Claggett is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Claggett family once lived in the village of Clegett or Clegett Hall, in the parish of Rochdale, Kent. The surname is derived from the Old Norse word which means a haystack-shaped hill. The surname also has an occupational origin, which means that it is derived form the trade or profession of the original bearer. The name was also given to those who worked as bellringers.
Cleygate, a manor, in the parish of Thames Ditton, Second division of the hundred of Kingston, union of Kingston, in the East division of Surrey may be a point of origin for the family. [1] "It was given to the convent of Westminster by Tosti, probably the son of Earl Godwin, and the grant was confirmed by Edward the Confessor. The Domesday Survey records that "Claigate" was then still held by the monks, and the lands continued in their possession until the Dissolution. " [2]
The surname Claggett was first found in Kent, at Claygate Cross, a hamlet in the Sevenoaks District. The first record was that ot Roger de la Caligate was was listed here in the Feet of Fines for 1198. Robert Cleygate was listed in 1215 and Glibert ate Claygate was listed in the Assize Rolls for 1317. [3]
Alternatively, the name could have been derived from Claygate, a village in Surrey [1] [4] that dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was first listed as Claigate, a manor of the village Thames Ditton. [5] The main manor of the village was held by Westminster Abbey. This is indeed a rare name as most of the records are quite late in the 17th and 18th centuries - little was found earlier.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Claggett research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1198, 1215, 1317, 1660, 1716, 1721, 1756, 1610, 1663, 1610, 1628, 1681, 1634, 1636, 1644, 1654, 1727, 1654, 1671, 1746, 1646, 1688, 1766, 1776, 1788 and 1791 are included under the topic Early Claggett History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Claggett family name include Clagett, Claggitt, Clegget, Cleggett, Cleygate, Claygate, Clackett, Claigate, Cleget, Claggett, Claggot and many more.
Distinguished members of the family include Nicholas Clagett the Elder (1610?-1663), English Puritan divine, born at Canterbury about 1610 and in 1628 was entered as a student of Merton College, Oxford, where he proceeded B.A. in October 1681. "Afterwards he migrated to Magdalen Hall, and commenced M.A. in June 1634, being then generally esteemed a very able moderator in philosophy. About 1636 he became vicar of Melbourne, Derbyshire, and about 1644 he was chosen lecturer or preacher at St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk." [6]
His son, Nicholas Clagett the Younger (1654-1727), was an English controversialist. "He was baptised 20 May...
Another 264 words (19 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Claggett Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Claggett surname or a spelling variation of the name include:
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: