Heylin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The illustrious surname Heylin is classified as a habitation surname, which was originally derived from a place-name, and is one form of surname belonging to a broader group called hereditary surnames. Habitation names were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Topographic names, form the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree.

Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. Heylin is a place-name from in Devon. Hillion, near Saint-Brieux, was the birthplace of Herve d'Helion, a companion of William the Conqueror who was awarded a barony and lands in Devon. The name could also have been a baptismal name derived from the son of Heilin.

Early Origins of the Heylin family

The surname Heylin was first found in Brittany, where Hillion, near Saint-Brieux, was the birthplace of Herve d'Helion, a companion of William the Conqueror who was awarded a barony and lands in Devon. It is there that the family established its family seat at Ashton and Credy-Helion.

Some of the family were found in the parish of St. Ewe, Cornwall. "The manor of Heligan, was at an early period the property of the Heligans, from whom it passed by female heirs to the Tregarthians, and Whitleghs, and from the latter by co-heiresses to the families of Grenville and Hals." 1

Shropshire, on the border of Wales, was of particular significance to the family. For it was here that in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, Philip filius Heilin, Robert filius Heilin and B'ucha uxor Heilini were recorded as holding lands at that time. 2

Early History of the Heylin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heylin research. Another 184 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1190, 1273, 1562, 1600, 1631, 1662, 1685, 1705, 1708, 1711, 1728, 1736, 1759, 1861 and 1865 are included under the topic Early Heylin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heylin Spelling Variations

Since the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules, Breton surnames have many spelling variations. Latin and French, which were the official court languages, were also influential on the spelling of surnames. The spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules. Therefore, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England after the Norman Conquest, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. The name has been spelled Heylin, Heylen, Haylin, Hayling, Heylins, Heylens and many more.

Early Notables of the Heylin family

Notable of this family during the Middle Ages was

Rowland Heyyn or Heylin (1562?-1631), Sheriff of London, "descended from an ancient family seated at Pentreheylin in the parish of Llandysilio, Mongomeryshire, whose members were hereditary cupbearers...
Peter Heylin (1600-1662) of Burford, Oxfordshire, a theologian and historian whose controversial writings made him famous. He was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, in 1600, and was second son of Henry Hey...

Migration of the Heylin family to Ireland

Some of the Heylin family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 54 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heylin migration to the United States +

Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Heylin, or a variant listed above:

Heylin Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Henry Heylin, who landed in Maryland in 1658 3

Heylin Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Barbara Heylin, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732
Barbara Heylin, aged 30, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 3

Heylin migration to Australia +

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

Heylin Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Heylin, English convict who was convicted in Cumberland, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Baring" in December 1818, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Heylin (post 1700) +

Greg Heylin, former Visiting Research Fellow at The Policy Institute of the University of Dublin and a current Research Associate of the Institute
Clinton Heylin, writer of musician biographies

Citations +

Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. 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)
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 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring