Heighington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Heighington family

The surname Heighington was first found in Durham where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that county.

Early History of the Heighington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heighington research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1153, 1168, 1397, 1455, 1487, 1510, 1540, 1600, 1690 and 1774 are included under the topic Early Heighington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heighington 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 Heighington family name include Heighington, Heighinton, Hayington, Hayinton, Hayenton, Haynton, Heighenton, Hayenton and many more.

Early Notables of the Heighington family

Distinguished members of the family include

Musgrave Heighington (1690-1774?), English musical composer, son of Ambrose Heighington of White Hurworth, Durham, and of his wife, who was one of the four daughters of Sir Edward Musgrave, first baro...

Heighington migration to the United States +

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 Heighington surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Heighington Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Hannah Heighington, who arrived in Maryland in 1668 1

Citations +

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)