Graffton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Graffton

What does the name Graffton mean?

The Anglo-Saxon name Graffton comes from when the family resided in one of many places names Grafton.

The surname Graffton is a habitational surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. The name was derived from the Old English word graf meaning "gorve" and tun meaning "enclosure." 1

Early Origins of the Graffton family

The surname Graffton was first found in Leicestershire where William de Graftona was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1130. Later John de Grafton was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire c. 1280 and John Grafton was found in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1443. 2

In Marton-cum-Grafton, a parish three miles from Boroughbridge, in the liberty of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, the following early rolls noted the family estates. The Freemen of York listed William de Grafton, 2 Edward II (during the second year of King Edward II's reign) and the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Robertus de Grafton; and Alicia de Grafton, 1379. 3

Early History of the Graffton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Graffton research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1198, 1480, 1511, 1535, 1537, 1572 and 1675 are included under the topic Early Graffton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Graffton Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Graffton has been recorded under many different variations, including Grafton, Graphton, Graffton and others.

Early Notables of the Graffton family

Richard Grafton (1511-1572), member of the Grocers' Company and was the King's Printer under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He "was a prosperous London merchant and a member of the Grocers' Company. In 1537 his zeal for the reformed religion led him to arrange for the printing of the Bible in English. Coverdale's translation had been first printed abroad in 1535. In 1537 Grafton, in association with a fellow-merchant, Edward Whitchurch...
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Graffton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Graffton family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Graffton or a variant listed above: James Grafton who settled in Virginia in 1634; John Grafton settled in Virginia in 1653; another John Grafton settled in Carolina in 1774; Joseph Grafton settled in New England in 1680.

Sources +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)