Coulston History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Coulston is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in either Colston Basset, which is in Carcolston in Nottinghamshire, or in Coulston, which lies in the county of Wiltshire. 1 The surname Coulston often belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. However, the name Coulston is also often a patronymic surname derived from the Old English name Colstan or the Old Norse name Kolstein.

Early Origins of the Coulston family

The surname Coulston was first found in Nottinghamshire at Colston, now known as Colston Basset. The first record of the family was John de Colston who was listed here 20 Edward I. Some of the family were found in Yorkshire in early times. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list William Colstan and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls list Johannes Colstane. 1

As one would expect with listings so close to the Scottish border, Colston is near Bishopriggs, Lanarkshire, and Colstoun is found in East Lothian. However, the name is rare in Scotland. "Robert Colston, a Scotsman, had a safe conduct in England in 1465 and James Colston was an Edinburgh magistrate and local historian." 2

Early History of the Coulston family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coulston research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1636, 1672, 1708, 1713, 1719 and 1721 are included under the topic Early Coulston History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coulston Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Coulston family name include Coulston, Colston and others.

Early Notables of the Coulston family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Sir Richard Coulston of Roundway

Coulston Ranking

In the United States, the name Coulston is the 18,280^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Coulston migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Coulston surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Coulston Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Francis Coulston, who arrived in Virginia in 1656 4

Coulston Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Coulston, who arrived in New England in 1755

Coulston migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Coulston Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Miles Coulston, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in January 1863 5
Mrs. Mary Coulston, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in January 1863 5
Miss Isabella Coulston, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in January 1863 5
Miss Elizabeth Coulston, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in January 1863 5
Mr. Thomas Coulston, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sir George Pollock" arriving in Bluff, Southland, South Island, New Zealand in January 1863 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Coulston (post 1700) +

Earl Coulston, American developer who bought most of the American Christian theme park Heritage USA founded by televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in 2004
Fred Coulston, American toxicologist who founded the eponymous The Coulston Foundation in 1993
Peter W. Coulston, American aviation electronics technician with U.S. Navy Squadron VX-6 at McMurdo Station, 1967, eponym of the Coulston Glacier, Antarctica
Jean Coulston (1934-2001), New Zealand cricketer who played in five Test matches between 1954 and 1957
Charles Coulston Gillispie (1918-2015), American historian of science, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History of Science, Emeritus at Princeton University

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html