History of the family

The history of the Sturm family (STURM) began, according to available sources and many years of genealogical research, as early as 1326 during the reign of King David II. He succeeded his father Robert the Bruce in 1329.

The first traced ancestor of our family was a Scottish fisherman, farmer and later warrior and knight, Barnaby STURM, who was born somewhere, and at an unspecified time, but arrived in Scotland in 1326, in the oldest port founded by King David I in 1136, in the city of Aberdeen. Sources state that he arrived in a fishing boat as a hired fisherman and settled in what is known as the Grampian Mountains, where he began farming in no man's land.

In 1329, when the English invaded Scotland again after the death of King Robert the Bruce, the brave Barnaby decided to leave his fields and cattle to fight for Scottish independence alongside Andrew de Moray. In 1337, when the Hundred Years' War between France and England began, the fighting for Scottish independence ceased.

Determined, and certainly tired, Barnaby decided to return to the life of a peasant after eight long years of hard fighting and found a piece of land near the town of Stirling in central Scotland, where incidentally the famous Scottish independence fighter Sir William Wallace had fought a victorious battle in 1297.

The Scottish monarch David II. Returning from a forced exile, he rewarded his loyal commanders with estates and titles, following the example of his ancestors, to show his gratitude. The Loch of Kinnordy and its shores, west of Kirriemuir in the Angus area, became his new home with a decree of occupancy. At the same time he was granted a knighthood and the right to form a clan. In 1344, the STURM clan was formed, boasting a tartan in the colours of the Scottish thistle and a family crest.

The STURM coat of arms itself contains a knight's helmet decorated with Scottish thistles, as well as the symbol of war (the dog) and the symbol of peace (the dove). The thistle on a blue-yellow checkerboard indicates knighthood, while the red diamonds on a white background indicate the number of victorious battles. The lower part of the coat of arms is dedicated to the holder himself and indicates his fishing origin and peasant status. The family motto on the shawl, which is written in Scottish Gaelic, reads „SABAID CEARD VOLTAS AYNS CRIDHE - FIGHT FOR YOUR TRUTH IN YOUR HEART“.

Barnaby STURM had 2 sons, whose names have been traced in the family books as first born Barnaby and second born John (birth dates not read due to age). Both sons lived and died in the Loco Valley of Kinnordy.

Further traced history of the STURM family includes 63 ancestors, between 1483-1941. Members of the clan were always of peasant and later labourer status. Some took a scientific or artistic path. For unknown reasons, they did not subscribe to any faith, and therefore some of the records from genealogical research are not fully documented or verified.

Some of the more famous of our ancestors include Joannes Sturmius Mechlinianus, living 1559-1650, who was a Belgian mathematician, physician and poet, and Jacques Charles François Sturm, living 1803-1855, who was a well-known French mathematician.

The earliest record of the current form of the name Sturm comes from the Netherlands in 1711, and the letter "A" was probably added to the name by a registrar's error in the mid-18th century.