolm Hart Harris (2006). Old Kent County, Some Account of the Planters, Vol. 1. Baltimore, Md.: Reissued by Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 9780806352947.
- ^ The American Heraldry Society (2008). "Taliferro Coat of Arms". The American Herald (3).