Show ContentsRostron History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Rostron was brought to England in the wave of migration that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Rostron family lived in Yorkshire, at Rostherne. Rawsthorn is derived from Old Norman names that mean red, and torn. Accordingly, the name means dweller by the thorns.

Early Origins of the Rostron family

The surname Rostron was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Fryston, and were conjecturally descended from Gerbodo, a Norman noble, who held those lands at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a census initiated by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England in 1066. This family emerged with several basic spellings, Rawson, which became popular in Yorkshire in all their various branches, Rawsthorne and Rawstorne and Rostron and Rawstorn all became more popular in Lancashire.

Early History of the Rostron family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rostron research. Another 94 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1683 and 1965 are included under the topic Early Rostron History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rostron Spelling Variations

Norman surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Rawstorne, Rawsthorne, Rawstorn, Rawstron, Rawstrone, Rawsthorn, Rostron and many more.

Early Notables of the Rostron family

More information is included under the topic Early Rostron Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Rostron migration to the United States +

Many English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World 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 stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Rostron or a variant listed above:

Rostron Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • J Rostron, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Rostron (post 1700) +

  • William E. Rostron, American Republican politician, Republican Candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 16th District, 1956 (primary), 1962 (primary), 1964 (primary), 1970, 1972, 1974 (primary), 1976 2
  • Thomas "Tommy" Rostron, English professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s
  • Thurston "Tot" Rostron (1863-1891), English footballer
  • John Wilfred "Wilf" Rostron (b. 1956), English former footballer from Sunderland

RMS Titanic
  • Sir Arthur Henry Rostron KBE, RD, RNR (1869-1940), English captain of the RMS Carpathia when it rescued the survivors of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912, Commodore of the Cunard fleet, recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal 3


  1. 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)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, March 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  3. Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html


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