Arabin is a family name originating in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

in the south of France, as d'Arabin or D’Arabien. Bartholomew (or Barthélemy) d'Arabin fled France after the

revocation of the edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

in 1685. He settled in Ireland, where his descendants remained until the mid-19th century. Other members of the Arabin family settled in Germany, where their descendants still live. In the 19th century many of the Irish and British Arabins moved to Australia.

French ancestry

Two sons of Jean Arabin, an innkeeper in the small town of Corps - Laurent (known as "Captain Arabin") and Salomon (known as "Captain Roure") - distinguished themselves fighting on the Protestant side in the 16th-century wars of religion in Provence. A third brother, Barthélemy, was probably the grandfather of Jean, a prosperous draper at Riez in the present-day Alpes-de-Haute region of

and father of the later Barthélemy.

Barthélemy d'Arabin

Bartholomew (or Barthélemy) d'Arabin de Barcelles (d. 20/1/1712 or 1713) fled to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and then the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

after the

in 1685. Barthélemy enrolled in the Duke of Schomberg's cavalry regiment and came to England with King William III in 1688. He fought at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

in Ireland, 1690, where the Duke of Schomberg was killed. Barthélemy then served under the Marquis of Ruvigny (created Earl of Galway by William III) in Flanders (1692–97) and in Piedmont, Italy, where he was aide-de-camp to Ruvigny. In 1699 his regiment was disbanded and on 15 July 1699, at St Andrew's Church, Dublin, he married Jeanne Renée de St-Julien, a daughter of Pierre St-Julien de Malacare, another Huguenot refugee and former Lord of Malacaré, near Bordeaux, and Vitré in Brittany. Bartholomew was associated with the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

settlement of 1694 in

Portarlington, County Laois Portarlington, historically called Cooletoodera (from ), is a town on the border of County Laois and County Offaly, Ireland. The River Barrow forms the border. Portarlington is around west of Dublin. The town was recorded in the 2022 census ...

.FAMILY HISTORY: ARABIN of CORKAGH & MOYGLARE
/ref>

Irish and British Arabins

* Colonel John (or Jean) Arabin, (1703-1757), son of Bartholomew, raised the

57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Middlesex Regiment in 1881. His ...

in 1755 for service in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. He died in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, where he was one of the officers of the garrison; there is a memorial plaque to him in the King's Chapel there. Father of William John Arabin. * John Arabin (1727-1758), attended Trinity College Dublin, after which he followed his father and grandfather into the army, captain in the 14th Irish Dragoons in 1751. * John Daniell Arabin (1757-1838), son of the above, was an officer in the

Royal Irish Artillery The Royal Irish Artillery was an Irish regiment of the British army in the 18th century. It was formed in 1755 as The Artillery Company of Ireland. The name was changed in 1760 to The Royal Regiment of Irish Artillery. History In 1755, the Roy ...

, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-General. * General William John Arabin (1750-1828), Colonel John Arabin’s youngest son, Colonel of the 2nd Life Guards, father of William St Julien Arabin (see below). * William St Julien Arabin (1773-1841), was a British lawyer and judge. * Henry Arabin (1751 or 1752-1841), a prominent

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

lawyer, landowner and political activist, ran the Corkagh

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

mills in the

Clondalkin Clondalkin () is a suburban village in County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, approximately west of Dublin city centre. It is within the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin County Council, South Dublin. Clondalkin is also the na ...

district. He was a close associate of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

and author of pamphlets om political and economic subjects. * Rear-Admiral Septimius Arabin, R.N. (1785-1855), son of Henry, who enjoyed a distinguished naval career during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He was closely associated with Admiral Sir Sidney Smith and died in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, married Elizabeth, a daughter of

Jacob Mountain Jacob Mountain (1 December 1749 – 16 June 1825) was an English priest who was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of Quebec. He served also on both the Legislative Council of Lower Canada and the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. Biography ...

, first Anglican Bishop of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He served in the West Indies and Peninsula campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars and in garrisons at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

and (as commanding officer)

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, where he died of yellow fever. * John Ladeveze Arabin (1794-1863), the youngest of Henry and Ann Arabin’s nine sons, became

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

in 1845. The surname "Arabin" was borrowed by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

for one of the main characters in his novel

Barchester Towers ''Barchester Towers'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope published by Longmans in 1857. It is the second book in the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, preceded by '' The Warden'' and followed by '' Doctor Thorne''. In his autob ...

, the Rev. Francis Arabin.

References

{{Surname Surnames of French origin