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Gwiott is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Gwiott comes from Guyat, a pet form of the Old French given name Guy. 1
The surname Gwiott was first found in Sussex though the name "has gone through the various forms of Wyat, Wiat, Wyot, and Guyot, or Guiot. The last-named three are used indifferently in the time of King John, and clearly prove the derivation of the name as a diminutive, from the Norman-French personal name Gui or Guido, which we have also received in the form of Guy. The name Guyatt is still found in West Sussex." 2
Another noted source provides early entries for the name as a forename: Wiot de Acham in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1192; Wioth de Cratella in Northumberland (no date given); Gwiot in the Curia Regis Rolls for Gloucestershire in 1203; and Wyot in the Assize Rolls for Yorkshire in 1219. 3 Rolling back to earlier spellings as a surname, Reaney notes Thomas Guyot in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1295 and Henry Guyot in the Subsidy Rolls for Somerset in 1327.
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 proved the widespread use of the name both as a forename and surname: Ayote uxor Wyot, Shropshire; Henry Wyot, Cambridgeshire; Wyott le Carpentier, Buckinghamshire; and Wyot de Dudelebury in Shropshire. 4
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gwiott research. Another 167 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1460, 1503, 1506, 1509, 1513, 1521, 1536, 1537, 1542, 1543, 1550, 1554, 1588, 1616, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1663, 1685, 1731, 1746 and 1813 are included under the topic Early Gwiott History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Gwiott are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Gwiott include Wyatt, Wyat and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir Henry Wyatt (1460-1537), an English courtier from Yorkshire; and his son, Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), an early English language poet and statesman, knighted by Henry VIII in 1536; Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger (1521-1554), an English rebel leader during the reign of Mary I of England; his rising is traditionally called "Wyatt's rebellion"; George...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gwiott Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Gwiott, or a variant listed above: Sir Francis and Lady Margaret Wyatt, who settled in Virginia in 1621; George Wyatt, who arrived in Virginia in 1662; Christopher Wyatt, who settled in Barbados with his servants in 1680.