It was among those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain that the name Hopkend was formed. The name was derived from the name Hobb, a pet form of the personal name Robert. This name was supplemented by the common diminutive suffix -kin. Thus, the original form of the surname Hopkend was Hobbe-kin. [1]
The surname Hopkend was first found in Oxfordshire at Swalcliffe where a family of this name has resided since the 13th century and had nineteen proprietors who had the personal name of John. [1]
However, the earliest record of the name was found in the Latin form of Hobekinus in the Curia Regis Rolls of Staffordshire in 1224. William Hobkyn and Richard Hobkyn were both listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, while the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire of the same year list William Hopkyn and John Hopkynes. [2]
The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Nicholas Hobekyn and Roger Hobekyn in Cambridgeshire and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Agnes Hobkyn-wyf. [3]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hopkend research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1563, 1626, 1570, 1544, 1594, 1563, 1600, 1657, 1581, 1644, 1620, 1620, 1627, 1612, 1682, 1660, 1647, 1644, 1690, 1681, 1690, 1664, 1700 and 1664 are included under the topic Early Hopkend History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Hopkend include Hopkins, Habbagan, Hopkin, Hopkines, Hopkyns and many more.
Notables of this surname at this time include: John Hopkins (d. 1570), part-translator, with Thomas Sternhold and others, of the famous metrical version of the Psalms, was admitted B.A. at Oxford in 1544. [4]
Richard Hopkins (d. 1594?), was a Catholic exile, born of 'genteel parents,' and at about seventeen years of age became a commoner of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, where he was residing in 1563. [4]
Edward Hopkins (1600-1657), was an English colonist, politician, and Governor of the Connecticut Colony, founder of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, politically active in the administration of Oliver Cromwell.
Stephen Hopkins (c. 1581-1644), was a...
Another 134 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hopkend Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Hopkend family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Hopkend were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: Michael Hopkin settled in Barbados in 1654; Stephen Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth, settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the year of the "Mayflower".