Barstow History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The present generation of the Barstow family is only the most recent to bear a name that dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from having lived in Yorkshire, where they took their name from Bairstow in West Yorkshire. The place-name is derived from the Old English terms beger, for berries, and stow, for grow. It referred to "the place where berries are grown". 1

Early Origins of the Barstow family

The surname Barstow was first found in Yorkshire, where they held a family seat from ancient times, long before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 A.D.

Alternatively, the Barton variant could have originated at Barston, a parish, in the union of Solihull, Solihull division of the hundred of Hemlingford in Warwickshire. "In Domesday Book it is written Bercestone, the name, it is supposed, of a possessor in the time of the Saxons. It was anciently given to the Knights Templars and the Hospitallers." 2

Early History of the Barstow family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Barstow research. Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Barstow History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Barstow Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Barstow include Barstow, Bairstow, Bairstoe, Barstoe and others.

Early Notables of the Barstow family

Notables of the family at this time include

Barstow of Yorkshire

Barstow Ranking

In the United States, the name Barstow is the 11,272^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Barstow migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Barstow were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:

Barstow Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George and William Barstow who settled in Massachusetts in 1620
George Barstow, who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1635 4
Michael Barstow, who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1635 4
William Barstow, who landed in Massachusetts in 1635 4
Miles Barstow, who arrived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1635 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Barstow Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

H Barstow, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 4
J Barstow, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 4
Samuel Barstow, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1855 4
A Barstow, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1855 4

Barstow 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:

Barstow Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

R C Barstow, who landed in Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand in 1840

Contemporary Notables of the name Barstow (post 1700) +

John Lester Barstow (1832-1913), American teacher, farmer, politician, and soldier, the 39th Governor of Vermont (1882-1884)
David Barstow (b. 1963), American Pulitzer Prize winning journalist (2009) and co-shared the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2004
William Augustus Barstow (1813-1865), American politician, 3rd Governor of Wisconsin and a Union Army General during the American Civil War
Gamaliel H. Barstow (1784-1865), American physician, lawyer and politician, US Representative from New York (1831-1833)
Gamaliel Henry Barstow (1784-1865), American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Tioga County, 1815-18, 1824, 1827; Member of New York State Senate Western District, 1818-22 5
Edward Barstow, American Republican politician, Member of Michigan Republican State Central Committee, 1947; Chair of Menominee County Republican Party, 1950 5
Charles R. Barstow, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Tioga County, 1847 5
C. Irwin Barstow, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Connecticut 3rd District, 1904 5
Anson Barstow (1831-1906), American politician, Mayor of Oakland, California, 1901-03 5
Amos Chafee Barstow (1813-1894), American politician, Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, 1858; Member of Rhode Island State House of Representatives; Speaker of the Rhode Island State House of Representatives, 1870-71 5
... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html