Contents [hide]

Drayton History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Drayton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the bearers of the Drayton family name are thought have lived in ancient Anglo-Saxon England. They were first found in one of the many places called Drayton, or in the settlement of Dreyton in Devon. The reason for the multitude of place names is because the place name literally means "farmstead at or near a portage or slope used for dragging down loads," from the Old English words "draeg" + "tun." 1

Exploring Drayton-in-Hales, or Market-Drayton in Shropshire for a moment, we found "Nennius endeavours to identify this place with the Caer Draithon of the Britons, enumerating it as one of the principal cities belonging to that people; and the correctness of his opinion has not been arraigned by any succeeding writer. It is evident from the discovery of the foundations of several houses in the adjoining fields, that the town anciently occupied a more extended site than it does at present. In the record of Domesday it is mentioned by the name Draitune. The manor was successively in the possession of the abbot of St. Ebrulph, in Normandy, and the abbot of Combermere, in Cheshire." 2

Early Origins of the Drayton family

The surname Drayton was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 where Matilda de Drayton, Cambridgeshire; and Beatrix He Draytone, Huntingdonshire, were both listed as holding lands that time. A few years later, Richard de Drayton, was listed as bailiff of Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1284. 3

Later in Yorkshire, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Johannes de Drayton; Willelmus de Draghton; and Robertas de Draghton. 4

Early History of the Drayton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Drayton research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1363, 1369, 1376, 1563, 1604 and 1631 are included under the topic Early Drayton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Drayton Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Drayton include Drayton, Draydon, Draton, Dradon and others.

Early Notables of the Drayton family

Notables of the family at this time include

Nicholas de Drayton (fl. 1376), English ecclesiastic and judge, appointed warden of King's College, Cambridge, on 1 Dec. 1363, with a salary of fourpence a day, and an allowance of eight marcs per ann...
Michael Drayton (1563-1631), the English poet, was born at Hartshill, near Atherstone, Warwickshire. " He states in his epistle to Henry Reynolds that he had been a page, and it is not improbable that...

Drayton Ranking

In the United States, the name Drayton is the 4,398^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 5

Drayton migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Drayton or a variant listed above:

Drayton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Drayton, who landed in Maine in 1642 6
Thomas Drayton, who landed in North Carolina in 1671 6

Drayton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James Thomas Drayton, who arrived in America in 1811 6
G Drayton, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 6

Drayton migration to Australia +

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

Drayton Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Samuel Drayton, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Fairlie" on 14th October 1833, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
William Drayton, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Diadem" in 1840 8
Priscilla Drayton, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Diadem" in 1840 8
Mr. James Drayton, English convict who was convicted in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England for 15 years, transported aboard the "Duncan" on 10th December 1840, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
John Drayton, English convict from Middlesex, who was transported aboard the "Adelaide" on August 08, 1849, settling in Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip, Australia 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drayton 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:

Drayton Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. George Drayton, (b. 1857), aged 1 year 6 months, English settler from Nottinghamshire travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 11
Mr. Alfred Drayton, (b. 1830), aged 28, English blacksmith from Nottinghamshire travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 11
Mrs. Ann Drayton, (b. 1837), aged 21, English settler from Nottinghamshire travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 11
Mr. George Drayton, (b. 1837), aged 21, English blacksmith from Nottinghamshire travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Zealandia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st September 1858 11
Charlotte Drayton, aged 39, a servant, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Waimea" in 1876
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drayton 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. 12

Drayton Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Anne Drayton who settled in Barbados in 1654
Thomas Drayton, who settled in Barbados with his servants in 1680

Contemporary Notables of the name Drayton (post 1700) +

Buster Drayton (1952-2022), born Moses Buster Drayton, an American boxer who won the IBF world title at light middleweight (154lb)
Henry Shipton Drayton (1840-1923), American physician and phrenologist
Ronny Drayton, well-known American guitarist
Troy Anthony Drayton (b. 1970), former professional American football tight end
Stan Drayton, American football coach
Grace Drayton (1877-1936), American illustrator
Paul Drayton (1939-2010), American Olympic athlete and winner of a gold medal
William Drayton (1732-1790), American lawyer and jurist
John Drayton (1766-1822), American politician, 40th Governor of South Carolina
William "Bill" Drayton (b. 1943), American social entrepreneur
... (Another 13 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Page, William (ed), A History of the County of Norfolk. London: Victoria County History, 1906. Print
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"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 21st September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The barque DIADEM 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Diadem.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 11th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/duncan
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2014, November 17) Adelaide voyage to Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip, Australia in 1849 with 303 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/adelaide/1849
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies