Ensworth Surname History

Origins Available:
England

The roots of the Anglo-Saxon name Ensworth come from when the family resided in the area of Ainsworth in the parish of Middleton. Some instances, generally the Hainsworth spelling, come from Hainworth in West Yorkshire, derived in turn from an Old English personal name Hagena; while other instances of the name came from Ainsworth in the parish of Middleton, in Lancashire, from the Old English personal name Ægen.

Early Origins of the Ensworth family

The surname Ensworth was first found in Greater Manchester at Ainsworth, a small village and now a suburb within Radcliffe, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, the place name is derived from Haineswrthe which dates back to c. 1200. 1

"The family of Aynesworth, located here, was of considerable antiquity, and is mentioned in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II, at which latter time John de Aynesworth was of Pleasington, in Blackburn parish." 2 The village is also called Cockey-Moor.

Early History of the Ensworth family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ensworth research. Another 54 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1523, 1554, 1560, 1571, 1622, 1660, 1743 and 1881 are included under the topic Early Ensworth History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ensworth Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Ensworth has been recorded under many different variations, including Ainsworth, Ainsworthy, Aynsworth, Answorth and others.

Early Notables of the Ensworth family

Notables of the family at this time include John Ainsworth (fl. 1523), English politician from Pershore and Worcester, Member of Parliament for Worcester in 1554. Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622), was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar, educated at Caius College, Cambridge. He was the "leader of the separatist congregation at Amsterdam, and controversialist, was, according to the Lancashire historians, one of an...
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ensworth Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ensworth migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Ensworth or a variant listed above:

Ensworth Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Ensworth, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Ensworth (post 1700) +

Frank Ensworth, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1916
D. A. Ensworth, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Oneonta, New York, 1835-38
A. S. Ensworth, American politician, Member of California State Assembly 1st District, 1859-60
Ensworth M. Godard, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Canton, 1930 4

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html