Show ContentsRuston History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Ruston family

The surname Ruston was first found in Northamptonshire at Rushton, a small village and civil parish that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Risetone. The reference lists that it comprised three very small settlements: Barford, which had only seven inhabitants; Glendon, home of Glendon Hall and had fourteen inhabitants; and finally Rushton St. Peter, which included Rushton Hall and Rushton All Saints with a population of forty-five.

Rushton Hall has gone through many changes since the first record but today is a luxury hotel. This was the ancestral home of the Tresham family from 1438. The place name Rushton is generally believed to mean "farmstead where rushes grow" from the Old English words rysc + tun. [1]

Rushton is also a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West. However, this village is rather recent as the first recorded population statistic was in the 1881 census. Finally Rushton Spencer is located in Staffordshire an early possession of the Spencer family.

"The Risctún of a charter, a.d. 854, by Æþelwulf, king of the West Saxons, refers to Ruishton, Somerset." [2]

There are two listings of Risetone in the Domesday Book of 1086. [3] The first on record was Robert de Riston who was listed in the Assize Rolls for Northumberland in 1203. John Russheton was listed in the Feet of Fines for Warwickshire in 1433-1434. [4]

Early History of the Ruston family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ruston research. Another 142 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1602, 1662, 1668, 1697, 1700 and 1751 are included under the topic Early Ruston History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ruston Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Rushton, Ruxton and others.

Early Notables of the Ruston family

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

Ireland Migration of the Ruston family to Ireland

Some of the Ruston family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 86 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Ruston migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Ruston Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Edward Ruston, who arrived in Indiana in 1852 [5]

New Zealand Ruston 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:

Ruston Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • James Ruston, aged 21, a blacksmith, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Oliver Lang" in 1856

Contemporary Notables of the name Ruston (post 1700) +

  • Audrey Kathleen Ruston (1929-1993), birth name of Audrey Hepburn, the British actress and humanitarian


  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  3. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  4. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  5. 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)


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