Show ContentsPlumstead History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Plumstead family

The surname Plumstead was first found in Norfolk where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, [1] indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Plumstead held by the Godric, steward of the King who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. This village is now two villages, Great and Little Plumstead.

Early History of the Plumstead family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Plumstead research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1306 and 1450 are included under the topic Early Plumstead History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Plumstead Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Plumstead, Plumpstead, Plimstead, Plumsted and many more.

Early Notables of the Plumstead family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

  • the Plumstead family of Plumstead in Norfolk


United States Plumstead migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Plumstead Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Francis Plumstead, who landed in New Jersey in 1682 [2]
  • Clement Plumstead, who settled in Philadelphia in 1683
Plumstead Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • James A. Plumstead, who arrived in Illinois in 1884

Contemporary Notables of the name Plumstead (post 1700) +

  • William K. Plumstead, American politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Erie County 2nd District, 1909 [3]


  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. 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)
  3. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook