Istede History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Istede family

The surname Istede was first found in Sussex where "the Isteds belong to an old Sussex family conjectured to have come from Eysted, in Sweden, and to have settled in Sussex in the reign of Edward III. " 1

Another source provides more details of the origin: "Probably of local English origin-Highstead, 'the lofty situation.' The family have, however, a tradition of a derivation 'from Eysted, a large maritime town in the province of Schonen, in the kingdom of Sweden.' It is conjectured that they settled at Framfield, co. Sussex, temp. Edward III." 2

But another source postulates the "surname is derived from a geographical locality. probably 'of Irstead,' a parish in Norfolk, twelve miles from Norwich." 3

Helewis' de Heghested was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of 1296 for Sussex. Thomas Highstede (1473) and Lawrance Histed (1494) were both listed in Cambridgeshire. In this case the name is believed to have originated in Highstead in Sittingbourne, Kent.4

Early History of the Istede family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Istede research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1076, 1084, 1135, 1406, 1510, 1523, 1547, 1553, 1554, 1557, 1600, 1610, 1621, 1631, 1662, 1692, 1702, 1703, 1732, 1740, 1778, 1799 and 1812 are included under the topic Early Istede History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Istede 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 Istede family name include Isted, Istead, Istede, Ysted, Ystede, Ystead and others.

Early Notables of the Istede family

Distinguished members of the family include John Isted (fl. 1523-1557), an English politician, Member of the Parliament for Hastings in 1547, March 1553 and April 1554. Edward Hasted (1732-1812) was an English antiquarian and pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent, best known for his book, The History and Topographical...
Another 51 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Istede Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Istede 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 Istede surname or a spelling variation of the name include: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..

Citations +

Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)