Aughten History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Aughten is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived at Aughton in the county of Lancashire.

Early Origins of the Aughten family

The surname Aughten was first found in Lancashire at Aughton, a village and civil parish within the West Lancashire district. "'Achetun' was held before the Conquest by Uctred, the Saxon proprietor of Dalton and Skelmersdale; the manor, or parts of it, subsequently came to the families of Acton or Aughton. Aughton Old Hall, the ancient residence of the Aughtons, is now a farmhouse." 1

"The share [Aughton, Lancashire, held by] Madoc de Aughton, ancestor of the Aughton family, is harder to trace. He granted to Einion de Aughton the mill by the pool of Aughton and the land of Haylandhurst in exchange for the overflow of the mill waters. Madoc his son gave to William son of Jugge land adjoining Cokemonhurst. Walter son of Madoc succeeded in or before the time of Edward II." 2

This is not the only local so named. Aughton Humber was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Actun and as Achetun. 3 To complicate matters more, Aughton is also a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a village near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. Literally, the place name means "farmstead where oak-tress grow," from the Old English words "ac" + "tun." 4 Conjecturally, the Aughton line is descended from Roger of Poitou, the Norman Baron who held the Lordship at the taking of the Domesday Book. Roger was son of Roger de Montgomery and the line became extinct under that identification. Aughton was recorded as having 2 hawk's eyries at that time.

Early History of the Aughten family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Aughten research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Aughten History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Aughten 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 Aughten family name include Aughton, Aughtin, Aughten, Aughtan and others.

Early Notables of the Aughten family

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

Migration of the Aughten 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 Aughten surname or a spelling variation of the name include: John Aughterson, who settled in Boston in 1767.

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
'Townships: Scarisbrick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1907), pp. 265-276. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp265-276 [accessed 21 January 2017].
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)