For the Meštrov surname and family, I assumed that they are related to the Meštrović (Masnov) surname and family because of the last name itself, especially because Masnov family old house is relatively close to the old Meštrov's house and, in addition, I found an interesting entry in the Franciscan cadastre for Brbinj from 1824.[1], so I researched the male line of the Meštrov family as far back as I could according to the available Glagolitic books, but I did not find a family connection with the Meštrović or Masnov family.

In the register of births for the year 1751, I found the entry of the birth of Matia from Tome Meštrov called Hrišića and Kate Šćauneva. Because of this entry, I assumed that the Meštrov family members were previously called Hrišić. After that, I found several members of the Meštrov family, who in the registers of Brbinj parish are referred to once as Hrišić or Krišić, and the other time as Meštrov, which confirms the assumption that the Meštrovs were formerly called Hrišić.

In the register of births in 1755, the birth of Matij from Tome is recorded Krišića and Kate Šćavuneve, so now Tome Meštrov called Hrišić is called Tome Krišić. The birth register of Brbinj parish from 1758 records the birth of Tome, son of Tomas Hrišić and Kate Šćavunev, so in this entry also Tome (Tomas) is marked as Hrišić and in 1761, the birth of Anton, son of Tome, is recorded Meštrov and Kata Šćauneva.

In the register of marriages, I found a marriage entry from 1749 "between Ivan son of Šimun Cvitulić from Brbinj and Justina Meštrov called Hrišić daughter of the late Mikula Hrunčev from Savar". The entry of marriage from the same year reads: "between Tomas Baričević from Brbinj, son of Frane Baričević and Mara Meštrov daughter of the late Mikula Hrunčev from Savar". In the register of births of Brbinj parish from 1693, there is an entry of the birth of Margarita, daughter of Matij Hrišić and Ursa, daughter of Mikula Hrišić. That Mikula Hrišić or Meštrov is actually Hrunčev from Savra is indicated by the entry in the register of births of Brbinj parish from 1755, when the birth of Krševan "from Jivan Cvitulić and Justina daughter" of the late Mikula Meštrov from Savar" (Hrunčev is a surname from Savar, which has survived in that form to this day). Justina Meštrov is marked as Justina Hrišić in the register of births of the parish of Brbinj from 1758, when the birth of Tomica, daughter of Ivan Lungin called Cvitulić, is entered and Justina Hrišić, which is another proof that the Meštrov and Hrišić family are the same family.

From all of the above, it can be assumed that Mikula Hrunčev from Savar with his daughters Justina, Mara and Ursa and son Tom (birth record of Tome from Mikula Meštrov and Kate from 1724) came on Meštrov's (Hrišić's) estate, because there is little probably that the Hrišići could legally marry among themselves .  

Nevertheless, the conclusions about the time of Mikula Hrunčev's arrival from Savar to Hrišić estate need to be further checked, namely, it seems that there were more than one Mikula Hrišić and Matij Hrišić in the observed period, so it is difficult to follow the exact sequence of generations. Thus, for example, in the register of marriages in 1697, we have the entry of the marriage "between Matij Hrišić and Katarina Gargin from Rava the daughter of Šimun Gargin from Rava". Is this the same Matij Hrišić who had a daughter Margarita with Ursa, daughter of Mikula Hrišić, in 1693? And is this Mikula Hrišić who is mentioned as the father of Ursa, the wife of Matij Hrišić, actually Mikula Hrunčev?

Katarina Grgin, who marries Matij Hrišić, should not be linked to the Grgin family from Brbinj. The surname Grgin appears in the Zadar area at that time on two more islands, Vrgada and Rava, and there is no information about the connection of these families with the Grgin family from Brbinj. More on that in the chapter on Grgins.

If you compare the Book of the Souls of Brbinj from 1709 and 1710, it can be seen that in 1709 Mate Hrišić, Šime Hrišić and Antete(Ante) Hrišić and Mara, Kate, Kate, Klara and Mara Hrišić were registered, while in 1710 there is not a single Hrišić, but Ante Meštrov and Šime Meštrov, Kate, Mare and Kate Meštrova were registered. In 1710, the surname Mirkov was also new, as they had a house next to Meštrov family and common courtyard, this is evident from the Franciscan cadastre and the cadastral map for Brbinj from 1824. In 1710 after thelist of women from Meštrov family there had been registered Mara Mirkova and Klara Mirkova.

In 1711, in the list of the state of souls, there are no registered residents of Brbinj with surname Meštrov again, but residents with surname Hrišić are registered, namely Ante and ?? and Kata, Mara and Kate Hrišić. From the Mirkov family, Mate Mirkov and Klara Mirkov were registered. If Meštrov and Hrišić were not the same family, it would be incredible that in Brbinj the Meštrov family move in and the Hrišić family move out, then the Hrišić family move in and the Meštrov family move out, while the members of these families have the same personal names and are settled, according to position of entry in the Book of the State of Souls, in the same area of Brbinj, along with Kaleb, Masnov, Bijakanja and Bolognja family.

In the register of dead in 1665, the fact of death was entered of craftsman Mate Grišić (Hrišić), so I assume that he was a craftsman by profession. I found an entry in the list of states of souls of craftsman Ivan Hrišić, otherwise I did not find registered occupations, except for some godfathers. Also, in the registry of marriages in 1656, there is an entry of the fact of the marriage between Matij Škifić from Savar and Mara, daughter of Ivan Španjol from Brbinj, and the godfathers or witnesses were Ivan Oblak and craftsman Mate Hrišić. In 1659, witnesses at the wedding of Gargur Petrović and Manda, daughter of Ivan Macina, were Matij Hrišić and craftsman Matij Hrišić. In 1694, Ela, daughter of Mihovil Šurbarić and Mara, daughter of Marko Matulić from Dragove, was baptized, and the godfather was craftsman Ivan Hrišić. From this, I concluded that the Meštrov and Hrižić family are the same family, and that Meštrov surname was based on the name of the occupation of the family members.

Excerpts from the register of baptisms (1602 – 1613) and the register of marriages (1601 – 1613) of Brbinj parish, thus the oldest known registers[2] the books of the parish of Brbinj are kept in the Archives of HAZU. A total of 41 entries of baptisms in Brbinj have been preserved in these passages, according to the years 1602, 1604, 1605, 1606, 1607, 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612 and 1613. Therefore, there is no entry from 1603, and the probable reason for this is that in that year the parish priest of Brbinj, Don Lovre Krišić (Hrišić), was in prison in Zadar, as we learn from the apostolic visitation (isp. Starine XXXIII, 541). So, the Hrišić family are, without a doubt, an old family from Brbinj. Also, in the register of births from 1602, 1606 and 1609, Ivan Hrišić is entered as the godfather, and Jivan Hrišić is mentioned in the register of marriages of Brbinj parish in 1610.

In the 19th century, the Meštrov family died out again in the male line and man from other families came to their estate and took the surname Meštrov, which is evident from the Latin registers of the parish of Brbinj. Don Riko Finka also writes about this[3] which states that Ursa Meštrov, daughter of Matij Meštrov and Kate Petrov Rančić, marries Ive Jerkov Švorinić from Sestrunj, who comes to the Meštrov estate and takes over their surname.

[1] See p. 7. , Tomas Masnov was registered as the owner of a house in Brbinj under building plot number 20, which building should be the old Meštrov house, later, with changes to the Register of building plots of the Franciscan cadastre for the cadastral municipality of Brbinj, the owner of that house was changed, that is, the name Tomaso Masnov was crossed out and inscribed Mestov Giovanni, see p. 12.

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[3] Don Leonard Riko Finka: Chronicle of Brbinj parish, unpublished manuscript, p. 342.