Contents [hide]

Shipton History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Shipton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Shipton arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Shipton family lived in Oxfordshire. The name Shipton derives from the Old English words scip, meaning sheep, and tun, meaning enclosure or settlement, and indicates that the original bearer of the name lived near such a place.

Early Origins of the Shipton family

The surname Shipton was first found in Oxfordshire where they held a family seat from ancient times, and were Lords of the manor of Shipton-on-Cherwell, and Shipton-under Wychwood in that shire. Conjecturally the Shiptons are descended from Alfsi of Faringdon who held the King's land, or from Ilbert who held his lands from the Bishop of Bayeux, as these nobles were shown as holders in the Domesday Book in 1086, a census initiated by Duke William of Normandy after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Shipton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shipton research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1488, 1561, 1630, 1659, 1666, 1680 and 1748 are included under the topic Early Shipton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shipton Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Shiptone, Shipton, Shippton, Shipptone and others.

Early Notables of the Shipton family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Ursula Southeil (c. 1488-1561) (also variously spelt as Ursula Southill, Ursula Soothtell or Ursula Sontheil), better known as Mother Shipton, an English soothsayer and prophetess who foresaw the Grea...
John Shipton (1680-1748), was an English surgeon, son of James Shipton, a druggist, living in Hatton Garden and William Shipton (fl. 1659), was an English poet, perhaps identical with William Shipton...

Shipton Ranking

In the United States, the name Shipton is the 17,558^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Shipton migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Shipton name or one of its variants:

Shipton Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mary Shipton, who landed in Virginia in 1704 2
Thomas Shipton, who settled in Maryland in 1774

Shipton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Michael Shipton, aged 26, who arrived in New York in 1854 2
James Shipton, who settled in Texas in 1896

Shipton migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shipton Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

George Shipton, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749
Samuel Shipton, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749-1752
Sarah Shipton, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
Samuel Shipton, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750
Mrs. Shipton, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Shipton migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Shipton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

John Shipton, English convict from Southampton, who was transported aboard the "Asia" on April 1st, 1822, settling in New South Wales, Australia 3
Mr. Thomas Shipton, English convict who was convicted in Somerset, England for life, transported aboard the "Caledonia" in 19th June 1822, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
Miss Mary Shipton, English convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 16th November 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
George Shipton, aged 29, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1850 aboard the ship "Sultana" 6
Mr. Uriah Shipton, (b. 1804), aged 46, Cornish farm labourer, from Bridgerule, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Kate" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 13th October 1850 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Shipton 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:

Shipton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mrs. Shipton, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 30th September 1853 8
Mr. Shipton, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 30th September 1853 8
Miss Shipton, British settler travelling from London with a sister aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 30th September 1853 8

Shipton migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Shipton Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

William Shipton who settled with his wife and child and servants in Barbados in 1680

Contemporary Notables of the name Shipton (post 1700) +

Brigadier General James Ancil Shipton (1867-1926), senior United States Army officer who served in the Philippine–American War and World War I, where he held various commands on the Western Front
James Shipton (1798-1865), English timber merchant and licensed carrier who served as mayor of Wolverhampton from 1854 to 1855
Catherine Ellen "Cathy" Shipton (b. 1957), English actress, best known for portraying the role of Lisa "Duffy" Duffin in the BBC medical drama Casualty
William Louis Shipton (1861-1941), English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1884 and 1893.
Paul Shipton (b. 1963), English award-winning children's author
Roger Francis Shipton OAM (1936-1998), Australian politician, Member of the Australian Parliament for Higgins (1975-1990)
Susan Shipton (b. 1958), Canadian two-time Genie Award winning film editor
Geoffrey Shipton (1941-1960), Australian silver medalist sprint freestyle swimmer at the 1960 Rome Olympics
Eric Earle Shipton CBE (1907-1977), British explorer and author, who led the Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition in 1935, and published many books, the "Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition," a Member of the Royal Geographical Society in London
George Shipton (1839-1911), prominent British trade unionist

Citations +

"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)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Asia 1 voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1822 with 190 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1822
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/caledonia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) SULTANA 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Sultana.htm
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_1850_59.pdf
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies