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Show ContentsHewyton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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The ancient roots of the Hewyton family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Hewyton comes from when the family lived in or near the settlement of Heighton in the county of Sussex. The surname is thought to derive from one of several place names composed of the old English elements "heah" or "high" and "tun," meaning "enclosure or settlement." The surname Hewyton belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Hewyton family

The surname Hewyton was first found in Sussex where the first record of the name is John atte Heghetun who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. Today Hightown is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside but originally part of Cheshire. 1 However, other references list Hightown in what was formerly Lancashire. "The Huytons of Billinge held land [in Skelmersdale, Lancashire] as early as 1307." 2

Early History of the Hewyton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hewyton research. Another 100 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1279 and 1296 are included under the topic Early Hewyton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hewyton Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Hewyton has appeared include Heighton, Highton, Huyton and others.

Early Notables of the Hewyton family

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

Migration of the Hewyton family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Hewyton arrived in North America very early: William Heighton who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1828; William Highton settled in Maryland in 1771.
  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. '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].
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