Contents [hide]

Ashurst History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Ashurst History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Ashurst

What does the name Ashurst mean?

The name Ashurst has a long Anglo-Saxon heritage. The name comes from when a family lived in Ashurst in the county of Lancashire. The name derives from the Old English words, ash, meaning ash tree, and hyrst, meaning hill, and indicates that the town was named for a hill on which ash trees grew. 1

Early Origins of the Ashurst family

The surname Ashurst was first found in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the north west of England. The Lancashire family seems to be the oldest as noted "A Lancashire family of good antiquity, and until the middle of the last century [1700] lords of Ashurst in that county, where they appear to have been seated not long after the Conquest." 2

In the north transept of the church of Leigh, Staffordshire are monuments to the Ashenhurst family. 3

"The family of Ashhurst had lands [in Skelmersdale, Lancashire] in 1346 and frequently occur later." 4

Early History of the Ashurst family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ashurst research. Another 104 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1614, 1645, 1647, 1662, 1679, 1680, 1681, 1695, 1711, 1715, 1720 and 1722 are included under the topic Early Ashurst History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ashurst Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Ashurst have been found, including Ashhurst, Ashurst, Ashirst, Ashairst, Ashenhurst and others.

Early Notables of the Ashurst family

Notables of the family at this time include

Henry Ashurst (c. 1614-1680), a wealthy and benevolent merchant of London, "noted for his gifts of money to pious or charitable purposes, the founder of the family of Ashurst or Ashhurst of Waterstock...
James Ashurst (died 1679), was an English divine who lost his living in the Great Ejection of 1662; Sir Henry Ashurst, 1st Baronet (1645-1711), was an English Member of Parliament for Truro, 1681-1695...

Ashurst Ranking

In the United States, the name Ashurst is the 18,823^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Ashurst migration to the United States +

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Ashurst, or a variant listed above:

Ashurst Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Richard Ashurst, who landed in America in 1805 6
Richard Ashurst, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1813
Thomas Ashurst, who arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1880 6

Ashurst migration to Australia +

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

Ashurst Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Ashurst, English convict who was convicted in Wigan, Manchester, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Aurora" on 3rd November 1833, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Mr. Nathaniel Ashurst, (b. 1802), aged 37, English weaver who was convicted in West Riding, Yorkshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Barossa" on 8th December 1839, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1840 8

Ashurst migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Ashurst Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Henry Ashurst, British settler, as the 2nd Detachment of New Zealand Corps of Royal New Zealand Fencibles travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Minerva" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 8th October 1847 9

Ashurst 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. 10

Ashurst Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. John Ashurst, (b. 1611), aged 24, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Alexander" arriving in Barbados in 1635 11

Contemporary Notables of the name Ashurst (post 1700) +

Henry Fountain Ashurst (1874-1962), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Arizona Territorial House of Representatives, 1896; Member of Arizona Territorial Senate, 1902; U.S. Senator from Arizona, 1912-41 12
Leonard "Len" Ashurst (1939-2021), English football player, manager and administrator from Fazakerley, Liverpool
William Henry Ashurst (Ashhurst) (1725-1807), English judge who "belonged to the Lancashire family, the Ashhursts of Ashhurst or Ashurst. One of his ancestors was Henry Ashurst, the philanthropist and another was lord mayor of London in 1693. " 13
Elias A. "Eli" Ashurst (1901-1927), English professional footballer
William "Bill" Ashurst (1894-1947), English footballer
Matthew "Matty" Ashurst (b. 1989), English professional rugby League footballer
William "Bill" F. Ashurst (b. 1948), English professional rugby league footballer
William Henry Ashurst (1792-1855), English solicitor, founder of Ashurst LLP in 1822
Len Ashurst (b. 1939), English former footballer, manager and football administrator
Nigel Ashurst, New Zealand former association football player
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Ashurst Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Vincit qui patitur
Motto Translation: He conquers who endures.

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.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
'Townships: Scarisbrick', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London, 1907), pp. 265-276. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol3/pp265-276 [accessed 21 January 2017].
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barossa
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 28th September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 6 June 2019