Poston History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Early Origins of the Poston family

The surname Poston was first found in the Scottish Borders at Gattonside where "their name appears in record as Boustoune and Bowstone. There is a town named Boston in Lincolnshire, but the Scottish name may be of local origin. Bernard Boustoun was one of the witnesses to a charter by Andrew, abbot of Melrose, 1540. " 1

Further to the south in Boston, Lincolnshire, "this place derived its name from St. Botolph, a Saxon, who founded a monastery here about the year 650; from which circumstance it was called Botolph's Town, since contracted to Boston. " 2

Philip Baston or Boston (d. 1320?), was a Carmelite, brother of Robert Baston and was born at Nottingham. He was ordained priest on 22 Sept. 1296. His brother Robert Baston (fl. 1300), was also a Carmelite monk. He became Prior of the Abbey of Scarborough. "He seems to have acquired a great reputation in his own age for elegant verses. At Oxford, says Pits, he was not unworthily crowned with laurel as a rhetorician and a poet. He is said to have been taken to Scotland by Edward I to sing his praises at the siege of Stirling (1304.) " 3

The Poston variant originated in Essex where John de la Posterne was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1202 and then later in the Feet of Fines for 1242. 4

Early History of the Poston family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Poston research. Another 170 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1410, 1634, 1638, 1676, 1677, 1713, 1732 and 1767 are included under the topic Early Poston History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Poston Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Boston, Bouston, Bowstone, Bostown, Bostowne, Bostoun, Bawston, Bauston, Bawstone, Baustone, Bowsting, Bowstain and many more.

Early Notables of the Poston family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was Buriensis Boston (fl. 1410), or John Boston of Bury, author of the 'Catalogus Scriptorum Ecclesiæ' and the 'Speculum Cœnobitarum,' an Augustinian monk belonging to the abbey at Bury St. Edmunds. His full name was probably John Boston, his surname being perhaps taken from the town of his birth or...
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Poston Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Poston Ranking

In the United States, the name Poston is the 3,368^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 5

Poston migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Poston Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

C D Poston, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
C.E. Poston, aged 37, who landed in America, in 1894

Poston Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Richard W. Poston, aged 59, who immigrated to America from England, in 1908
James Poston, aged 34, who settled in America from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1909
Robert L. Poston, aged 50, who landed in America, in 1918
Thomas Poston, aged 23, who immigrated to the United States, in 1919
Joseph Poston, who immigrated to the United States from Liverpool, in 1919
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Poston (post 1700) +

Bryan A. Poston (1924-2009), American politician in Louisiana
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston (1921-2007), American television and film actor, best remembered as the recurring guest star on The Bob Newhart Show
Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987), English composer, pianist, and writer
Charles Debrille Poston (1825-1902), Arizona politician, the "Father of Arizona"
Jim Poston CBE (1945-2007), Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands (2002 to 2005)
Timothy "Tim" Poston (b. 1945), English mathematician, best known for his work on catastrophe theory

Citations +

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)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"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)