Ellington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

For many English families, the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. For such families, the shores of Ireland, Australia, and the New World beckoned. They left their homeland at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. Many arrived after the long voyage sick, starving, and without a penny. But even those were greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. Numerous English settlers who arrived in the United States and Canada at this time went on to make important contributions to the developing cultures of those countries. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Ellington were among those contributors:

Ellington Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• John Ellington, who arrived in Virginia in 1717 3
• Edward Ellington, who landed in Georgia in 1767 3

Ellington Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

• Mr. William Ellington, British convict who was convicted in Leicester, Leicestershire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Competitor"18th March 1823, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4
• William Ellington, English convict from Leicester, who was transported aboard the "Agincourt" on July 6, 1844, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 5

• Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974), American jazz musician largely recognized as one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz and awarded a special citation in 2008 by the Pulitzer Prize jury, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Marc Floyd Ellington OStJ DL HonFRIAS (1945-2021), American-born, Scottish folk and folk-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and bagpiper
• Hoss Ellington (1935-2014), American NASCAR driver and team owner
• Mercer Ellington (1919-1996), American composer, trumpeter, and bandleader
• Dougles D. Ellington (1886-1960), American architect who is noted for his work in the Art Deco style
• Buford Ellington (1907-1972), American politician, Governor of Tennessee from 1959 to 1963 and again from 1967 until 1971
• Marshal Sir Edward Leonard Ellington GCB, CMG, CBE (1877-1967), British senior officer in the Royal Air Force; he served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1933 to 1937, then as Inspector General of the RAF until his retirement in 1940
• Edward Bayzard Ellington (1845-1914), British hydraulic engineer, invented the hydraulic balance elevator
• Richard Ellington Hawes, United States naval officer, eponym of USS Hawes (FFG-53)
• Ellington "Fugi" Jordan (1940-2020), American soul and funk songwriter and record producer, co-writer of the blues song, "I'd Rather Go Blind"