Highgate History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Early Origins of the Highgate family

The surname Highgate was first found in Middlesex at Highgate, a town and chapelry, partly in the parishes of St. Pancras and Islington, but chiefly in that of Hornsey, union of Edmonton.

"According to Camden and other authorities, the hamlet of Highgate derived its name from the high-gate, or gate upon the hill, erected by the Bishop of London, on or very near the site of the present Gatehouse inn, about 500 years ago, when the high road over the hill was formed. But in a recent work drawn up on the invitation of the Highgate Literary Institution, it is supposed, with some probability, that the name (which in an ancient record is written Hygate), is deducible from Hy, a syllable in the British language, perhaps corrupted from Hu, a cap, and implying also Episcopal, and Gate, an entrance or way. " 1

In the bordering county of Essex, we found the variant Mygate and Mygatt. From this branch, Deacon Jospeh Mygatt emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1634, settling in Cambridge by August 1634.

Further to the north in Scotland, the name is "an old surname about Glasgow. Of local origin, perhaps from Highgate, near Beith, Ayrshire. Highet is a variant. Johne Hechet was burgess of Glasgow in 1527. William Higait or Hegait, notary in Glasgow, 1547-55." 2

As the reader will note, the Scottish records are quite late in comparison to the Middlesex reference, so one can presume some of the family migrated from Middlesex to Scotland.

Early History of the Highgate family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Highgate research. Another 193 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1103, 1177, 1510, 1550, 1560, 1563, 1564, 1570, 1574, 1581, 1586, 1590, 1600, 1609, 1625, 1675 and 1820 are included under the topic Early Highgate History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Highgate 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. Highgate has been recorded under many different variations, including Highgate, Higate, Hygate, Higgat, Higgett, Higgatt, Higget, Hygate, Hygat, Hyget, Hygett, Hygatt, Hegate, Hegatt and many more.

Early Notables of the Highgate family

Distinguished members of the family include William Hegat (fl. 1600), Scottish professor at Bordeaux, a native of Glasgow. "Several Hiegaits are mentioned in connection with Glasgow between 1570 and 1590. If the ascription to Hegat of the ‘Pædagogiæ’ is correct, he must have gone to France before 1563 as a very young man. Dempster, who knew him well, says that...
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Highgate Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Highgate migration to the United States +

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 Highgate or a variant listed above:

Highgate Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Elizabeth Highgate, who landed in Maryland in 1665 3

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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)