Of all the Anglo-Saxon names to come from Britain, Bilston is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived in one of several places called Bilton in the counties of Northumberland, Warwickshire, Essex, or Yorkshire.
The surname Bilston was first found in Yorkshire at Bilton, a chapelry, in the parish of Swine, union of Skirlaugh, Middle division of the wapentake of Holderness. "This place, called in Domesday Book Biletone, at an early period gave name to a family resident here." [1] As previous mentioned, there are numerous places name Bilton and part of the reason is that the place name literally means "farmstead of a man called Bill or Billa." [2] Bilston(e) is similarly popular with places in Staffordshire and Leicestershire.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bilston research. Another 55 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 165 and 1650 are included under the topic Early Bilston History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Bilston has been spelled many different ways, including Bilton, Biltoune, Bilston, Bilson, Bilsden and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Bilston Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.