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Eddington History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Eddington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The Anglo-Saxon name Eddington comes from when the family resided in Eddington or Edington, places found in Berkshire, Northumberland, Somerset and Wiltshire. The place-name is derived from the old English personal name Eadwynn or Eatha, and tun, a suffix denoting enclosure, farm, settlement, or town. 1

Early Origins of the Eddington family

The surname Eddington was first found in Northumberland and later in Berwickshire where the old barony so named was located in the parish of Chirnside. 2 Edrington is a medieval estate which dates back to at least the 14th century located in the lower part of Mordington parish in Berwickshire.

One of the first records of the family was William Edington (died 1366), the English bishop and administrator. He served as Bishop of Winchester from 1346 until his death, Keeper of the Wardrobe (1341-1344), Treasurer (1344-1356), and lastly Chancellor from 1356 to 1363. He founded the Edington Priory in Wiltshire and starting the extensive rebuilding of Winchester Cathedral. 3

Sir Robert de Lawedre of Edrington (died 1425) was a Burgess of Edinburgh and a confidant of King Robert III and guardian of his son, the future James I of Scotland. Edington is a parish in the union of Westbury and Whorwelsdown, hundred of Whorwelsdown in Wiltshire. "The bishops of Salisbury had a palace here, which was plundered and destroyed during the rebellion of Jack Cade, in 1450, when Bishop Ayscough was dragged from the altar of his chapel, where he was officiating at mass, and stoned to death on a neighbouring hill." 4

Erdington in Warwickshire was another ancient family seat. "The manor originally belonged to the earls of Mercia, and was given at the time of the Conquest to William Fitz-Ausculf, from whose descendants it passed in the reign of John to Thomas de Erdington, that monarch's ambassador to the court of Spain, by whose family the ancient manor-house, now Erdington Hall, was built." 4

Early History of the Eddington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Eddington research. Another 166 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1100, 1296, 1341, 1344, 1346, 1356, 1366, 1479, 1594 and 1850 are included under the topic Early Eddington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Eddington Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Eddington include Eddington, Edington, Edlington, Erdington, Eddingtone and many more.

Early Notables of the Eddington family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Sir Henri Erdington; and William Edington (died 1366), Bishop of Winchester from 1346 until his death, Keeper of the wardrobe from...
Another 28 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Eddington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Eddington Ranking

In the United States, the name Eddington is the 9,244^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Eddington migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Eddington Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Edward Eddington, who landed in New England in 1641 6
Robert Eddington who settled in Virginia in 1685

Eddington Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Eddington, who arrived in Virginia in 1703 6

Eddington Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Ambrose Thompson Eddington, who arrived in Key West, Fla in 1898 6

Eddington migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Eddington Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Charles Eddington, aged 21, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Harry Lorrequer" 7

Eddington 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:

Eddington Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. William Eddington, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Matoaka" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 26th September 1859 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Eddington (post 1700) +

Patricia A. Eddington, American Democratic Party politician, Social worker; Member of New York State Assembly 3rd District, 2001 9
Herbert H. Eddington, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Louisiana, 1972, 1988 9
Elijah Eddington, American politician, Prohibition Candidate for U.S. Representative from Indiana 2nd District, 1910 9
David H. Eddington, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Alabama, 1928 9
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington OM, FRS (1882-1944), English astrophysicist, eponym of the Eddington limit
Sir Roderick Ian Eddington (b. 1950), Australian businessman, former CEO of British Airways
Paul Eddington (1927-1995), British comedy actor

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"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)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) HARRY LORREQUER 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849HarryLorrequer.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html