The earliest known record of a clan member is dated 1324, at which time the lands of St Columb Major were conveyed and granted to Odoni de Nanscuvel and Rose his wife. About 1400 a King's Herald, by the name of Typpett, came into possession of Nankivell property and then took the family name. The Typpett family became known as Typpett alias Nankivell, then TyppettNankivell, then Nankivell. This Nankivell family is still associated with the area of St Columb Major. The family of St Columb Major, Cornwall, reaches back furthest into antiquity with its documentation beginning about A.D. 1450 with Typpett, the King's Herald, coming into possession of the Nankivell lands.
Earliest records show mostly the line of inheriting sons.
It is thus difficult to establish connections with this family, but tradition has it that there are many connections. A proclamation was made by Henry V that any Coat of Arms not in existence at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 were forbidden and that Coats of Arms could only be inherited or granted by the King. Therefore one can assume that the Nankivell Coats of Arms were in existence before 1415. Between 1530 and 1686 heralds recorded all coats of arms in existence and the genealogies of those bearing them and it is from the Heralds Visitations of 1620 when it appears that several generations before that year there was a certain Typpett Nankevell of St Columb Major. In other words, a silver shield with a short armed black cross, the centre of the cross being cut away to leave just the black outline.