http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_family
Melville family
Melville is the name of noble Scots family, originally from Fife in eastern Scotland.
Origins and early history
Most sources state that the family is descended from Galfridus de Melville, a Norman knight who settled in Scotland in the twelfth century. The surname is said to derive from Malleville, a manor in the Pays de Caux.
James Melville was one of the leading assassins of Cardinal David Beaton on 29 May 1546.
The House of Monimail
In 1612 Sir Robert Melville of Burntisland, the former Vice-Chancellor and Treasurer Depute of Scotland and an Extraordinary Lord of Session acquired the Palace of Monimail - formerly an official residence of the Archbishops of St Andrews. His younger brother was the famous Sir James Melville of Halhill).
Nine years later Melville of Burntisland was created first Lord Melville of Monimail, the title and estate passing after his death in 1621 first to his son, Robert, and then to his great-nephew, John Melville of Raith.
The second Lord Melville died in 1643 and was succeeded by his seven-year-old son, George, who built the present Melville House on the estate of Monimail.
Melville Castle
Melville Castle is a three-storey Gothic castellated mansion situated less than a mile (2 km) west-south-west of Dalkeith, Midlothian, near the North Esk.
An earlier tower house on the site was demolished when the present structure, designed in 1786-91 by James Playfair for Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, was built.
The original tower house was owned by the Melville family, before passing to Sir John Ross in the 14th century. It subsequently changed hands with the attached lands several times and was sold to David Rennie in 1705. It then passed via the marriage of his daughter to Henry Dundas.
The House of Leslie-Melville
In the United Kingdom the main branch of Melville family is the Leslie-Melville family, Earls of Leven and (since 1690) of Melville as well.
The family gained its surname from the 1655 marriage of George Melville, Fourth Lord Melville and First Earl of Melville to Catherine Leslie a descendant of Alexander Leslie, first Earl of Leven.
In 1681 their son David Leslie-Melville inherited the title of Earl of Leven. In 1707 he succeeded his father as Earl of Melville.
See also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melville_(name)
Melville (name)
Melville is a surname and a given name. The surname has two different origins: Scottish and Irish. The given name originates from England and Scotland. It is also the name of a Scottish noble family.
Origins
Surname
In Scotland the name is a habitational name, originally of Norman origin, derived from any of several places called Malleville in Normandy. The place name Malleville is derived from the Latin elements mala meaning "bad", and ville meaning "settlement". In Ireland the surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Ó Maoilmhichíl which means "descendant of Maoilmhichil". The Gaelic personal name Maoilmhichil means "devotee of (Saint) Michael".[1] The surname is sometimes spelled without the terminal "e": Melvill.
Given name
The given name Melville is of English and Scottish origin. The name is derived from the Scottish surname.[1]
People
Surname
Alan Melville (1910–1983), South African cricketer
Alan Melville (writer), English playwright, composer, lyricist, scriptwriter and performer
Alex Melville (disambiguation), multiple people
Alexander Melville, 5th Earl of Leven (died 1754)
Andy Melville (born 1968), Welsh footballer
Andrew Melville (1545–1622), Scottish theologian
Arthur Melville (1858–1904), Scottish painter
Betty Leslie-Melville (died 2005), American conservationist
David Melville, 3rd Earl of Leven (1660–1728), Scots aristocrat, politician, and soldier
David Melville, 6th Earl of Leven (1722–1802)
Elizabeth Melville, poet from Scotland
Ellen Melville (1882–1946), New Zealand feminist and politician
Fred Melville (1882–1940), early British philatelist
George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville (1636–1707), became 1st Earl of Melville in 1690
George W. Melville (1841–1912), United States admiral
George Whyte-Melville (1821–1878), Scottish novelist
Gertrude Melville (1884–1959), Australian politician
Henry Melville (1798–1871), Anglican priest
Herman Melville (1819–1891), American author who wrote Moby-Dick
James Melville (disambiguation), several people
Jean-Pierre Melville (1917–1973), French film director
Kerry Melville, birth name of Kerry Reid (born 1947), Australian tennis player
Sir Leslie Melville (1902–2002), Australian economist
Marvin Melville 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympic Winter Games Downhill Skier (Utah-US)
Michael Linning Melville, Judge and Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone
Mike Melville (born 1940), test pilot
Neil Melville, Australian actor
Pauline Melville (born 1948), British actress
Philip Melville (1762–1811), Falmouth philanthropist
Ronald Melville (1903–1985), English botanist
Ronald Ruthven Leslie-Melville, 11th Earl of Leven (1835–1906)
Sam Melville (1934–1971), American bomb setter
Stephen Melville (1904–1977), South African military man
Thomas Melville (1830–1884), American sailor and brother of Herman Melville
Ward Melville (1887–1977), American philanthropist
William Melville (1850–1918), Irish law enforcement officer
Given name
Melville Arnott (died 1999)
Melville Baker (1901–1958)
Melville Bell Grosvenor (1901–1982)
Melville Clyde Kelly (1883–1935)
Melville Cooper (1896–1973)
Melville Eastham (1885–1964)
Melville Fuller (1833–1910)
Melville J. Herskovits (1895–1963)
Melville Macnaghten (1853–1921)
Melville Ruick (1898–1972)
Melville Y. Stewart
- Melville E. Tucker, Jr., Motion Picture Producer