While my great grandparents were married in County Antrim, Ireland it is probable that their ancestors moved to Ireland from Ayrshire in Scotland which is only 21 miles from the coast. It should be noted that the borders of Scotland were fairly fluid over the centuries and it is possible that this family of Hunters could have originated in the northern counties of England (Yorkshire, Lancashire etc.) The families over the past 150 years definitely considered themselves of Scottish origin and that is what I was brought up to believe.
Scots and others from England moved as early as Elizabethan times and many migrated during the 17th century as it was government policy to increase protestant accupation of the area.
One well documented movement of settlers from Scotland to County Antrim and County Down in the late 16th & early 17th century, is that of Hugh Montgomery of North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire who persuaded many friends and workers to move there to establish his estates. Amongst the names mentioned in those records was Hunter (and also Campbell). At this time we do not know when the Hunters moved to Northern Ireland but we do know that his father Samuel Hunter (1797 - 1877) inherited the farm at Bruslee from his father William. The farm was rented from the Marquis of Donegal who obtained the land in the 1700's at least.
The Hunter name is fairly common throughout Scotland being derived from the hunt (or chase) and in old documents is given as Venator. The family badge probably refers to the chase with the hound and the motto of completing the course.
It is impossible to trace a common ancestor for the family who, in the 11th & 12 th centuries are found in the highlands as well as in the lowlands.
The family of Hunter of Hunterston, Ayrshire would appear to be the oldest family of the name. Other Hunter families were those of Polmood,Abbotshall, Aucheorarder, and Thurston.
As mentioned above, the name was originally Latinized Venator, but by the 18th century the forms of Huntair, Hunayr, Hounttar and Hunttar were being used.
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