Holcutt History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsHolcutt is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Holdgate, a parish, in the union of Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, in Shropshire. 1 Alternatively, the name could have originated in Holgate, a township, in the parish of St. MaryBishopshill-Junior, union of York, E. division of the Ainsty wapentake, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. 1 2 Early Origins of the Holcutt familyThe surname Holcutt was first found in Shropshire at Holdgate, Stanton Holdgate or Castle Holdgate, collectively a small village which dates back to 1185 when it was listed as Castellum Hologoti and literally meant "castle of a man called Helgot," from an Old French personal name + the Latin castellum. 3 Alternatively, the place name could have come from the Old English word "hol" meaning "hollow" or "sunken" and the Old Norse "gata" or "road." 2 Holdgate (Holgate) Castle situated in the village of Holdgate, Shropshire was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. It was an 11th century earthwork motte and bailey fortress founded by Helgot de Reisolent. Ruins of the castle are still found there today. 4 Another source sums up the Shropshire versus Yorkshire question thusly: "the name of Holgate probably has its home in the West Biding, where it is now also established, and where the township of Holgate occurs. There is also a Shropshire parish of the name." 5 The first record of the family was found in Yorkshire where John de Holegate was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1200. Again in Yorkshire, Gommer de Holgate was listed in the Feet of Fines for 1343. 2 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed William de Holgate, or Holdegate, or Holegale, Lincolnshire; and Walter de Hollegate, Lincolnshire. 6 Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Alicia Haldegate; Nicholaus Holgate; and 'Willelmus Holgate' resident in 'Acorn cum Holgate.' 6 Thomas atte Halle-yat, was listed in the Freemen of York, 11 Edward III (during the eleventh year of King Edward III's reign.) In Somerset, Nicholas atte Halleghet was listed there 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign.) 7 Early History of the Holcutt familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Holcutt research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1481, 1524, 1525, 1537, 1545, 1549, 1554 and 1555 are included under the topic Early Holcutt History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Holcutt Spelling VariationsSound 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 Holcutt family name include Holgate, Holdgate, Howgate, Hogate and others. Early Notables of the Holcutt familyNotables of the family at this time include Robert Holgate or Holdegate (c. 1481-1555), English Bishop of Llandaff and then Archbishop of York (1545-1554.) He recognized Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. "He was the youngest son of Thomas Holgate and Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Champernowne, came of a Yorkshire family entitled to armorial bearings, and was born probably at Hemsworth, near Pontefract, in or about 1481, being, according to his own statement, sixty-eight years old in 1549. He was a canon of the order of St. Gilbert of Sempringham, and was probably educated in the house belonging... Migration of the Holcutt familyFor 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 Holcutt surname or a spelling variation of the name include: James Holgate settled in Philadelphia in 1685; William Holgate settled in New England in 1748; Mathew Holdgate settled with his daughter Mary in Philadelphia in 1685.
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