Show ContentsEstabrooke History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The English name Estabrooke is topographic in origin; that is, it was originally derived from geographic features of the region in which the first bearer of the name lived. The Middle English "Easter," meant "east," and the name meant "someone who lived to the east of the brook."

Early Origins of the Estabrooke family

The surname Estabrooke was first found in Somerset where they held a family seat. The first on record appears to be John le Eastbrook, who is mentioned in a volume called "Kirby's Quest for Somerset," as living in that county during the reign of Edward III, the Confessor (1042-1066). 1 The Saxon influence on English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066: the language of the courts was French for the next three centuries, but Saxon names survived.

Early History of the Estabrooke family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Estabrooke research. Another 76 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1254, 1296 and 1327 are included under the topic Early Estabrooke History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Estabrooke Spelling Variations

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 Estabrooke family name include Eastbrook, Eastbrooke, Estabrooke, Easterbrook, Estbrook, Estbrooke, Eastbroke, Estabroke, Eastabroke, Estabroke and many more.

Early Notables of the Estabrooke family

More information is included under the topic Early Estabrooke Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Estabrooke family

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 Estabrooke surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Jacob Eastbrooke, a servant who was sent to a plantation in Barbados in 1660; Volintine Easterbrooks, who sailed from Newport, Rhode Island, to Falmouth, Nova Scotia in 1760.



  1. Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.


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