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The name Connington reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Connington family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Connington family lived in Cambridgeshire, in the parish of Connington.
The surname Connington was first found in Cambridgeshire, at Conington, a parish, in the union of St. Ives, hundred of Papworth. "The lordship, together with the ancient castle, of which there are some vestiges in the village, was given by Canute to Turkill, a Danish lord, who, taking advantage of his residence among the East Angles, invited over Sueno to plunder the country.
Accordingly, the place name literally means "The king's manor, the royal estate," from the Old Scandinavian word "konunger" + the Old English word "tun." 2 It was listed twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, once as Coninctune and secondly as Cunitone. 3
One of the first on records was Richard Conyngton (d. 1330), Franciscan, who "studied at the university of Oxford, where he proceeded to the degree of doctor in theology. He must also have lived for some time on the continent, since a younger contemporary, the famous John Baconthorpe, says he was a pupil of Henry of Ghent. Conyngton was held in high repute as a schoolman." 4
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Connington research. Another 98 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1273 and 1340 are included under the topic Early Connington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Connington, Connigton, Conitone, Conyton, Coniton, Conintone and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Connington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Connington name or one of its variants: