Arlington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Arlington is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Arlington family lived in Allington, in one of the many places so named throughout southern England. The reason for the multiple villages lies in part from the literal meaning of the place name "farmstead of the princes," from the Old English word "aetheling" + "tun." 1 There are at least three listings in the Domesday Book of 1086: Adelingetone (Lincolnshire); Adelingtone (Wiltshire); and Alintone (East Alington, Devon.) In this latter case, the place name could have derived from "farmstead associated with a man called Aella or Aelle," from the Old English personal name + "ing" + "tun." 1 Allington Castle is a stone-built moated castle in Allington, Kent that was restored in 1895 to its former full glory and is today open to the public.

Early Origins of the Arlington family

The surname Arlington was first found in Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, and Wiltshire. The ancient Barons Alington were the scions of this family name and they first settled in Horseheath, in Cambridgeshire. The first Lord of the Manor was Sir Hildebrand de Alington who was an under Marshall to William the Conqueror at Hastings. The main branch of the family became extinct but a younger son of Sir Giles Alington held the family seat at Swinhope in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 2 It is from this branch the family ultimately descend.

Early History of the Arlington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Arlington research. Another 155 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1410, 1416, 1429, 1433, 1436, 1439, 1446, 1459, 1500, 1586, 1610, 1641, 1642, 1648, 1659, 1680, 1681, 1682, 1685, 1691 and 1723 are included under the topic Early Arlington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Arlington Spelling Variations

Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Alington, Arlington, Allington and others.

Early Notables of the Arlington family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir William Alington (died 1446), Speaker of the House of Commons, MP for Cambridgeshire, 1410, 1416, 1429; William Allington of Horseheath (1400-1459), MP for Cambridgeshire, 1433, 1436, 1439; Giles Alington, Lord of Horseheath (1500-1586); William Alington, 1st Baron Alington (died 1648); Giles Alington, 2nd Baron...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Arlington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Arlington family to Ireland

Some of the Arlington family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 123 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Arlington migration to Australia +

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

Arlington Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Thomas Arlington, English convict from York, who was transported aboard the "Ann" on August 1809, settling in New South Wales, Australia 3

Arlington migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4

Arlington Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Lidia Arlington, who settled in Barbados in 1682

Contemporary Notables of the name Arlington (post 1700) +

Theodore E. Arlington, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State House of Representatives from Wayne County 1st District, 1952 5
Dick Arlington, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Texas, 1980 5
Alfred Edwin Arlington (1893-1965), American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Herkimer County, 1933 5
Wilbur Arlington Tarbert (1904-1946), American Major League Baseball reserve outfielder who played for the Boston Red Sox (1927 to 1928)
Horace Arlington Alsbury (1805-1847), American survivor of the Battle of the Alamo, one of the founders of Brenham in Washington County, Texas
Captain Matthew Arlington Batson (1866-1917), United States Army Officer who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Philippine-American War
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935), American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for the years 1922, 1925 and 1928
Theodore Arlington Bell (1872-1922), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from California 2nd District, 1903-05; Defeated, 1904; Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1908, 1912 6
Sir Arlington Griffith Butler KCMG (1938-2017), Bahamian teacher, lawyer, and politician, Speaker of the House of Assembly (1972-1977)
Arlington Valles (1886-1970), born Fred Valles, American Academy Award winning costume designer for his work on Spartacus

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Ann voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1809 with 200 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/ann/1809
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html