Plympton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the bearers of the Plympton family name are thought have lived in ancient Anglo-Saxon England. They were first found in one of the many places named Plumpton in England including the township of Plumpton in Lancashire, the parish in Northumberland and the parish in Sussex. 1 2

The place name literally means "place where plum-trees grow," from the Old English word "plume" + "tun." 3

The oldest parishes are found in East Sussex and Lancashire which are both listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Pluntune and Pluntun, respectively. 4

Early Origins of the Plympton family

The surname Plympton was first found in Cheshire where William de Plumton was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1174. A few years later, Nigel de Plumpton was found in the Feet of Fines for Oxfordshire in 1247 and John de Plumpton in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 5

Interestingly, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had two listings for the family, both in Northamptonshire: William de Plumton and Robert de Plumpton. 2

In Devon, "in all probability Plympton takes name from its ancient position at the head of the estuary of what is now known as the Plym, or, as these estuarine creeks are commonly called in the locality, lake pen lin in the Western Keltic tongue, contracted, as in other instances in Cornwall, into plin, the form which the first syllable takes in its earliest occurrence in ' Domesday ' Plintona." 6

Early History of the Plympton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Plympton research. Another 111 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1383, 1404, 1421, 1427, 1430, 1453, 1480, 1482, 1503, 1523, 1570, 1582 and 1619 are included under the topic Early Plympton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Plympton Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Plympton include Plumpton, Plumton, Plompton, Plympton and others.

Early Notables of the Plympton family

Notables of the family at this time include Sir William Plumpton (1404-1480), English soldier, eldest son of Sir Robert Plumpton (1383-1421) of Plumpton, Yorkshire. His family had been settled at Plumpton from the twelfth century, and held of the earls of Northumberland as overlords. Accordingly the Earl of Northumberland had his wardship till he was of age. About 1427 he set out for the French wars; he was knighted...
Another 69 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Plympton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Plympton migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Plympton or a variant listed above:

Plympton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Plympton, who arrived in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1630 7
Thomas Plympton, who landed in New England in 1643 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Plympton (post 1700) +

Noah A. Plympton, American Republican politician, Member of Massachusetts State House of Representatives Ninth Norfolk District, 1905 8
Kimball Plympton, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Williamson, West Virginia, 1892-93 8
George S. Plympton, American politician, Member of New Jersey State House of Assembly from Hudson County, 1872-73 8
Andrew Plympton (1949-2024), Australian rules footballer administrator

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital
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 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html