Jephson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Wales
Ireland

This Jephson surname comes from the Norman personal names Geoffrey and Godfrey. These names appear in Middle English as Geffrey and in Old French as Jefroi or Jeufroi. Galfridus and Gaufridus are early forms of the name; these indicate a Germanic first element derived from either "gala," which means "to sing," or "gawi," which means "region" or "territory." 1

The surname Jephson also features the patronymic suffix "-son," which superseded all other such suffixes in popularity by the 14th century and was most common in the north of Britain. This suffix was sometimes abbreviated to "-s."

Early Origins of the Jephson family

The surname Jephson was first found in Staffordshire where Robert Geffreysone was recorded in the Assize Rolls for 1344. Years later, the family emerged in Yorkshire where Alice Geffrason was listed in 1488 and later John Jeffrason was listed as a Freeman of York in 1528. 2

The Jeffersons of Virginia which included US President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) probably hailed from England.

Early History of the Jephson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Jephson research. Another 165 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1344, 1488, 1528, 1609, 1640, 1641, 1648, 1658, 1691, 1720, 1743, 1797 and 1826 are included under the topic Early Jephson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jephson Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Jeffers, Jefferson, Jeffson, Jephson and others.

Early Notables of the Jephson family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

William Jephson (1609-1658), a Member of Parliament for Stockbridge (1640-1648), served in the Parliamentary army and was Cromwell's envoy to Sweden. He was "the eldest son of Sir John Jephson of Froy...

Migration of the Jephson family to Ireland

Some of the Jephson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 53 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jephson migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Jephson or a variant listed above were:

Jephson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Jephson, aged 42, who landed in Maryland in 1812 3

Jephson migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Jephson Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mary Jephson, aged 34, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Sea Park"

Contemporary Notables of the name Jephson (post 1700) +

Evelyn Jephson, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Maine, 1964 4
Robert Jephson (1736-1803), Irish dramatist and poet, born in Ireland in 1736, educated at Dublin at the same school as Malone 5
Brigadier Robert Llewellyn Jephson -Jones RAOC (1905-1985), British officer awarded the George Cross for incredible courage dealing with some 275 unexploded bombs in total
Peter Jephson Cameron (b. 1947), British mathematician and Rhodes Scholar

Citations +

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)
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, December 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 26 October 2020