Amphlet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Amphlet family

The surname Amphlet was first found in Worcestershire 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 Salwarpe, held by Earl Roger, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. It is believed they were descended from Amfrid by Adeliza, sister of Hugh Grandmesnil through son Humphrey, the Baron Castellan of Hastings who returned to Normandy in 1069. The family were from Tilleul-en-Auge in Calvados or from Amflete, near Boulogne. 2 3

Some of the family were found in Norfolk in early days, as records there show Robert Amflet, Mayor of Lynn Regis in 1516 and William Amflete, rector of West Lexham in 1517. 4 Back in Worcestershire, we found this interesting entry "In 1669 Richard Amphlett sold certain lands in King's Norton to Daniel Greves to hold for 2,000 years." 5

Early History of the Amphlet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Amphlet research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1605, 1692, 1704, 1797, 1809, 1868, 1873, 1874 and 1883 are included under the topic Early Amphlet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Amphlet Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Amphlet are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Amphlet include Amphlett, Amflett, Amflis, Amphlis, Amphliss, Amphlet, Amflet, Amfliss and many more.

Early Notables of the Amphlet family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir Richard Paul Amphlett (1809-1883), of Wychbold Hall in Worcestershire...
Richard Holmden Amphlett of Wychbold Hall, Hadzor, near Droitwich...
In 1873 Amphlett was serjeant-at-law and president of the Legal Education Association...

Amphlet migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Amphlet, or a variant listed above:

Amphlet Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann Amphlet, who landed in America in 1654 6

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
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)