Hesdin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Hesdin family

The surname Hesdin was first found in west London at Heston, now a suburban area of the London Borough of Hounslow. The village is actually just north of Hounslow, and has been settled since Saxon times. The first record of the village was in c. 1125 when it was listed as Hestone and meant "farmstead among the brushwood. " 1

While it is generally believed that the surname originated in the area of this village in the year 1321 when William de Hewstone was listed as a merchant there, 2 Histon, Cambridgeshire was established over one hundred years before the London village and was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Histone.

More recently, the villages of Histon and Impington, Cambridgeshire have grown so entwined that many of the villagers today do not know where one village ends and the other begins.

Walter Heston (fl. 1350), was a Carmelite, a "Cambridge scholar and doctor of divinity, who is said to have obtained a great reputation as a philosopher and theologian. He belonged to the Carmelite house at Stamford. He is said to have died and been buried at Stamford. He is also called Hessodunus, Nestonus, or Keso." 3

Early History of the Hesdin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hesdin research. Another 140 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1745, 1802, 1810 and 1824 are included under the topic Early Hesdin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hesdin 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 Hesdin include Heston, Hesdon, Hesdin, Hestin, Histon, Histin and others.

Early Notables of the Hesdin family

Distinguished members of the family include Edward Warner Heston (1745-1824), American officer in the Sixth Company, Seventh Battalion of the Pennsylvania militia during the American Revolutionary War and later a Pennsylvania State Senator (1802-1810). After the war, he...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hesdin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hesdin family

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 Hesdin or a variant listed above: the name was represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..

Contemporary Notables of the name Hesdin (post 1700) +

General Ren de Hesdin (1890-1966), French General Officer Commanding 4th Moroccan Mountain Division (1944-1945) 4

Citations +

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)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 5) Ren Hesdin. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Hesdin/Ren%C3%A9_de/France.html