Show ContentsSuggate Surname History

Suggate is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Suggate family once lived in the tithing of Southcote in the county of Devon. The surname was originally derived from the Old English words sud which meant south and cot which meant cottage.

Early Origins of the Suggate family

The surname Suggate was first found in Devon where they were Lords of the Manor of Southcote anciently seated in that shire. "Southcote, an estate in the parish [of Winkleigh], appears to have given name to the Southcote family." 1

Early History of the Suggate family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Suggate research. Another 118 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1345, 1511, 1556, 1559, 1560, 1562, 1563, 1585, 1620, 1622, 1661, 1662 and 1664 are included under the topic Early Suggate History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Suggate Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Suggate family name include Southcote, Sothcotte, Southcott, Sothcott, Southcod, Southcodt, Soutcott and many more.

Early Notables of the Suggate family

Notables of the family at this time include John Soputcote (1511-1585), an English judge, second son of William Southcote, by his wife, Alice Tregonnell, grandson of Nicholas Southcote of Chudleigh, Devonshire. "He was a member of the Middle Temple, where he was autumn reader in 1556...
Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Suggate Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Suggate family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Suggate surname or a spelling variation of the name include: James Southcott, a soldier who settled in St. John's Newfoundland in 1813; Richard and Thomas Southcote settled in Nantasket, Massachusetts in 1630; Frederick Southcott arrived in Philadelphia in 1855.


Contemporary Notables of the name Suggate (post 1700) +

  • Richard Patrick "Pat" Suggate CNZM (1922-2016), English-born, New Zealand geologist, Director of the New Zealand Geological Survey (1974-1986)


  1. Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital


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